Elmer Chester Snowden was an American banjo player of the jazz age.
11 Facts About Elmer Snowden
1.
2.
Elmer Snowden played guitar and, in the early stages of his career, all the reed instruments.
3.
Elmer Snowden contributed greatly to jazz in its early days as both a player and a bandleader, and launched the careers of many top musicians.
4.
Elmer Snowden was born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, to Gertude Snowden, and had a brother, James.
5.
Unable to gain a booking, Elmer Snowden sent for Duke Ellington, who was with the group when it recorded three test sides for Victor that were never issued.
6.
Elmer Snowden continued to play through to the 1950s, but outside the limelight.
7.
Elmer Snowden was working as a parking lot attendant in 1959 when Chris Albertson, then a Philadelphia disc jockey, came across him.
8.
In 1963, his career boosted, Elmer Snowden appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival.
9.
Elmer Snowden then moved to California to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, and played with Turk Murphy as well as taking private students for lessons in guitar and banjo.
10.
Elmer Snowden toured Europe in 1967 with the Newport Guitar Workshop.
11.
In 1969, Elmer Snowden moved back to Philadelphia, where he died on May 14,1973.