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 Alabama's
Jazz Heritage
by William M. Jarnigan
Mr. Jarnigan is one of the premiere music researchers in
the country, specializing in Alabama music and musicians.
His full biography can be
found following the article.
Some of the world's
best jazz musicians are from Alabama. But, sadly, many of
them remain unknown at home because their careers were spent
creating some of jazz's sweetest sounds in the shadows and
making someone else the star.
What little is known
in Alabama of the state's legacy to jazz is owed to one man
- the late J. L. Lowe, a Birmingham educator and musician,
who devoted his retirement years paying tribute to more than
150 musicians who left the South, including his late brother
Sammy (a former New York musician and record producer and
music instructor at Yale University), to spread their sounds
around the world. Lowe was the inspiration behind the Alabama
Jazz Hall of Fame that annually recognizes jazz musicians
reared or trained in the state.
 Lowe
particularly paid tribute to printing instructor and band
director John T. 'Fess' Whatley, who encouraged young blacks
to use music as an avenue to success. Whatley, recognized
in the London Jazz Monthly long before any local media ever
took note of his contributions, led a popular black jazz band
in one of Birmingham's then strictest social environments
- The Club, atop Red Mountain.
Jo Jones is considered
by many to be the best jazz drummer ever. A black man reared
in Birmingham, Jones won most of the jazz drumming awards
and was recognized as a key element in the success of the
late Count Basie's bands.
Trumpeter Erskine
Hawkins was fairly well known because of the popularity of
'Tuxedo Junction,' a tune about an Ensley corner. But, it
took white bandleader Glenn Miller (who, incidentally, was
stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base during World War II) to
bring the tune to the forefront in America's segregated society.
 The
late Sun Ra, an orange-haired, mystical figure who called
his form of jazz outer space music, was born Herman Blount
where Phillips High School is now located in Birmingham. After
leaving for Philadelphia, Blount, a pianist, adapted a new
persona and began experimenting with new forms of jazz, especially
with the advent of synthesizers, and generating a sound that
has become a cult item, particularly among white jazz lovers
and in France, where he remains very popular.
Avery Parrish, also
of the Birmingham school of jazz, composed one of the all-time
jazz piano classics - 'After Hours.' Haywood Henry, a former
Duke Ellington player lived in New York, went to France every
year to participate in an international jazz festival.
Dickie Harris, a
top trombonist, was performing in Japan in the late 80s. Bandleader
Lionel Hampton spent his formative years in Birmingham. Trumpeter
Joe Guy was a major musician and one of the great Billie Holiday's
husbands.
Cleve Eaton, of
Fairfield, played bass for 10 years with the Ramsey Lewis
Trio and five years with Count Basie. He led for short time
the Count's band after the leader's death. He now has the
Cleve Eaton Trio in Birmingham.
 Birmingham
was the main source for bandleaders to pick up jazz musicians
in Alabama. But other cities also had their greats. Tuscaloosa
gave the nation the late pianist Joel Hopkins, who played,
with Holiday. Big bandleader Lucky Millinder was from Anniston.
Montgomery gave jazz Nat King Cole, a tremendous piano player
before he became a pop singer. Cole's chief bassist, John
Collins, is also from Montgomery. A favorite trumpet player
was Charles "Cootie' Williams, from Mobile. He made a
name for himself while playing for Duke Ellington and Benny
Goodman. Williams and Hampton were among the first black players
to break the color line with nationally prominent white bands
when they joined Goodman. Sheffield's Willie Ruff, of Mitchell
Ruff Duo fame and Yale University, introduced jazz to communist
Russia and China. Urbie Green, of Mobile, is probably the
most recorded trombone player ever!
This is an excerpt
from Alabama's Music Heritage, published by the author in
1990.
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