{{Short description|American trombonist (1930–2010)}} {{Refimprove|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Gene Conners | image = 081206-uw09109.jpg | image_size = 200px | landscape = | caption = Conners performing in Wattenscheid, Germany, 2008 | birth_name = | alias = The Mighty Flea | birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|12|28}} | birth_place = Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|6|10|1930|12|28}} | death_place = | genre = Jazz | occupation = Musician | instrument = Trombone | years_active = | label = | associated_acts = }} thumb|Conners, Germany, 2008 [[Image:Gene Conners.jpg|thumb|left|Gene Conners (trombone), North Sea Jazz Festival, late 1970s]] '''Eugene Conners''' (December 28, 1930 – June 10, 2010),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bluesnews.de/aktuell.html|title=Aktuell - bluesnews|website=Bluesnews.de}}</ref> also known as '''The Mighty Flea''', was an American trombonist and singer.<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=1685}}</ref>
Conners was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and grew up in New Orleans, and may have played with Papa Celestin when he was eleven years old. As a teenager he played at jazz funerals and with territory bands, and served in the Navy during the Korean War. Following this he played with Johnny Otis; his nickname was given to him by Bardu Ali while he was in Otis's band.
Conners played with his own ensemble in Long Beach, California in the 1950s, subsequently played with Ray Charles and Dinah Washington before recording a 1969-1986 boogie woogie various artists album where he doubled on trumpet.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/boogie-woogie-masters-black-amp-blue-2002--mw0000654604 |title=Credits |publisher=allmusic.com |accessdate=May 18, 2022}}</ref> In 1969, he returned to work with Otis, playing with him at the Monterey Jazz Festival and appearing in the film ''Play Misty for Me'' in 1971. He continued touring the world with Otis through 1974; concomitantly he played in Europe in 1973 with Illinois Jacquet and Jo Jones. In 1975, he appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
He moved to Europe, living in France, Denmark, and Germany, playing in swing jazz, Dixieland, and blues groups.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He collaborated with Catalan ensemble La Locomotora Negra in 1983. In this period, too, he recorded in Germany two R&B albums with the English guitarist and songwriter John C. Marshall.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, he once again played with his own ensemble based in Germany, which toured across Europe. In 2008, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. He died on June 10, 2010.
==Discography== * ''Let The Good Times Roll'' (Big Bear, 1973) * ''Coming Home'' (1976) * ''Sanctified'' (1981) * ''Gene Mighty Flea Conners Sings and Plays R&B'' (1984) * ''Jumping the Blues'' (1995) {{-}} ==References== {{Reflist}}
==Other sources== * Howard Rye, "Gene Conners". ''Grove Jazz'' online.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Conners, Gene}} Category:1930 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American jazz trombonists Category:American male trombonists Category:Jazz musicians from Alabama Category:American male jazz musicians