{{Short description|American jazz trombonist (1927–1981)}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians --> | name = Tommy Turk | image = Tommy Turk.jpg | caption = | image_size = | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Thomas Eugene Turk | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|07|02}} | birth_place = Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1981|08|04|1927|07|02}} | death_place = Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | years_active = | origin = | instrument = Trombone | genre = Jazz | occupation = Musician }}
'''Thomas Eugene Turk''' (July 2, 1927 – August 4, 1981) was an American jazz trombonist.
==Early life== Thomas Eugene Turk was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on July 2, 1927.<ref name="Leonard" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Thomas Eugene Turk World War II draft card |url=https://ibb.co/jvnj1VK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813123131/https://ibb.co/jvnj1VK |url-status=usurped |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=13 August 2023}}</ref> His father, Joseph,<ref name="PP54" /> was a coal miner and self-taught trumpeter.<ref name="Leonard">Leonard, Vince, "Trombonist Turk Slain in Las Vegas" [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19810806&id=Nd4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6855,508843 ''Pittsburgh-Post Gazette''], August 6, 1981, p. 6.</ref> Tommy got his first trombone when he was in fourth grade of school.<ref name="PP54" /> His elder brother, Rob, was also a trumpeter.<ref name="Leonard" /> The three of them played in a band with two neighbors, and Tommy developed some fast-playing technique when playing polkas in the band.<ref name="PP54" /> He had further musical experience in the Conemaugh High School band,<ref name="PP54" /> and graduated from the same school<ref name="Leonard" /> in 1944.<ref name="PP54" /> The brothers then continued playing together in a University of Michigan campus band, but Tommy soon joined the army, where he also led bands.<ref name="PP54" />
==Later life and career== Turk left the army and then moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1947.<ref name="PP54" /> He became established there as part of the Deuces Wild quintet.<ref name="Leonard" /> Their playing helped Turk develop a reputation, and when promoter Norman Granz heard him play, he invited Turk to appear with his touring group of major jazz figures when they performed at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh.<ref name="PP54" /> His appearance was a success, and Granz recruited Turk to play in Chicago, and for several months in 1948 as part of Jazz at the Philharmonic.<ref name="PP54" />
Turk can be heard on several CDs with Charlie Parker. In 1949 he was a member of Flip Phillips and His Orchestra, together with John D'Agostino, Buddy Morrow, Kai Winding, Sonny Criss, Mickey Crane, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne,<ref name="verve"/> and on December 1, 1949, he led a group including Ray Brown and Buddy Rich that recorded four tunes under the name "Tommy Turk and His Orchestra".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GqBGAAAAMAAJ&q=%22tommy+turk%22 Jazz Records, 1942-1965: A Discography By Jørgen Grunnet Jepsen]</ref> Nevertheless, he decided to stay in Pittsburgh, where he could control what he played and enjoyed life<ref name="PP54" /> – in the 1950s he continued playing with Deuces Wild.<ref name="thesis">Peña, Carlos E., ''Pittsburgh Jazz Records and Beyond, 1950–1985'', {{cite web |url=http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04252007-112723/unrestricted/Pena_ETD2007_FINAL.pdf |title=Pittsburgh University Master's Thesis |access-date=2009-10-02 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609201348/http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04252007-112723/unrestricted/Pena_ETD2007_FINAL.pdf |archive-date=June 9, 2007 }}</ref>
In 1954, ''The Pittsburgh Press'' reported that Turk was considering leaving the area because his annual earnings of less than $5,500 from leading Deuces Wild were inadequate.<ref name="PP54">{{cite news |last=Kohler |first=Roy |date=April 11, 1954 |title=Does It Pay to Play? |work=The Pittsburgh Press |pages=3–4}}</ref> At the time, he had a wife, Mary, and two sons – Tommy Turk Jr, aged three, and Charles, aged two.<ref name="PP54" />
Turk also recorded with Billie Holiday,<ref>[http://www.discogs.com/Billie-Holiday-Lady-Sings-The-Blues/release/1633605 ''Lady Sings the Blues'' at Discogs.com]</ref> Ella Fitzgerald and Flip Phillips around the same time.<ref name="verve">[https://www.jazzdisco.org/verve/1949-dis/c/ Verve Records Discography 1949]</ref> In 1972, he performed at the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival with a band led by Roy Eldridge.<ref>Garland, Hazel (June 24, 1972), "Jazz Festival Was Great But Attendance Could Be Better" ''Pittsburgh Courier'', p. 16.</ref>
For many years Turk led a quartet that played at the Point View Hotel in Brentwood, Pennsylvania.<ref>Frushell, Richard (December 12, 2010) "The Next Page / An Upright City: Pittsburgh and the jazz bass" [http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/the-next-page-an-upright-city-pittsburgh-and-the-jazz-bass-277271/ ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''.]</ref> He later moved to Las Vegas, to play in house bands.<ref name="PP77">{{cite news |last=McHugh |first=Roy |date=December 8, 1977 |title=Turk Scales to 'The-Truth!!!' |work=The Pittsburgh Press |page=2}}</ref> The Brentwood band reformed in 1976, and later recorded the album ''The-Truth!!!'' as a quintet.<ref name="PP77" />
==Death== Years later, Turk was living and performing in Las Vegas. On August 4, 1981, he was fatally shot by robbers at a tavern in that city.<ref name="Killer">"Tommy Turk Killer Gets Life" (May 14, 1982) [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19820514&id=O-EhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x10EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6317,6886217 ''The Pittsburgh Press'', p. A-7.]</ref> ''The Pittsburgh Press'' reported that Turk was "shot in the head for no apparent reason as he and other patrons lay on the floor of a tavern liquor store during a holdup."<ref name="Killer" /> One eyewitness reported that Turk had difficulty lying flat and did not take out his wallet quickly enough for the killer.<ref name="Sun">"After 24 years, Las Vegas murderer has chance for parole" (December 15, 2005) [http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2005/dec/15/after-24-years-las-vegas-murderer-has-chance-for-p/ ''Las Vegas Sun''.]</ref> Four gang members were charged in relation to the killing.<ref name="Killer" /> The 15-year-old who shot Turk was made eligible for parole in 2005.<ref name="Sun" /> Turk, who was 53,<ref>{{cite news|title=Trombonist Killed During Bar Hold Up|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/869222/the_daily_news/?|newspaper=The Daily News|date=August 6, 1981 |page=2|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 16, 2014}} {{Open access}}</ref> was survived by his wife and two sons.<ref name="Leonard" />
==Discography==
===As leader===
====Album==== *''The-Truth!!!'' Asterik. Recorded in concert, June 23, 1977
====Singles==== *"Two By Four" / "Encore" Mercury.<ref>{{cite news|author=Milsop, Joe|title=Juke Box Review|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/869286/the_progress/?|newspaper=The Progress|date=April 20, 1950 |page=11|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 16, 2014}} {{Open access}}</ref> Recorded December 1, 1949<ref name="disc">[https://www.jazzdisco.org/tommy-turk/discography/ "Tommy Turk Discography"]. jazzdisco.org Retrieved August 16, 2014.</ref> *"Bye Bye Blues" / "The Beat" Mercury. Recorded December 1, 1949<ref name="disc" />
===As sideman=== '''With Jazz at the Philharmonic''' *''1949 Jazz at the Philharmonic'' (Verve, 1949)<ref name="Penguin3">{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |author-link2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD |year=1996 |edition=3rd |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-051368-4 |page=1021 }}</ref> *''Carnegie Hall 1949'' (Pablo, 1949)<ref name="Penguin9">{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |author-link2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=774 }}</ref>
==See also== * List of homicides in Nevada
==Further reading== *[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1142702.html Account of Turk's killer's attempt to overturn his conviction]
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turk, Tommy}} Category:1927 births Category:1981 deaths Category:1981 murders in the United States Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:20th-century American trombonists Category:American jazz trombonists Category:American male jazz musicians Category:American murder victims Category:Deaths by firearm in Nevada Category:Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Category:American male trombonists Category:People from Johnstown, Pennsylvania Category:People murdered in Nevada