Truman Eliot "Jack" Jenney (May 12, 1910 – December 16, 1945)
was an American jazz trombonist.
Early life
Born in
Mason City, Iowa
Mason City is a city and the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 27,338 in the 2020 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro G ...
,
Jenney first played trumpet, then switched to trombone.
His father was a musician and music teacher.
Jenney performed in his father's band from age 11, but his professional work began with
Austin Wylie in 1928.
Career
During his career, Jenney worked with
Isham Jones,
Red Norvo
Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His reco ...
,
Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction.
Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...
,
Mal Hallett
Mal Hallett (born 1893, Roxbury, Massachusetts – died November 20, 1952, Boston) was an American jazz violinist and bandleader.
Biography
Hallett was a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music. He played in France during World War I as a m ...
, and
Waring's Pennsylvanians
Waring's Pennsylvanians was a dance band that was founded at Penn State University by Fred Waring.
First named the Collegians, the group was formed in 1918 at Penn State by the brothers Fred and Tom Waring and their friends Freddy Buck and Poley ...
. He appeared in the film ''
Syncopation''.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
biography He has been called "the greatest trombonist of the Big Band era" and won the ''
DownBeat'' Reader's Poll for trombone in 1940.
He led his own band for a year in 1938 and 1939, but it was a financial failure. He was drafted into the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
in 1943, but also played as a studio musician the following year.
Death
He died on December 16, 1945, in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, from complications following an
appendectomy.
References
External links
Memories of the First Annual Jack Jenney Jazz Festival
1910 births
1945 deaths
American jazz trombonists
People from Mason City, Iowa
Musicians from Iowa
Deaths from appendicitis
United States Navy personnel of World War II
20th-century American musicians
20th-century trombonists
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