Albert, Don (Dominique, Albert Don)
Albert, Don (Dominique, Albert Don)
Albert, Don (Dominique, Albert Don), jazz trumpeter, bandleader; b. New Orleans, Aug. 5, 1908; d. San Antonio, Tex., March 4, 1980. Albert was a nephew of Natty Dominique and a relative of Barney Bigard. After some parade work in New Orleans, he toured in 1925 with Trent’s Number Two Band, and joined Troy Floyd in San Antonio (1926–29), where he also recorded with blues singers. He then returned to New Orleans to recruit musicians for his own band, which subsequently made its debut at the Dallas State Fair, and recorded in 1936. The band was based in Tex., but worked as far afield as N.Y.C. (1937), Buffalo, Mexico, and Canada, before breaking up in Houston in 1939. Beginning in 1932, Albert primarily directed bands rather than playing trumpet. In the 1940s he organized bands for specific engagements, while maintaining a residence in San Antonio. He recorded on trumpet during a 1962 visit to New Orleans, and in Tex. with The Alamo City Jazz Band. During a 1966 visit to N.Y. he sat in with Buddy Tate’s band, and he played at a New Orleans festival in June 1969. In the mid-1970s, he retired to San Antonio, Tex.
—John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter