Edward Clifton Allen (December 15, 1897 – January 28, 1974) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist.
[2] His family moved to St. Louis, Missouri when he was seven; he began playing piano at age ten and settled on cornet soon after.
[3] He worked as a truck driver in his teens and played in military bands.
[3] He then played from 1925 to 1927 in a revue called Ed Daily's Black and White Show, as a member of Joe Jordan's group, the Sharps & Flats.
[2] "In his early work Allen sometimes used the cackle-like muted timbre employed by contemporary jazz cornetists, and he produced a pleasant tone with a wa-wa mute; on the open instrument he often affected a singing, lyrical style in the manner of Joe Smith, but he showed a substantial New Orleans influence, especially in his lead playing.