"I am extremely honored and greatly appreciate the prestigious award of NEA Jazz Master. This honor means more to me than words can express! A sincere ‘thank you' to all members of the National Endowment for the Arts."

Known for his prowess with the plunger mute, Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young's trumpet playing was most often heard in the context of the big band. For 30 years, he was heard every weeknight as a member of The Tonight Show orchestra.

Young began playing the trumpet at age five and by his early teens was working in various regional bands. From 1939-1942 he made a name for himself as lead trumpeter and soloist in the Jimmie Lunceford band. From 1942 to 1947 Young worked with Les Hite, Benny Carter, and Gerald Wilson, as well as with the Count Basie band, where he replaced trumpet player Ed Lewis. Young led his own band in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, from 1947 to 1957 and continued to perform periodically with both Lionel Hampton and Basie through the early 1960s.

Upon leaving Basie in 1962, Young began his longest engagement with a band as a trumpeter for the Doc Severinsen band on The Tonight Show. In 1972, he moved to Los Angeles when the show relocated, and remained until Johnny Carson left in 1992.

Young continued to work on other projects as well. He was a founding member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in 1966, and throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, he played with a variety of big bands, including on recordings by such jazz greats as Louis Bellson, Gil Evans, Quincy Jones, Charles Mingus, and Jimmy Smith. Young also worked outside of jazz as well, playing with the rock group the Band on New Year's Eve in 1971 and on the classic 1976 blues recording Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live.

Young also worked with several Los Angeles big bands, and issued three albums under his own name, including Horn of Plenty, which demonstrated his solo gifts as a strong lead trumpeter. Young appeared as a soloist at jazz festivals in Montreux, Switzerland; The Hague, Holland; Antibes, France; and Concord, California. His work appeared on numerous soundtracks as well, including The Color Purple.

Selected Discography

Jimmie Lunceford, 1939-1940, Classics, 1939-40
Count Basie, Kansas City Suite, Roulette, 1960
Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, Live at the Village Vanguard, Solid State, 1967
Horn of Plenty, Concord Jazz, 1979
Gerald Wilson, State Street Suite, MAMA Foundation, 1994

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