Randolph, Zilner T(renton)
Randolph, Zilner T(renton)
Randolph, Zilner T(renton ), jazz trumpeter, arranger; b. Dermott, Ark., Jan. 28, 1899; d. Feb. 2, 1994. He studied at the Biddle Univ. in N.C.; he later spent several years studying music at the Kreuger Cons. in St. Louis and at the Wise. Cons. in Milwaukee. He played with many bands in and around Milwaukee including almost four years with Bernie Young’s Band at Wise. Roof Ballroom. He moved to Chicago, and was musical director for Louis Armstrong from March 1931-March 1932, and again in 1933 and July–October 1935. He joined Carroll Dickerson and Dave Peyton in 1934. Randolph formed his own big band in Chicago (1936), and continued to lead it through the 1930s; he was also active as an arranger for Earl Hines, Woody Herman, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Blanche Calloway, Ted Weems, and others. During the 1940s he led his own quartet in Gary, Ind., and Chicago. From 1949, he worked with his three children in a family musical act (one son was christened Louis Armstrong Randolph). He recorded on piano in 1951. During the 1970s he ran a teaching studio in Englewood, Ill.
—John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter