Snooky Young
Encyclopedia
Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young (February 3, 1919 – May 11, 2011) was an American jazz
trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.
band from 1939 to 1942. He played with Count Basie
(three stints totalling eight years), Gerald Wilson
and Lionel Hampton
, among others, and was an original member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band
.
His longest engagement was with NBC
, where, as a studio trumpeter, he joined the Tonight Show Band in 1967 and stayed with them until 1992, when the band was replaced by a new, smaller group.
He was also part of the touring ensemble that traveled with Doc Severinsen, performing live concert dates, corporate events, and headling shows in the main rooms of Las Vegas. The one nighters usually occurred on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays, as Severinsen was committed to the Tonight Show on weeknights.
For the Las Vegas gigs, the nucleus of Severinsen's touring band (Young, Conductor Steve Thoma, and drummer Paul Line) would commute to Vegas nightly, leaving Van Nuys airport around 6:00pm via Lear Jet, arriving in Las Vegas by 7:00. A limousine would transport the musicians directly backstage, where they would dress & prepare for an 8:00 pm & midnight show. Then back to the airport for the ride back to Los Angeles, where Severinsen and Young had their NBC gig, and Steve Thomas and Paul Line were undertaking studio sessions daily.
Young performed nightly with Severinsen, and he was featured prominently for several solos, as well as a trumpet version of "Dueling Banjos". He continued to perform in Los Angeles
, appearing on the classic 1976 Coconut Grove recording Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live
and again on King's 2008 album One Kind Favor
.
His 1978 album with altoist Marshall Royal
, Snooky and Marshall's Album, featured pianist Ross Tompkins
, rhythm guitarist Freddie Green
, bassist Ray Brown
and drummer Louie Bellson
.
He was one of horn players that accompanied rock group The Band
on their 1972 live album Rock of Ages
'.'
Young recorded only three albums under his own name.
He received a NEA Jazz Masters Award for 2009 on October 17, 2008 at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Throughout the years, Snooky has recorded and performed with Gerald Wilson (a good friend since the Lunceford days) and his Orchestra. Until 2010 he was still playing and recording with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
.
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. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.
Biography
Young was lead trumpeter of the Jimmie LuncefordJimmie Lunceford
James Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...
band from 1939 to 1942. He played with Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
(three stints totalling eight years), Gerald Wilson
Gerald Wilson
Gerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, 8 time Grammy nominee, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s....
and Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
, among others, and was an original member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band
The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra was a jazz big band formed by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis around 1965. The band performed for twelve years in its original incarnation, and included a 1972 tour of the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. The band won a 1978...
.
His longest engagement was with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, where, as a studio trumpeter, he joined the Tonight Show Band in 1967 and stayed with them until 1992, when the band was replaced by a new, smaller group.
He was also part of the touring ensemble that traveled with Doc Severinsen, performing live concert dates, corporate events, and headling shows in the main rooms of Las Vegas. The one nighters usually occurred on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays, as Severinsen was committed to the Tonight Show on weeknights.
For the Las Vegas gigs, the nucleus of Severinsen's touring band (Young, Conductor Steve Thoma, and drummer Paul Line) would commute to Vegas nightly, leaving Van Nuys airport around 6:00pm via Lear Jet, arriving in Las Vegas by 7:00. A limousine would transport the musicians directly backstage, where they would dress & prepare for an 8:00 pm & midnight show. Then back to the airport for the ride back to Los Angeles, where Severinsen and Young had their NBC gig, and Steve Thomas and Paul Line were undertaking studio sessions daily.
Young performed nightly with Severinsen, and he was featured prominently for several solos, as well as a trumpet version of "Dueling Banjos". He continued to perform in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, appearing on the classic 1976 Coconut Grove recording Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live
Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live
Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live is a live album recorded in 1976 at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, California by Bobby Bland and B. B...
and again on King's 2008 album One Kind Favor
One Kind Favor
One Kind Favor is B.B. King's 24th studio album. It was released on August 26, 2008 by Geffen Records.The album won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.-Track listing:...
.
His 1978 album with altoist Marshall Royal
Marshall Royal
Marshall Royal was an American clarinettist and alto saxophonist best known for his work with Count Basie, with whose band he played for nearly twenty years....
, Snooky and Marshall's Album, featured pianist Ross Tompkins
Ross Tompkins
Ross Tompkins was an American jazz pianist.Tompkins attended the New England Conservatory of Music, then moved to New York City, where he worked with Kai Winding , Eric Dolphy , Wes Montgomery , Bob Brookmeyer/Clark Terry , Benny Goodman , Bobby Hackett , and Al Cohn and Zoot Sims...
, rhythm guitarist Freddie Green
Freddie Green
Frederick William "Freddie" Green was an American swing jazz guitarist. He was especially noted for his sophisticated rhythm guitar in big band settings, particularly for the Count Basie orchestra, where he was part of the "All-American Rhythm Section" with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums, and...
, bassist Ray Brown
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
and drummer Louie Bellson
Louie Bellson
Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni , better known by the stage name Louie Bellson , was an Italian-American jazz drummer...
.
He was one of horn players that accompanied rock group The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
on their 1972 live album Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages (album)
-Side two:-Side three:-Side four:-2001 bonus disc track listing:-Personnel:* Rick Danko - vocal, bass, violin* Levon Helm - vocal, drums, mandolin* Garth Hudson - organ, piano, accordion, tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone solos...
'.'
Young recorded only three albums under his own name.
He received a NEA Jazz Masters Award for 2009 on October 17, 2008 at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Throughout the years, Snooky has recorded and performed with Gerald Wilson (a good friend since the Lunceford days) and his Orchestra. Until 2010 he was still playing and recording with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, and Jeff Clayton brought together a group of Los Angeles-based musicians in 1985 and formed the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra . Reviewers and fans loved the big band, and the orchestra's first recording, Groove Shop , earned a Grammy Award nomination. CD Review named...
.
As sideman
- 1964: The CatThe Cat (album)The Cat is a 1964 album by Jimmy Smith. It features the sound of Smith's Hammond B-3 organ with big band arrangements by composer Lalo Schifrin...
- Jimmy SmithJimmy Smith (musician)Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument... - 1964: Great Scott!!Great Scott!! (album)Great Scott!! is an album by American jazz organist Shirley Scott recorded in 1964 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 4½ stars.-Track listing:All compositions by Shirley Scott except as indicated...
- Shirley ScottShirley ScottShirley Scott was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist. She was most known for working with her husband, Stanley Turrentine, and with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis... - 1965: Wrapped TightWrapped TightWrapped Tight is an album by American jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins featuring performances recorded in 1965 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
- Coleman HawkinsColeman HawkinsColeman 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"... - 1966: Oliver Nelson Plays MichelleOliver Nelson Plays MichelleOliver Nelson Plays Michelle is an album by American jazz composer, arranger and saxophonist Oliver Nelson, featuring solos by Nelson and Phil Woods, recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
- Oliver NelsonOliver NelsonOliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:... - 1966: HappeningsHappenings (Hank Jones & Oliver Nelson album)Happenings is an album by American jazz pianist Hank Jones and composer/arranger Oliver Nelson featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
- Hank JonesHank JonesHenry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
and Oliver Nelson - 1966: Spanish RiceSpanish Rice (album)Spanish Rice is an album by American jazz trumpeter Clark Terry and Cuban composer-arranger Chico O'Farrill featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
- Clark TerryClark TerryClark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
and Chico O'FarrillChico O'FarrillArturo "Chico" O'Farrill was a composer-arranger best known for his work in the Latin idiom, although he also composed straight-ahead jazz pieces and even symphonic works.... - 1966: The Spirit of '67 - 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....
and Oliver NelsonOliver NelsonOliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:... - 1971: Boys from Dayton
- 1972: Rock of AgesRock of Ages (album)-Side two:-Side three:-Side four:-2001 bonus disc track listing:-Personnel:* Rick Danko - vocal, bass, violin* Levon Helm - vocal, drums, mandolin* Garth Hudson - organ, piano, accordion, tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone solos...
- The BandThe BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm... - 1976: Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...LiveBobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...LiveBobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live is a live album recorded in 1976 at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, California by Bobby Bland and B. B...
- 1978: Snooky and Marshall's Album (along with Marshall RoyalMarshall RoyalMarshall Royal was an American clarinettist and alto saxophonist best known for his work with Count Basie, with whose band he played for nearly twenty years....
) - 1979: Horn of Plenty - leader
- 2008: One Kind FavorOne Kind FavorOne Kind Favor is B.B. King's 24th studio album. It was released on August 26, 2008 by Geffen Records.The album won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.-Track listing:...
- B. B. KingB. B. KingRiley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...