Larkin, Milt, 1910-1996

Milton Larkin (1910-1996) was born in Navasota, Texas. After his father's death, his mother brought him to Houston when he was six years old. Larkin started playing the trumpet when he was 16, and was mostly self-taught. He organized his own band in 1936, but he made his name in the early 1940s at Chicago's Rhumboogie Club. Members included Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, Illinois Jacquet, Wild Bill Davis, and Arnett Cobb. Larkin took up the trombone while in the service during World War II. Following the war, he had his own group at the Celebrity Club in New York City, but he never regained the status he had prior to World War II.

From the guide to the Milton Larkin Collection MSS 252., 1930 to 1990, (Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library)