[1][2] He played piano from childhood and worked in local bands in Arkansas through his youth.
[3] Despite success in New York around 1930, Trent chose not to work further on the East Coast.
[3] His sidemen included Terrence Holder, Alex Hill, Stuff Smith, Snub Mosley, Charlie Christian, Sweets Edison, Mouse Randolph, and Peanuts Holland.
His small recorded legacy has made him a somewhat obscure figure today, but the sophistication of his arrangements and the precision with which they were executed inspired awe in contemporaries[5] - one such, Budd Johnson (quoted by Gunther Schuller via The Jazz Review) stated: Let me tell you about Trent...
They were gods back in the twenties, just like Basie was, only many years ahead of him...