Lloyd Trotman

Lloyd Trotman (May 25, 1923 – October 3, 2007), born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, was an American jazz bassist, who backed numerous jazz, dixieland, R&B, and rock and roll artists in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He resided in Huntington, Long Island, New York 1962-2007 and Corona-East Elmhurst, New York 1945-1962. He worked primarily out of New York City. He provided the bass line on Ben E. King's"Stand by Me".{1}

Trotman became a session musician for Atlantic Records and other independent record companies and throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s he backed a wide variety of artists, including R&B artists such as Varetta Dillard, LaVern Baker, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Al Hibbler, Big Joe Turner, Nappy Brown, Linda Hopkins, Mickey "Guitar" Baker, Chuck Willis, Ben E. King, The Drifters ("Save The Last Dance For Me"), Sam Cooke, James Brown, Pat Thomas, The Platters, Everly Brothers, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Clyde McPhatter, Ivory Joe Hunter, Jackie Wilson, Mickey And Sylvia, The Coasters, The Clovers, The Isley Brothers, Big Maybelle. Memphis Slim, Brother John Sellers, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Otis Blackwell, Ray Peterson,and Cousin Joe, Dinah Washington, and Brook Benton. [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,17,19].

Trotman began playing the club scene(52nd St.)in New York in 1945, playing with the likes of Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday.[2] One of his earliest recording sessions was on Duke Ellington's 1950 album Great Times! Piano Duets with Billy Strayhorn and Oscar Pettiford[3]

He worked with, traveled with, and recorded with many jazz artists including Johnny Hodges, Woody Herman, Lawrence Brown, Bud Powell,Big Al Sears, Henry "Red" Allen, Coleman Hawkins, Jimmy Scott,Billy Taylor, Don Wilkerson, Billie Holiday, Lucky Millinder, Boyd Raeburn, Blanche Calloway [12,13,14,15].

As a session musician he worked for Atlantic Records, RCA Victor, Mercury records, Okeh records, Vik Records, Cadence records, Brunswick Records and many other recording studios during the 1950s.[16,17] He played with the following musicians: Sam "The Man" Taylor, King Curtis. Panama Francis, Mickey Baker, Ernie Hayes, Al Caiola and many others.[18]

He was a member of Alan Freed's Rock & Roll Orchestra at the Brooklyn Paramount and Fox Theaters during the late 1950s. He was a member of the Apollo house band during the late 40's and early 1950s.[19]

Trotman worked with the following producers and arrangers: Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Leiber and Stoller, Quincy Jones, Jesse Stone, Sammy Lowe, Leroy Kirkland and Archie Bleyer, Hugo&Luigi among others.[20,21] He made hundreds of records during this time period, many of them major hits as listed in the discography below.[11,19,20,21]

Trotman played on the following T.V.shows: Tommy Dorsey Show with Henry"Red" Allen-(September 1954);Alan Freed T.V.Show-(May,July,1957);PM East-PM West with Sam Cooke-(May–June 1961); Ed Sullivan Show with Paul Anka-(April 1963).[17]

He worked with Henry "Red" Allen at the Newport Jazz Festival (July 5. 1959)He played the New York World's Fair Wonder World-Aqua Show(April–July 1964).He also did the Broadway play "Flora The Red Menace" with Liza Minnelli(May–July 1965)[17]

Trotman continued to play many weekend nightclub dates into the early 1980s. After retiring from the music business,he became a loan officer at Islip National Bank.[22]

Mostly, Trotman was devoted to his family-Gertrude,his wife of 62 years; and his three children-Linda, Timothy, and Nelson. They have resided in Huntington, Long Island since 1962.[22]

Trotman received many awards and had newspaper and magazine articles written about his career. He gave interviews and spoke with high school classes, senior citizen centers, and community groups about his life and career. Many of these are listed under external links listed below or can be found under his name on the internet.

Lloyd Trotman died, aged 84, on October 3, 2007 on Long Island, and is buried at Pinelawn Memorial Park, Farmingdale, New York.   Wikipedia