Albert Dominique, better known as Don Albert (August 5, 1908,
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
– January 1980,
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
) was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
trumpeter and bandleader.
Albert's uncle was
Natty Dominique
Anatie "Natty" Dominique (August 2, 1896 – August 30, 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, and most notable for his long body of work with Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dodds (; April 12, 1892 â ...
.
He got his start playing in parade
brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...
s in New Orleans at the beginning of the 1920s.
He toured with the
territory band of
Alphonse Trent
Alphonse "Alphonso" Trent (October 24, 1902 – October 14, 1959) was an American jazz pianist and territory band leader.
Early life
Trent was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas on October 24, 1902. He played piano from childhood and worked in local ba ...
in 1925,
then played with
Troy Floyd at the Shadowland Ballroom in San Antonio from 1926 to 1929.
Albert led his own territory bands out of Texas in the 1930s and 1940s, with sidemen that included
Alvin Alcorn,
Louis Cottrell, Jr., and
Herb Hall.
After 1932 he acted more in a manager's capacity than as a performer.
His bands played in Mexico and Canada, and won positive reviews from newspapers, but recorded only eight sides.
He disbanded this group around 1937 due to economic conditions, and found work in civil service and managing a nightclub called the Keyhole Club in San Antonio in the early and mid-1940s; his club was shut down in 1948 by local authorities.
In 1950, he opened a second location at
1619 West Poplar.
He led a group at the Palace Theater in New York in 1949.
In the 1950s he continued performing part-time, playing in small groups into the 1970s.
He recorded again in the 1960s and appeared at the
New Orleans Jazz Festival
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New ...
in 1969.
References
Further reading
*
Leonard Feather
Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.
Biography
Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...
and
Ira Gitler
Ira Gitler (December 18, 1928 – February 23, 2019) was an American jazz historian and journalist. The co-author of ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he wrote hundreds of ...
, ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. Oxford, 1999, p. 9.
External links
*Interviews with Don Albert
January 15-18, 1980February 1-8, 1980
University of Texas at San Antonio: Institute of Texan Cultures: Oral History Collection, UA 15.01, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Don
1908 births
1980 deaths
American jazz trumpeters
American male trumpeters
American jazz bandleaders
20th-century American trumpeters
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians