James "Trummy" Young was a trombonist in the swing era

Swing Era

The Swing era was the period of time when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though the music had been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Moten, Ella Fitzgerald,...

. Although he was never really a star or a bandleader

Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....

 himself, he did have one hit with his version of "Margie

Margie (song)

"Margie", also known as "My Little Margie", is a 1920 popular song. It was composed in collaboration by vaudeville performer and pianist Con Conrad and ragtime pianist J. Russel Robinson, a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Lyrics were written by Benny Davis, a vaudeville performer and...

," which he played and sang with Jimmie Lunceford

Jimmie Lunceford

James Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...

's Time-Life Orchestra.

Biography

Growing up in Savannah, GA and Richmond, VA, Young was originally a trumpeter, but by his professional debut in 1928, he had switched to trombone. From 1933 to 1937, Young was a member of Earl Hines

Earl Hines

Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...

' orchestra before joining Lunceford's orchestra, in which he played from 1937 to 1943. With Sy Oliver

Sy Oliver

Melvin "Sy" Oliver was a jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader...

, he wrote "T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)

T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)

"It Ain't What You Do " is a calypso song written by jazz musicians Melvin "Sy" Oliver and James "Trummy" Young. It was first recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, and Ella Fitzgerald. The "shim-sham" is often danced to the Lunceford recording of this song.-Cover versions:The jazz tune...

", a hit for both Lunceford and Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

 in 1939. It has since been recorded by many other artists and was a hit song in the UK in 1982.

Young played with Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker

Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....

 and Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

 on a Clyde Hart

Clyde Hart

Clyde Hart is the director of track and field at Baylor University. Hart retired as head coach for the Baylor track program on June 14, 2005 after 42 years with the program....

-led session in 1945, and with Jazz at the Philharmonic

Jazz at the Philharmonic

Jazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP, was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz....

. In 1952 he joined the Louis Armstrong All-Stars and stayed a dozen years (he performed in the 1956 musical High Society). Trummy Young was a good foil for Armstrong (most memorably on their 1954 recording of "St. Louis Blues"). In 1964, Young quit the road to settle in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, occasionally emerging for jazz parties and special appearances.

According to his own life story, printed in the July 22nd, 1977 issue of the Awake!

Awake!

Awake! is a monthly illustrated magazine published by Jehovah's Witnesses via the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and printed in various branch offices around the world. It is considered to be a companion magazine of The Watchtower, and is distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses in...

magazine published by Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...

; Trummy Young became a Jehovah's Witness in 1964.

He died after a cerebral hemorrhage.