Alcorn, Alvin (Elmore)
Alcorn, Alvin (Elmore)
Alcorn, Alvin (Elmore), jazz trumpeter; b. New Orleans, Sept. 7, 1912; d. there, 1981. Alcorn was taught musical theory by his sax-playing brother Oliver (born in 1910), then studied trumpet with George McCullum Jr. From around 1928 he played with violinist Clarence Desdune, led his own band, and worked with Armand Pirón and with The Sunny South Syncopators (1931). He toured with Don Albert from 1932 until 1937, then returned to New Orleans to rejoin Armand Pirón and others. Alcorn served in the army during World War II, after which he worked briefly with Tab Smith, Sidney Desvigne, Alphonse Picou, and others. In 1954 he went to Calif, with Octave Crosby, where he briefly performed with Kid Ory, and about a year later he rejoined Ory there, appeared with him in the film The Benny Goodman Story, and toured Europe with him in 1956. From 1958 on he resumed playing around New Orleans, while also working as an official of the local Musicians Union. He toured Europe on several occasions as a soloist in the 1970s, as well as with The New Orleans All Stars in 1966 and with Chris Barber in 1978.
—John Chilton Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter