Alphonse Trent

Alphonse " Phonnie " E. Trent or Alphonso E. Trent (* August 24, 1905, † October 14, 1959 in Fort Smith ( Arkansas) ) was an American jazz pianist and led a band of swing Territory.

Life and work

Alphonse Trent already played in his childhood piano and worked in local bands in Arkansas since his youth. His first own band, he led the mid-1920s (possibly 1923 ). In 1924 he played with Eugene Cook's Synco Six and then took over the management of the band, which existed until 1934. It was considered one of the most famous territory bands of the South and the Midwest; as they played on riverboats. The mid-1930s left Trent initially the music business, but returned with another band in 1938 at the scene. In this orchestra later played famous jazz musicians such as Terrence Holders, Alex Hill, Stuff Smith, Snub Mosley, Charlie Christian, Harry Sweets Edison, Mouse Randolph, George Hudson and Peanuts Holland.

As a bandleader, he recorded only eight panel sides; four in 1928, two in 1930 and two in 1933. Afterwards he worked only intermittently with his own ensembles and mainly worked as a businessman.