{{Short description|American jazz trumpeter (1904–1980)}} '''Herman Autrey''' (December 4, 1904 – June 14, 1980)<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=130}}</ref> was an American jazz trumpeter.<ref name="RCJE">{{Cite book| last = Cook| first = Richard| year = 2005| title = Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia| publisher = Penguin Books| location = London| isbn = 0-141-00646-3| page = 24 }}</ref>
==Career== Autrey was born into a musical family in Evergreen, Alabama, United States.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He played alto horn before taking up trumpet as a teenager and performing locally in Pittsburgh and Florida.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> After some time in Florida he worked in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City, where he played with Charlie Johnson in 1933.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He became well known through Fats Waller, who hired him in 1934 after signing a contract with Victor Records.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He played with the drummer Harry Dial, guitarist Al Casey, and reedist Gene Sedric. Autrey went on to record extensively with Waller, Fletcher Henderson, and Claude Hopkins.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>
Autrey worked as a sideman into the 1940s with Stuff Smith, Sammy Price, and Una Mae Carlisle.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He ensembles which sometimes included pianist Herbie Nichols. Early in the 1950s Autrey was hurt in a car crash, sidelining his career for one year.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He played with Saints & Sinners in the 1960s, including on their 1968/69 tours of Europe.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1969, he played with Buzzy Drootin's Jazz Family, which included Benny Morton, Herb Hall, pianist Sonny Drootin, bassist Eddie Gibbs and. In the 1970s, he began to lose his playing capacity and spent more time as a vocalist.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>
Herman Autrey died in June 1980 in New York, at the age of 75.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sandybrownjazz.co.uk/JazzRemembered/HermanAutrey.html|title=Remembering Herman Autrey|website=Sandybrownjazz.co.uk|access-date=August 14, 2021}}</ref>
==Discography== * Buster Bailey, ''All About Memphis'' (Felsted, 1958)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Herman Autrey {{!}} Credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/herman-autrey-mn0000678592/credits |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> * Bud Freeman, ''All Star Swing Sessions'' (Prestige, 2003)<ref name=":0" /> * Saints & Sinners, ''The Saints and Sinners'' (77 Records, 1964)<ref name=":0" /> * Fats Waller, ''The Joint Is Jumpin'' (Bluebird, 1987)<ref name=":0" /> * George Wettling, ''George Wettling and His Windy City Seven'' (Stere-o-craft, 1958)<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p53064/biography|pure_url=yes}} Herman Autrey] at Allmusic
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Autrey, Herman}} Category:1904 births Category:1980 deaths Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:American male trumpeters Category:20th-century American trumpeters Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:American male jazz musicians Category:Saints & Sinners (jazz band) members