Red Allen
Encyclopedia
Henry James "Red" Allen (January 7, 1906 – April 17, 1967) was a jazz
trumpeter and vocalist whose style has been claimed to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong
.
neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana
, the son of bandleader Henry Allen. He took early trumpet lessons from Peter Bocage
and Manuel Manetta
.
Allen's career began in Sidney Desvigne
's Southern Syncopators. He was playing professionally by 1924 with the Excelsior Brass Band and the jazz dance bands of Sam Morgan
, George Lewis
and John Casimir
. After playing on riverboats on the Mississippi River
he went to Chicago
in 1927 to join King Oliver's band. Around this time he made recordings on the side in the band of Clarence Williams. After returning briefly to New Orleans where he worked with the bands of Fate Marable
and Fats Pichon
, he was offered a recording contract with Victor Records and returned to New York City
, where he also joined the Luis Russell
band, which was later fronted by Louis Armstrong
in the late 1930s.
In 1929 Allen joined Luis Russell's Orchestra where he was a featured soloist until 1932. Allen took part in recording sessions that year organized by Eddie Condon, some of which featured Fats Waller and/or Tommy Dorsey. He also made a series of recordings in late 1931 with Don Redman
, and in 1933 he joined Fletcher Henderson
's Orchestra where he stayed until 1934. He played with Lucky Millinder
's Mills Blue Rhythm Band
from 1934 to 1937, when he returned to Luis Russell for three more years by the time Russell's orchestra was fronted by Louis Armstrong
. Allen very seldom received any solo space on recordings with Armstrong, but was prominently featured at the band's personal appearances, even getting billing as a featured attraction.
As a bandleader, Allen recorded for Victor from 1929 through 1930. He made a series of recordings as co-leader with Coleman Hawkins
in 1933 for ARC
(Banner, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, Romeo, etc.) and continued on as an ARC recording artist through 1935, when he was moved over to ARC's Vocalion
label for a popular series of swing records from 1935 through late 1937. He did a solitary session for Decca
in 1940 and two sessions for OKeh
in 1941. After WWII, he recorded for Brunswick
in 1944, Victor in 1946, and Apollo
in 1947.
Allen continued making many recordings under his own name, as well as recording with Fats Waller
and Jelly Roll Morton
as well as accompanying vocalists including Victoria Spivey
and Billie Holiday
. After a short stint with Benny Goodman
, Allen started leading his own band at The Famous Door in Manhattan
. He then toured with his band around the USA
into the late 1950s.
In December 1957, Red Allen made an appearance on the "Sound Of Jazz" television show. In 1959 Allen made his first tour of Europe
when he joined Kid Ory
's band.
From 1954 until the club ceased its jazz policy in 1965, Allen led the house band at New York's Metropole Cafe
.
and to develop an emphasis on phrasing. Allen's recordings received much favorable attention. His versatility is shown by his winning of Down Beat
awards in both the traditional jazz and the modern jazz categories.
Jazz Standards and Warhorses, with Coleman Hawkins, (Jass Records, CD version 1987)
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpeter and vocalist whose style has been claimed to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
.
Life and career
Henry James "Red" Allen was born in the AlgiersAlgiers, Louisiana
Algiers is a neighborhood within the city of New Orleans. It is the portion of Orleans Parish on the West Bank of the Mississippi River.Algiers is also known as the 15th Ward, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans.-History:...
neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, the son of bandleader Henry Allen. He took early trumpet lessons from Peter Bocage
Peter Bocage
Peter Edwin Bocage was a New Orleans jazz musician.Best known as a cornet player, he also played violin professionally, as well as sometimes trombone, banjo, and xylophone...
and Manuel Manetta
Manuel Manetta
Manuel "Fess" Manetta was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist. He was a fixture of the New Orleans jazz scene for much of the 20th century....
.
Allen's career began in Sidney Desvigne
Sidney Desvigne
Sidney Desvigne was an American jazz trumpeter.Desvigne played in a large number of noted 1910s and 1920s-era New Orleans Jazz ensembles, including Leonard Bechet's Silver Bell Band, the Maple Leaf Orchestra, the Excelsior Brass Band, and Ed Allen's Whispering Gold Band. He and Fate Marable often...
's Southern Syncopators. He was playing professionally by 1924 with the Excelsior Brass Band and the jazz dance bands of Sam Morgan
Sam Morgan (musician)
Sam Morgan was a New Orleans jazz trumpet player and bandleader.The recordings by Sam Morgan's Jazz Band for Columbia Records in 1927 are some of the best regarded New Orleans classic jazz recordings of the decade, and continue to be influential....
, George Lewis
George Lewis (clarinetist)
George Lewis was an American jazz clarinetist who achieved his greatest fame and influence in the later decades of his life.-Ancestry:...
and John Casimir
John Casimir (clarinetist)
John Casimir was a New Orleans jazz clarinetist and bandleader, best remembered as the leader of The Young Tuxedo Brass Band for some 20 years up to his death....
. After playing on riverboats on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
he went to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1927 to join King Oliver's band. Around this time he made recordings on the side in the band of Clarence Williams. After returning briefly to New Orleans where he worked with the bands of Fate Marable
Fate Marable
Fate Marable was a jazz pianist and bandleader.Marable was born in Paducah, Kentucky, and learned piano from his mother. At age 17, he began playing on the steam boats plying the Mississippi River...
and Fats Pichon
Fats Pichon
Walter "Fats" Pichon was a jazz pianist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter.Pichon was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and began playing piano in his childhood...
