* En anglais uniquement
A top-flight player with big bands, then a performer in the show bands of many major Las Vegas casinos and hotels, and finally the leader on his own album, It's Tru,
Bill Trujillo continues to pursue his great love, jazz music.
Trujillo started his chase very early in life, learning to read music before he could read words. Starting clarinet lessons at the age of four,
Trujillo switched to tenor saxophone after seeing
Lester Young perform with
Count Basie in Los Angeles. His mother, a dance teacher at the famous Palomar Ball Room in LA, regularly took
Trujillo and his older brother to hear big bands when they were in residence at the Palomar, the Paramount, and other popular LA show places.
After Lincoln High School, where his friend and classmate was
Lennie Niehaus,
Trujillo started his long professional career at the age of 16 with the West Coast-based Glenn Henry Band, which also boasted a young trombone player named
Jimmy Knepper. During the '40s,
Trujillo played with
Alvino Rey and other West Coast groups. In 1953, he joined
Woody Herman with whom he remained until the following year when
Bill Russo beckoned and
Trujillo joined the
Russo Quintet, then playing in Chicago. Eventually finding the Windy City too cold, he returned to L.A. where he played in the orchestras of
Charlie Barnet and
Jerry Gray, and gigged with small groups.
At the behest of his longtime friend
Lennie Niehaus,
Trujillo joined
Stan Kenton band in 1958, where he soloed on such
Kenton pieces as "Men from Mars" and "Walking Shoes." However, road trips often lasting a year or more put too much of a strain on his young family.
Trujillo moved to Las Vegas in 1960 to play with Nat Brandywynne and he has been there ever since. He became a mainstay in show orchestras at such important Las Vegas venues as the Tropicana, Flamingo, Thunderbird, and the Dunes. He played behind
Frank Sinatra,
Ella Fitzgerald,
Peggy Lee, and many other name players who were mainstays at Las Vegas show palaces. After a labor dispute in 1989 dried up this source of work,
Trujillo returned to playing in big bands and small groups throughout the country. He also teaches clarinet, flute, and all saxophones in Las Vegas.
In addition to
Lester Young and
Charlie Parker, he cites as influences other saxophone players he has performed with like
Zoot Sims,
Stan Getz, and
Herbie Stewart. Fellow tenor-man
Bill Perkins has named
Trujillo as a major influence.
Trujillo's album It's Tru is on the Sea Breeze label and was released in 1999. ~ Dave Nathan