Editing Red Allen (section)

==Life and career==
Allen was born in the [[Algiers, Louisiana|Algiers]] neighborhood of [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], the son of the bandleader Henry Allen Sr. He took early trumpet lessons from [[Peter Bocage]] and [[Manuel Manetta]].

Allen's career began in [[Sidney Desvigne]]'s Southern Syncopators. He was playing professionally by 1924 with the Excelsior Brass Band and the jazz dance bands of [[Sam Morgan (musician)|Sam Morgan]], [[George Lewis (clarinetist)|George Lewis]] and [[John Casimir (clarinetist)|John Casimir]]. After playing on riverboats on the [[Mississippi River]], he went to Chicago in 1927 to join [[Joe "King" Oliver|King Oliver]]'s band.<ref name="LarkinJazz">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz |editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-580-8|pages=10–11 |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnesswhoswhoo0000unse_a9k0/page/10/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}}</ref> Around this time he made recordings on the side in the band of [[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/>

After returning briefly to New Orleans, where he worked with the bands of [[Fate Marable]] and [[Fats Pichon]], he was offered a recording contract with [[Victor Records]]<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> and went to New York City, where he joined the [[Luis Russell]] band, which was later fronted by [[Louis Armstrong]] in the late 1930s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Collier|first=James Lincoln |author-link=James Lincoln Collier| title=Louis Armstrong | publisher=Pan Books | year=1985|isbn=0-330-28607-2|page=294}}</ref>

In 1929, Allen joined Luis Russell's Orchestra, in which he was a featured soloist until 1932.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> He took part in recording sessions that year organized by [[Eddie Condon]], some of which featured [[Fats Waller]] and [[Tommy Dorsey]]. He also made a series of recordings in late 1931 with [[Don Redman]]. In 1932 he recorded with the [[Rhythmakers]] in New York City. In 1933 he joined [[Fletcher Henderson]]'s Orchestra, in which he stayed until 1934. He played with [[Lucky Millinder]]'s [[Mills Blue Rhythm Band]] from 1934 to 1937, when he returned to Russell for three more years, by which time Russell's orchestra was fronted by [[Louis Armstrong]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> Allen seldom received any solo space on recordings with Armstrong,<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> but was prominently featured in the band's live performances, even getting billing as a featured attraction.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

As a bandleader, Allen recorded for [[Victor Records|Victor]] from 1929 through 1930. He made a series of recordings as co-leader with [[Coleman Hawkins]] in 1933 for [[American Record Corporation|ARC]] (Banner, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, Romeo, etc.) and continued as an ARC recording artist through 1935, when he was moved to ARC's [[Vocalion Records|Vocalion]] label for a popular series of [[Swing music|swing]] records from 1935 through late 1937. A number of these were popular at the time. He did a solitary session for [[Decca Records|Decca]] in 1940 and two sessions for [[OKeh Records|OKeh]] in 1941. After World War II, he recorded for [[Brunswick Records|Brunswick]] in 1944, [[Victor Records|Victor]] in 1946, and [[Apollo Records (1944)|Apollo]] in 1947.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Allen continued making many recordings under his own name and also with Fats Waller and [[Jelly Roll Morton]] and accompanied such vocalists as [[Victoria Spivey]] and [[Billie Holiday]]. After a short stint with [[Benny Goodman]], Allen began to lead his own band at the [[Famous Door]] in [[Manhattan]]. He then toured with the band around the United States into the late 1950s.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

In December 1957, Allen appeared with [[Pee Wee Russell]] on the television program ''[[Sound Of Jazz]]''. In 1959, he made his first tour of Europe when he joined [[Kid Ory]]'s band. He led the house band at New York's [[Metropole Cafe]] from 1954, until the club ceased its jazz policy in 1965.