Fletcher Allen

Fletcher Allen (July 25, 1905 – August 5, 1995) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.

Fletcher Allen
Birth name	Fletcher Allen
Born	25 July 1905 Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Died	5 August 1995 (aged 90) New York
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician Composer Arranger
Instruments	Saxophone Clarinet
Years active	1925-1995

Biography

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. He started out in his career in the mid 1920s as a member of Lloyd Scott's Band in New York City.

In 1927, he travelled to Europe working in a band under the direction of Leon Abbey, a bandleader whose popularity in jazz started off a 1936 tour of India in which Allen also was involved. During this period, he also visited Budapest with the Benny Peyton group in 1929 and spent time in Europe the following decade with musical activity involving several collaborations with guitarist Django Reinhardt.

In 1938, he started playing with Benny Carter, with both him and Carter playing alto saxophone and clarinet, both had excellent reputations as arrangers.[1]

His composition "Viper's Dream" has become a jazz staple.[2][1]

Compositions

• "Viper's Dream" – recorded by Freddy Taylor (1935), Hot Club de France quintet (1937)[3] and Sebastian Giniaux in 2008.[2]
• "Swingin' in Paris" (1938)

References

1. Fletcher Allen Biography www.allmusic.com
2. "Sebastian Giniaux: Viper's Dream". jazz.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
3. Dregni, Michael (2004). Django. Oxford University Press US. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-19-530448-0. Retrieved 2008-10-21.