TEDDY BUCKNER

Trumpeter Teddy Buckner was a Louis Armstrong devotee whose passion for New Orleans styled jazz and swing took him around the world during a career that spanned more than six decades. He was distantly related to the St. Louis based Buckner family that produced pianist/organist Milt, trumpeter George, as well as saxophonist and Motown session man Ted Buckner. John Edward "Teddy" Buckner was born in Sherman, TX, north of Dallas, on July 16, 1909. Buckner spent five years as a child in Silver City, NM. An uncle taught him to handle drumsticks and play the ukulele; he also studied the trumpet with Harold Scott, a member of the brass section in the Louis Armstrong Orchestra. When he was 15 years old Buckner worked with bandleaders Buddy Garcia and "Big Six" Reeves, then headed for Los Angeles where his trumpet was heard in ensembles led by Sonny Clay, Curtis Mosby, Sylvester read more...