Charlie Allen (trumpeter)

Charles " Charlie" Allen ( * September 25, 1908, † 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and developer of instrument mouthpieces.

Allen grew up in Chicago and began working as a musician after completion of Wendell Phillips High School in the early 1920s, first with Hugh Swift (1925 ), whose recordings were broadcast on the radio. He then played with Dave Peyton (1927 ), Doc Cook ( 1927), Clifford King ( 1928) and Johnny Long. From 1931 to 1934 he played with Earl Hines, was a member of 1935 a short time the Duke Ellington Orchestra, but is not in recordings ( like " Merry Go Round" ) as soloist. In 1936 he played with the pianist Fletcher Butler, before he returned in 1937 to Earl Hines. In the 1940s and 1950s, Allen worked in various groups in Chicago. In his later years he worked as a music teacher in the Chicago musicians' union, as well as a developer of mouthpieces for brass instruments. These were used by well-known jazz musicians such as Cat Anderson, Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Clark Terry, Fats Navarro, Bobby Hackett, Emmett Berry, Jonah Jones, Marty Marsala and Al Hirt. In the field of jazz, he participated 1932-1962 in twelve recording sessions.