This week in Texas Music History, we’ll remember an artist who performed in one of the first African-American bands to record in Texas.
Troy Floyd was born near San Antonio on Jan. 5, 1901. By the 1920s, he was playing clarinet and saxophone in a variety of jazz bands throughout South Texas. Floyd eventually put together his own band, which broadcast live on radio from San Antonio’s Plaza Hotel. On March 14, 1928, Troy Floyd and His Plaza Hotel Orchestra became one of the first African-American bands to record in Texas.
Troy Floyd went on to perform with several prominent Texas jazz artists, including Herschel Evans and Don Albert.