Randy Brooks (Sanford, 15 March 1919 -died 21 March 1967) was an American jazztrumpeter and leader of a- swing-big band.
Brooks played from his sixth on trumpet to with his parents in the Salvation Army play. When he was eleven he toured with Rudy Vallee. After high school he went in 1937 to New York City to work as a musician. He played with Claude Thornhill, Art Jarrett , and Les Brownstarted his own band in 1944. The composer John Benson Brooks (no relation) worked there as an arranger. In 1946 a young Stan Getz played in the Orchestra. He had several hits for Decca, including "Tenderly" and "Harlem Nocturne". In the following years it became all less, the era of the big bands ran in order. In 1949 he married the band leader Ina Ray Hutton and went to live with her in Los Angeles . By a stroke later came an end to his musical career. Brooks was killed in a fire in his childhood home in Sanford.
Discography[Edit][]
- Randy Brooks and His Orchestra 1945-1947, Circle, 1995
- More 1945-1947, Circle, 1993
- Golden Trumpet or Randy Brooks & His Orchestra 1945-1947 Live Roseland Ballroom NYC, Jazz Hour, 1996