Jazz trumpeter Roy Tate, Jr., died on July 3d of this year, he was 84. He recorded his first album with the Queen City Jazz Band in 1962 and recorded a further fifteen albums. Most of them were with Terry Waldo’s Gutbucket Syncopators, but he also recorded three albums during the 1980s with Jim Dapogny‘s State Street Aces. He also recorded with Dee Felice’s Sleep Cat band where he was a regular for most of the 1990’s. He was a guest artists on the Swe-Am Classic Jazz album and the lone trumpet player for The Jungle Crawlers, a group led by Ted des Plantes that recorded for Stomp Off.
Affectionately known as “Swine Chops” among musicians for many years, he had an aggressive attack and often harsh tone and liked to take chances, his playing was always exciting. Tate played with many great players including Jim Snyder, Wayne Jones, Hal Smith, Lu Anderson, Frank Powers, Terry Waldo, and many others. He also recorded with Ruth Brisbane and Susan Lamarche.He always stayed faithful to the essence of jazz creativity and kept the genre alive and innovative. He was not content merely to recreate work done by others. Many of his recordings are available on YouTube thanks to a loving family member.
