Tom Albert
Tom Albert | |
|---|---|
 Tom Albert against a doorframe near his home in New Orleans, Louisiana September 25, 1954. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Albert |
| Also known as | Kid Albert |
| Born | December 23, 1877 Belle Chasse, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | December 12, 1969 (aged 91) |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Instrument(s) | Trumpet, violin, guitar |
| Years active | 1899 - 1949 |
Tom “Kid” Albert (December 23rd 1877 - December 12, 1969), was a jazz violinist, trumpeter and band leader from New Orleans, Louisiana. He began his musical career in the 1890s working with the bands violinist Johnny Gould, with “Big Eye” Louis Nelson Delisle on clarinet. From 1908 - 1949 he led his own band and also became one of the founding members of the Eureka Brass Band. In later years Albert played with Kid Howard and Papa Celestin before retiring in 1949.[1]
Biography
Tom was born on a plantation field in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana on the 23rd of December in 1877. He later relocated to New Orleans sometime in his early childhood, settling in the Algiers neighborhood. Tom lived in a run-down shack on Saux Lane, an impoverished strip nearby the Naval station. His first instrument was the guitar then later on he learned how to play the violin. His teacher Jimmy Palao, showed him the fingering and basic methods to each instrument, tone by tone. Soon after he mastered the cornet and the violin. The first band Tom was in was his own witch included Papa Celestin and Manuel Manetta. In 1920, he founded the Eureka Brass Band.[2] During the earlier years, Albert’s band played in Algiers with Henry Red Allen Sr. Band. In his late thirties, Tom moved across the river to the French Quarter and reformed his band, branding it “”Kid Albert Band.” The band then began performing in several halls around the city, mostly in the Storyville and Treme sections. For a decade, kid Albert Band played along side jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Kid Thomas Valentine and other small brass bands but never recorded. In 1949 Tom retied from the bands and shortly after passed away on December 12, 1969 at the age of 91.[3]