Trummy Young

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Trummy Young was a noted jazz trombonist who performed and recorded with the likes of Jimmie Lunceford, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday.  While playing with the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra for 6 years, Trummy also occasionally sang on the band’s 1937 hit record “Margie.”  It was while touring with Lunceford that Trummy befriended the arranger, Sy Oliver.  The two men co-wrote another hit for the band, “T’ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It).”  Trummy’s smooth jazz style on the trombone earned him recording dates with Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, and a 12-year gig with Louis Armstrong.  This audio interview is thought to be his last interview as Trummy passed away at his daughter’s home in San Jose, California just a few months after this recording. As you might detect in this recording, Trummy was a gentleman full of integrity and charm.