, he was offered a recording contract with Victor Records and returned to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he also joined the Luis Russell
Luis Russell
Luis Russell was a jazz pianist and bandleader.Luis Carl Russell was born on Careening Cay, near Bocas del Toro, Panama, in a family of Afro-Caribbean ancestry. His father was a music teacher, and young Luis learned to play violin, guitar, trombone, and piano...
band, which was later fronted by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
in the late 1930s.
In 1929 Allen joined Luis Russell's Orchestra where he was a featured soloist until 1932. Allen took part in recording sessions that year organized by Eddie Condon, some of which featured Fats Waller and/or Tommy Dorsey. He also made a series of recordings in late 1931 with Don Redman
Don Redman
Donald Matthew Redman was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader and composer.Redman was announced as a member of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame on May 6, 2009....
, and in 1933 he joined Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
's Orchestra where he stayed until 1934. He played with Lucky Millinder
Lucky Millinder
Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...
's Mills Blue Rhythm Band
Mills Blue Rhythm Band
The Mills Blue Rhythm Band was an American big band of the 1930s.The band was formed in Harlem in 1930, with reedman Bingie Madison the first of its many leaders. It started life as the Coconut Grove Orchestra, changing to Mills Blue Rhythm Band when Irving Mills became its manager in 1931...
from 1934 to 1937, when he returned to Luis Russell for three more years by the time Russell's orchestra was fronted by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
. Allen very seldom received any solo space on recordings with Armstrong, but was prominently featured at the band's personal appearances, even getting billing as a featured attraction.
As a bandleader, Allen recorded for Victor from 1929 through 1930. He made a series of recordings as co-leader with Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
in 1933 for ARC
American Record Corporation
ARC, the American Record Company, also referred to as American Record Corporation, or as ARC Records, was a United States based record company...
(Banner, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, Romeo, etc.) and continued on as an ARC recording artist through 1935, when he was moved over to ARC's Vocalion
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
label for a popular series of swing records from 1935 through late 1937. He did a solitary session for Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in 1940 and two sessions for OKeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
in 1941. After WWII, he recorded for Brunswick
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
in 1944, Victor in 1946, and Apollo
Apollo Records
Apollo Records may refer to:* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - Belgian-based company* Apollo Records - US based company...
in 1947.
Allen continued making many recordings under his own name, as well as recording with Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
and Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....
as well as accompanying vocalists including Victoria Spivey
Victoria Spivey
Victoria Spivey was an American blues singer and songwriter. She is best known for her recordings of "Dope Head Blues" and "Organ Grinder Blues", and Spivey variously worked with her sister, Addie "Sweet Pease" Spivey, and with Bob Dylan, Lonnie Johnson, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence...
and Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
. After a short stint with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Allen started leading his own band at The Famous Door in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. He then toured with his band around the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
into the late 1950s.
In December 1957, Red Allen made an appearance on the "Sound Of Jazz" television show. In 1959 Allen made his first tour of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
when he joined Kid Ory
Kid Ory
Edward "Kid" Ory was a jazz trombonist and bandleader. He was born in Woodland Plantation near LaPlace, Louisiana.-Biography:...
's band.
From 1954 until the club ceased its jazz policy in 1965, Allen led the house band at New York's Metropole Cafe
Metropole Cafe
The Metropole Cafe was a jazz club that operated in New York from the mid-1950s through 1965. Located at 7th Avenue and 48th Street, It was primarily noted, in the bebop and progressive jazz era, as being a venue for traditional musicians...
.
Death
Allen returned to working under his own name making numerous tours of the United States and Europe. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late 1966, and, after undergoing surgery, made a final tour of England ending six weeks before his death on April 17, 1967 in New York City. He left behind his widow, Pearly May, and a son, Henry Allen, III.Style and influence
Red Allen's trumpet style has been said by some critics to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and to develop an emphasis on phrasing. Allen's recordings received much favorable attention. His versatility is shown by his winning of Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
awards in both the traditional jazz and the modern jazz categories.
Discography
- World on a StringWorld on a StringWorld on a String is a 1991 CD album by Henry "Red" Allen. The album was originally issued on vinyl in 1957, with a slightly different track listing, as Ride, Red, Ride in Hi-Fi by Henry "Red" Allen's All Stars"....
(originally "Ride, Red, Ride in Hi-Fi") - The College ConcertThe College ConcertThe College Concert is an album by American jazz clarinetist Pee Wee Russell and trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen featuring a performance recorded at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology in 1966 for the Impulse! label...
with Pee Wee RussellPee Wee RussellCharles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but eventually focused solely on clarinet....
(Impulse!, 1966)
Jazz Standards and Warhorses, with Coleman Hawkins, (Jass Records, CD version 1987)
External links
Further reading
- Ride, Red, Ride - The Life of Henry "Red" Allen by John ChiltonJohn ChiltonJohn James Chilton is a British jazz trumpeter and writer. During the 1960s he also worked with pop bands, including The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Escorts....
, Continuum, 1999. ISBN 0-304-70407-5