George Washington

Washington played with and/or arranged for many of the top bandleaders of the '30s and '40s, including Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie. Born in southeast Georgia, Washington was raised across the Florida line in Jacksonville. He took up the trombone at age ten; in 1922 he studied at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville. He moved to Philadelphia in 1925, working briefly with J.W. Pepper's band before relocating to New York City, where he studied at the New York Conservatory with the classical composer, conductor, and educator Walter Damrosch. He worked with a variety of obscure bands in New York over the next several years before landing gigs with Don Redman in 1931 and Benny Carter in 1932. He then worked as a staff arranger for impresario Irving Mills and his Mills Blue Rhythm Band, also working with the trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen. Washington played in Henderson's orchestra in 1936. He was with Armstrong from 1937-43 before moving to the West Coast, where he worked with Fletcher's brother Horace Henderson, Basie, and Carter. After 1947 he led his own bands in Las Vegas and California. He played with drummer Johnny Otis for an extended period, and worked with Joe Darensbourg in 1960. Thereafter Washington worked freelance as a trombonist and arranger. ~ Chris Kelsey

, All Music Guide