Frank 'Tram' Trumbauer grew up in St. Louis, the son of a mother who directed saxophone and theater orchestras, and in the 1920s built a career around an instrument almost nobody else bothered with: the now-obscure C-melody saxophone, pitched between alto and tenor. Recruited into Jean Goldkette's orchestra, he brought along a young cornetist named Bix Beiderbecke, and the pair's unhurried, conversational 1927 recording of 'Singin' the Blues' became one of the most influential sides in early jazz — a cool, legato alternative to the hot, declamatory style then dominant. That record's melodic patience echoed for decades afterward: Lester Young named Trumbauer his primary influence, and through Young it reached nearly every saxophonist who followed.

the sound in question

1927

Singin' the BluesFrankie Trumbauer