Snooky Young
Source: Wikipedia: Snooky Young
Arts & Music • Historical Archive • 🇺🇸 United States • 10 views

Snooky Young 🇺🇸

Eugene Edward Young
Jazz Lead Trumpeter, Big Band Master, NEA Jazz Master
Born Feb 03, 1919 🇺🇸 Dayton, United States
Passed Away May 11, 2011 Newport Beach, United States
Lifespan 92 years old
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"A lead trumpet player doesn't show off; he lifts the whole band on his shoulders and makes them soar."

Archival Overview

Master American big band lead trumpeter celebrated for his powerful tone, impeccable plunger-mute technique, and decades of trumpet leadership with Count Basie and The Tonight Show Band.

Biographical Record

Eugene Edward 'Snooky' Young grew up in Dayton, Ohio, in a musical family. In 1939, he joined the legendary Jimmie Lunceford orchestra, establishing a reputation as one of the premier lead trumpet players in the swing era.

Young anchored the powerhouse trumpet section of the Count Basie Orchestra across three separate decades, playing on classic recordings like 'The Atomic Mr. Basie' (1957). In 1967, he joined NBC's The Tonight Show Band under Doc Severinsen, performing nightly for thirty years. In 2009, he was honored as an NEA Jazz Master.

Key Life Milestones

1957

The Atomic Mr. Basie

Led the trumpet section on Count Basie's Grammy-winning big band masterpiece.

2009

NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship

Awarded America's highest jazz honor by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Pacific View Memorial Park
Corona del Mar, United States
GPS: 33.6067, -117.8683
View on Memory Atlas
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