Orie Frank ("Frankie" or "Tram") Trumbauer (30 May 1901–11 June 1956) was one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. He played C-melody saxophone, which in size is between an alto and tenor saxophone. He also played alto saxophone, bassoon, clarinet and several other instruments. He was also a composer, notably of technically sophisticated sax melodies, and was one of the major jazz bandleaders of the 1920s and 1930s. His landmark recording of "Singin' the Blues," with Bix Beiderbecke and Eddie Lang in 1927, is regarded as one of the greatest jazz performances ever recorded. This 1927 Okeh 78 was one of the top jazz recordings of the 1920s. This classic recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1977. His major recordings included "Krazy Kat", "Red Hot", "Plantation Moods", "Tailspin", "Singin' the Blues", "Wringin' an' Twistin'", and "For No Reason at All in C" with Bix Beiderbecke and Eddie Lang.
Career
Born of part Cherokee ancestry in Carbondale, Illinois, Frank Trumbauer grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of a musical mother who directed saxophone and theater orchestras. His first important professional engagements were with the Edgar Benson and Ray Miller bands, shortly followed by the Mound City Blue Blowers, a local group that became nationally famous through their hit Brunswick records.
"Tram" was one of the most influential and important jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. He is also remembered for his musical collaborations with Bix Beiderbecke, a relationship that produced some of the finest and most innovative jazz records of the late 1920s. Trumbauer and Beiderbecke also collaborated with jazz guitarist Eddie Lang.
In 1927, Trumbauer released a 78 recording of "Singin' the Blues" on Okeh, featuring Beiderbecke on cornet and Lang on guitar. "Singin' the Blues" was a jazz classic originally recorded and released by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1920. The Okeh recording became a smash hit and became one of the most influential and recognizable jazz recording of the 1920s. Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra covered the song in 1931 in the Trumbauer-Beiderbecke version.
Frankie Trumbauer recruited Bix Beiderbecke for Jean Goldkette's Victor Recording Orchestra, of which he became musical director. In the late 1920s he cut several popular sides with Beiderbecke, including the legendary "Singin' the Blues." After leaving Goldkette, he and Beiderbecke worked briefly for Adrian Rollini, then joined Paul Whiteman's band in 1927. He played with Whiteman for eight of the following nine years. He had a separate contract with OKeh Records from 1927 through 1930, he recorded some of the most legendary small group Jazz recordings of the era, usually including Beiderbecke until the April 30, 1929 session. In 1932 he organized a band in Chicago and recorded for Columbia, but gave up the orchestra and returned to New York late in 1933. During 1934-1936, while a member of Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, he made a series of recordings for Brunswick and Victor, often including Jack Teagarden.
In 1936 he led The Three T's, featuring the Teagarden brothers; in 1938, he and Manny Klein started a band which they co-led. In 1940, Trumbauer, a highly skilled pilot, left music to join the Civil Aeronautics Authority. During World War II he was a test pilot with North American Aviation, and trained military crews in the operation of the B-25 Mitchell bomber. He continued to work for the CAA after the war, and also played in the NBC Orchestra. After 1947, although he continued to play and record, he earned most of his income in aviation.
Trumbauer died of a sudden heart attack in Kansas City, Missouri, where he had made his home for some years. He was 55 years old.
Frankie Trumbauer suggested to Hoagy Carmichael that he compose the jazz and pop standard "Georgia on My Mind". In 1931, Trumbauer had the first hit recording of "Georgia on My Mind", which reached the top ten on the charts.
Trumbauer's cool, delicate style and slow vibrato influenced many important saxophonists, including Benny Carter, Lester Young and Art Pepper. Like Beiderbecke, Trumbauer introduced a "cool" sensibility into jazz, rather than the prevalent "hot" style of the time.
Lester Young acknowledged and cited Frankie Trumbauer as his main influence as a saxophonist. When an interviewer asked Young about his influences, he stated that Frankie Trumbauer was his major influence: "So, it's Trumbauer?" Young replied: "That was my man."
Compositions by Frankie Trumbauer
His compositions include "Trumbology" (1927), "Plantation Moods", "Red Hot", "Barbed Wire Blues", "Troubled", "I Like That", "Bass Drum Dan", "Break it Down", "Choo Choo", "Sun Spots", "Eclipse", "Meteor", "Krazy Kat", "G Blues", "Tailspin" with Jimmy Dorsey, "Crying All Day", "Loved One", "Apple Blossoms" with Joe Venuti, Lennie Hayton, and Eddie Lang, "Three Blind Mice" with Chauncey Morehouse, "The Mayor of Alabam'", "Flight of a Haybag", "Cinderella's Wedding Day", "Runnin' Ragged", and "For No Reason at All in C" with Bix Beiderbecke in 1927, which was released as a single on Okeh, Columbia, and Parlophone.
Honors
"Singin' the Blues", released by Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke on cornet and Eddie Lang on guitar in 1927 as Okeh 40772-B, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1977. Frankie Trumbauer played the C-melody saxophone solos on the landmark jazz recording.
In 2008, his recordings of "Ostrich Walk" and "There'll Come a Time" with Bix Beiderbecke were included on the soundtrack to the Brad Pitt movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story from Tales of the Jazz Age.
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