Elmer Crumbley (August 1, 1908 – September 17, 1993) was an American trombonist.

Early life

Born in

Kingfisher, Oklahoma Kingfisher is a city in and the county seat of Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma,. The population was 4,903 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the former home and namesake of Kingfisher College ...

, Crumbley was raised in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

and

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Career

Crumbley performed with

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

and

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

in the 1960s and 1970s. He joined the Dandie Dixie Minstrels in 1926 with bandleader

Lloyd Hunter Lloyd Hunter (May 4, 1910 – April 18, 1961) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from North Omaha, Nebraska.(nd"Jammin’ For the Jackpot: Big Bands and Territory Bands of the 30s" New World Records, p. 10. . Biography Hunter was trai ...

. He played with the George E. Lee Band, western swing pioneer

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as the seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Bap ...

, and Bill Owens. But he continued to work with Hunter as well as players such as

Jabbo Smith Jabbo Smith (born Cladys Smith; December 24, 1908 – January 16, 1991) was an American jazz musician, known for his virtuoso playing on the trumpet. Biography Smith was born in Pembroke, Georgia, United States. At the age of six he went into ...

and

Erskine Tate Erskine Tate (January 14, 1895, Memphis, Tennessee, – December 17, 1978, Chicago) was an American jazz violinist and bandleader. Biography Tate moved to Chicago in 1912 and was an early figure on the Chicago jazz scene, playing with his ...

. Crumbley founded his own ensemble in Omaha in 1934, and joined up with the Jimmie Lunceford Band the same year. He also played with

Eddie Wilcox Eddie Wilcox (December 27, 1907 – September 29, 1968) was an American jazz pianist and arranger. Biography Born in Method, North Carolina, Wilcox studied at Fisk University, where he met Jimmie Lunceford. He played with Lunceford in college ...

Lucky Millinder Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing music, swing and rhythm and blues, rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang ...

, and

Erskine Hawkins Erskine Ramsay Hawkins (July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is best remembered for composing the jazz standard " Tuxedo Junction" ( ...

. He toured Europe in the late 1950s with

Sammy Price Samuel Blythe Price (October 6, 1908 – April 14, 1992) was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and jump blues pianist and bandleader. Price's playing is dark, mellow, and relaxed rather than percussive, and he was a specialist at creating the ...

, a period when he also became part of the scene at the Apollo in Harlem with a lively combo led by Reuben Phillips.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crumbley, Elmer 1908 births 1993 deaths American jazz trombonists American male trombonists 20th-century American trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians People from Kingfisher, Oklahoma Musicians from Oklahoma Jazz musicians from Oklahoma Jazz musicians from Colorado Jazz musicians from Nebraska Musicians from Denver Musicians from Omaha, Nebraska