Zilner Randolph

Zilner Trenton Randolph (January 28, 1899, Dermott, Arkansas - February 2, 1994, Chicago) was an American jazz trumpeter and music educator.

Randolph attended Biddle University, the Kreuger Conservatory, and the Wisconsin Conservatory, and played in territory bands including Bernie Young's (1927-31). He moved to Chicago in 1931 and became Louis Armstrong's musical director in 1931-32 and again in 1933 and 1935. Randolph also plays trumpet on a number of Armstrong's recordings and composed the tune "Old Man Mose". He played with Carroll Dickerson and Dave Peyton in the middle of the decade, and led his own Chicago band later in the 1930s. He arranged for such bandleaders as Earl Hines, Woody Herman, Fletcher Henderson, and Duke Ellington, and led a quartet in the 1940s. He never recorded a session as a leader.

After the 1940s Randolph devoted himself mainly to teaching, but recorded as a pianist in 1951.

References

*Scott Yanow, [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:h9fyxqtgldte~T1 Zilner Randolph] at Allmusic
*Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, "The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz". Oxford, 1999, p. 547.