Roy Eldridge — Nuts (07-14-50)

David Roy Eldridge was an Jazz trumpeter and one of the great creative musicians of the 1930s. Eldridge was dubbed the nick name “Little Jazz“ by Leon “Chu“ Berry. Prominent soloist with the bands of Fletcher Henderson, Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw as well as featured in Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic events and a leader in his own name. A child prodigy, Eldridge began his professional career in 1917 when, on New Year’s Eve, he played the drums in his elder brother’s band. He went to New York City in 1930 and played in the trumpet sections of bands led by Cecil Scott, Elmer Snowden, and Teddy Hill. His style was influenced by that of saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. By the time he was playing with Hill at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City’s Harlem, in 1935, Eldridge was developing into an improviser of magnificent power and invention. The following year he joined the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, then in its last days, and his recordings from that period show him to be one of t