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One of the very few bass trumpet specialists in jazz history,
Cy Touff, although closely associated with West Coast Jazz, has actually been a fixture in Chicago for decades.
Touff played piano (starting when he was six), C-melody sax, and xylophone before temporarily settling on trumpet. He was in the Army during 1944-1946 but was fortunate enough to get a chance to play trombone regularly with an Army band. After his discharge,
Touff returned to Chicago, studied with
Lennie Tristano and gigged with
Jimmy Dale, Jay Burkhart,
Bill Russo,
Charlie Ventura,
Shorty Sherock,
Ray McKinley, and
Boyd Raeburn, among others. In the late '40s he switched to the bass trumpet, an instrument that sounds close to a valve trombone.
Touff was a member of
the Woody Herman Orchestra during 1953-1956; he recorded during this era as a member of
the Herdsman, with
the Nat Pierce-
Dick Collins nonet and as a leader of his own Pacific Jazz album (1955) which in 1997 was reissued on CD.
Touff later recorded twice as a leader for Argo (a Dixieland date from 1956-1957, and a 1958 cool session). After his
Herman years,
Touff moved back to Chicago, worked in the studios, performed jazz in local clubs, and recorded with
Chubby Jackson and
Lorez Alexandria in 1957, with Fred Wacker in 1965, and with the group Hyde Park After Dark in 1981. ~ Scott Yanow