April 13, 2017
“ALPHONSO’S GOLD”
by Bryan Alexis and UAFS Students
“Let me tell you about Trent....They were gods back in the twenties, just like Basie was, only many years ahead of him....They worked nothing but the biggest and finest hotels in the South....They were years ahead of their time.” —Budd Johnson (quoted by Gunther Schuller in The Jazz Review)
Alphonso Trent grew up playing piano and worked with bands around Arkansas throughout his youth. In 1924 he played with Eugene Cook’s Synco Six band and eventually took over leadership. His limited legacy of recordings has left Trent an obscure figure, but to his contemporaries he was one of the greats. For the second annual Unexpected Mural Festival in Fort Smith, Arkansas, UAFS professor Bryan Alexis and his mural painting class created this beautiful tribute. Although not a native of Fort Smith, when Alexis discovered the story of this local legend he knew his search for subject matter was over. @unexpectedfs @uafslions