  david roy eldridge (january 30, 1911 â february 26, 1989), commonly known as roy eldridge, and nicknamed "little jazz", was an american jazz trumpet player. his sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from the smooth and lyrical style of earlier jazz trumpet innovator louis armstrong, and his strong impact on dizzy gillespie mark him as one of the most influential musicians of the swing era and a precursor of bebop. ==early life== eldridge was born on the north side of pittsburgh, pennsylvania on january 30, 1911, to parents alexander, a carpenter, and blanche, a gifted pianist with a talent for reproducing music by ear, a trait that eldridge claimed to have inherited from her.chilton, pp. 4â5. eldridge began playing the piano at the age of five; he claims to have been able to play coherent blues licks at even this young age.chilton, p. 5. the young eldridge looked up to his older brother, joe, particularly because of joe's diverse musical talents on the violin, alto saxophone, and clarinet.chilton, pp. 5â6. roy took up the drums at the age of six, taking lessons and playing locally.chilton, p. 6. joe recognized his brother's natural talent on the bugle, which roy played in a local church band, and tried to convince roy to play the valved trumpet. when roy began to play drums in his brother's band, joe soon convinced him to pick up the trumpet, but roy made little effort to gain proficiency on the instrument at first.chilton, p. 7. it was not until the death of their mother, when roy was eleven, and his father's subsequent remarriage that roy began practicing more rigorously, locking himself in his room for hours, and particularly honing the instrument's upper register.chilton, p. 8. from an early age, roy lacked proficiency at sight-reading, a gap in his musical education that would affect him for much of his early career, but he could replicate melodies by ear very effectively.chilton, p. 9. ==career== ===early career and traveling ban
1911_births 1989_deaths African-American_musicians American_jazz_trumpeters American_trumpeters Mainstream_jazz_trumpeters Musicians_from_Pittsburgh,_Pennsylvania Swing_trumpeters Verve_Records_artists Xanadu_Records_artists