Carpenter, Wingie (actually, Theodore)
Carpenter, Wingie (actually, Theodore)
jazz trumpeter, singer; b. St. Louis, Mo., April 15, 1898; d. summer 1975. He had his left arm amputated after being involved in an accident during his early teens; the operation was performed by Doc Cheatham’s uncle, a noted surgeon. He took up trumpet some time later; by 1920 he was working in traveling carnival shows, touring with Herbert’s Minstrel Band in 1921. He settled in Cincinnati for a while, worked with Wes Helvey, Clarence Paige, and Zack Whyte, and worked with Speed Webb (1926), later playing residency in Buffalo with Eugene Primus (1927). From late 1926 until 1928 he worked on and off with the Whitman Sisters’ Show (usually with pianist Troy Snapp’s Band). During the early 1930s he was featured with Smiling Billy Steward’s Celery City Serenaders. He also worked with another Fla. band, led by Bill Lacey. In the mid-1930s he did regular touring with various bandleaders, including Jack Ellis, Dick Bunch, and Jesse Stone. He settled in N.Y. and worked with Campbell “Skeets” Albert and Fitz Weston. He was mainly active as leader of his own small band from 1939 through the 1960s.
—John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter