Victor "Vic" Coulsen (dates unknown) 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 The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

. Often referred to as Vic Coulsen, Vic Coulson, and even Vic Couslen, Coulsen was a member of the resident band at the Monroe's club, under

Al Tinney Allen Tinney (May 28, 1921 – December 11, 2002) was an American jazz pianist. Early life Born in Ansonia, Connecticut, Tinney was a child actor and was a cast member in the original production of George Gershwin's ''Porgy and Bess'' in 1935. ...

's direction from as early as 1940. Coulsen has often been remembered as having had a seminal influence on the phrasing of early

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

by the likes of

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

and several others -

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

among them. Parker remembers Coulsen (here spelled "Coulson") ''"playing things I'd never heard before"'', and states that the music he heard on those nights at Monroe's caused him to quit

Jay McShann James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and B ...

's band and relocate to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. These testimonies make Coulsen one of the founding fathers (albeit a minor one) of the

idiom. Unfortunately, Coulsen never recorded, except for some tracks taken in 1944 with an orchestra led by

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

, where he performs in the trumpet section, taking no solos. Nothing is known of Coulsen's early life. After 1945, according to Al Tinney's testimony, Coulsen became an

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

(a " wino", in Tinney's words) falling back into obscurity.

Discography

With

*'' Rainbow Mist'' (Delmark, 1944

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as far south as Germany and Korea. Euro ...

compilation of Apollo recordings

References

{{Authority control Bebop trumpeters African-American musicians American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American male jazz musicians