Trombonist Fred Beckett is best known as a member of the Lionel Hampton Big Band prior to the Second World War. A subsequent tour of duty with the army turned out badly for Beckett, who contracted tuberculosis while enlisted and died a few years later. He began playing his horn as a high-school student and went professional after a move to Kansas City in the early '30s. In 1934 he began working with the superb Eddie Johnson's Crackerjacks, at that time based out of St. Louis. In the next few years Beckett would find a demand for his musical skills in a variety of bands, including the outfits of Duke Wright, Tommy Douglas, Buster Smith, and Andy Kirk.

While some jazz players of this era headed for New York City or Chicago, Beckett continued to focus on possibilities in the Midwest, touring the territory with the regal Prince Stewart and trying out an Omaha base with the talented Nat Towles. In the spring of 1938, Smith lured the trombonist to Kansas City, after which gigs followed with Harlan Leonard and Douglas once again. Beckett spent the early '40s with Hampton, rubbing shoulders with performers like the marvelous vocalist Dinah Washington. Most of the available recordings involving this trombonist originate from this period. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi