David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Mosaic Select 12 (3 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 

The 12th volume in the Mosaic Select series offers a different view of its chosen artists than on previous issues. For starters, all of the recordings on these three CDs are previously unissued live performances. They are compiled from the years between 1976 and 1991, when Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach began recording together in an electric group called Lookout Farm (with Frank Tusa, Jeff Williams, and Todd Barkan), and recorded for the ECM label. They continued as a duo for the same label, and then for the A&M Horizon label and Artists House. Finally, they collaborated again in a group called Quest, with bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart. The music ranges from fusion (Liebman had been Miles Davis' saxophonist for his On the Corner and Get Up With It albums) to modal exploration á la Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. 

Bill Evans Trio & Guests - Live In Nice 1978 (2 CD, 2010/FLAC)

 

This release presents a complete never before released live performance by the great Bill Evans with an unusual trio that never made a studio album (featuring drummer Philly Joe Jones and bassist Marc Johnson).

 
Joining them are Lee Konitz for three amazing quartet tracks, Curtis Fuller (who joins Konitz and the trio for a marvelous quintet version of Lover Man), and Stan Getz and Christian Escoude (who join Fuller and the trio for the finale on All the Things You Are).

 
A rare interview with Evans made right after the Nice concert has also been included on this release, as well as another unissued concert by the same trio taped in Italy a few days later. 

Recorded Live at Le Grande Parade Du Jazz, Nice, France, July 7, 1978.

 

VA - Blue Note Live At The Roxy Vol. 1+2 (1976/FLAC)

  

2 CD comprising live recordings from the 'Blue Note Live' concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles, California on 28th June 1976, featuring performances by Alphonse Mouzon, Carmen McRae, Ronnie Laws, Earl Klugh & Donald Byrd.

Vol. 1

01. New York City (Alphonse Mouzon) (5:33)

02. Just Like The Sun (Alphonse Mouzon) (4:19)

03. Without A Reason (Alphonse Mouzon) (8:02)

04. Captain Midnight (Ronnie Laws) (4:48)

05. Night Breeze (Ronnie Laws) (8:19)

06. Piano Interlude (Ronnie Laws) (1:44)

07. Always There (Ronnie Laws) (3:30)

08. Places And Spaces (Donald Byrd) (4:56)

09. (Fallin' Like) Dominoes (Donald Byrd) (6:12)

Vol. 2

01. Music (Carmen McRae) (3:55)

02. Paint Your Pretty Picture (Carmen McRae) (4:53)

03. Them There Eyes (Carmen McRae) (1:53)

04. T'ain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do (Carmen McRae) (5:00)

05. You're Everything (Carmen McRae) (3:05)

06. Presentation of Proclamation (Councilman Dave Cunningham) (4:40)

07. Medley: Like A Lover~A Felicidade~Manha De Carnaval~Samba De Orfeu (Earl Klugh) (12:57)

08. Blue Note '76 (Blue Note All-Stars) (12:46)

Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela - Rejoice (Special Edition) (2 CD, 2021/FLAC)

 "Rejoice" is a very special collaboration between Tony Allen, the legendary drummer and co-founder of Afrobeat, and Hugh Masekela, the master trumpet player of South African jazz.

Having first met in the 70s thanks to their respective close associations with Fela Kuti, Allen, the Nigerian master drummer widely hailed as the co-founder of Afrobeat (and long-time member of alt-rock supergroup The Good The Bad & The Queen), and Masekela, South Africa’s legendary trumpet player, talked for decades about making an album together. When, in 2010, their touring schedules coincided in the UK, the moment presented itself and producer Nick Gold took the opportunity to record their encounter. The unfinished sessions, consisting of all original compositions by the pair, lay in archive until after Masekela passed away in 2018. With renewed resolution, Tony Allen and Nick Gold, with the blessing and participation of Hugh’s estate, unearthed the original tapes and finished recording the album in summer 2019 at the same London studio where the original sessions had taken place. Allen and Masekela are accompanied on the record by a new generation of well-respected jazz musicians including Tom Herbert (Acoustic Ladyland / The Invisible), Joe Armon-Jones (Ezra Collective), Mutale Chashi (Kokoroko) and Steve Williamson.

For this Special Edition, World Circuit have gone back to the original 2010 mixes and added previously unheard parts from the 2019 sessions to create 8 reimagined bonus mixes.

• Tony Allen, drums
• Hugh Masekela, trumpet, flugelhorn
• Joe Armon-Jones, keyboards, piano
• Mutale Chashi, bass

CD 1

01. Robbers, Thugs and Muggers (O'Galajani)

02. Agbada Bougou

03. Coconut Jam

04. Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be the Same)

05. Slow Bones

06. Jabulani (Rejoice, Here Comes Tony)

07. Obama Shuffle Strut Blues

08. We've Landed

CD 2

01. Robbers, Thugs and Muggers (O'Galajani)  (Cool Cats Mix)

02. Agbada Bougou  (Cool Cats Mix)

03. Coconut Jam  (Cool Cats Mix)

04. Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be The Same)  (Cool Cats Mix)

05. Slow Bones  (Cool Cats Mix)

06. Jabulani (Rejoice, Here Comes Tony)  (Cool Cats Mix)

07. Obama Shuffle Strut Blues  (Cool Cats Mix)

08. We've Landed  (Cool Cats Mix)

Verve Jazz Masters series Vol. 31-40

 Jazz Masters is a series of mainly single artist compilations released by Polygram/Verve between 1994 and 1996. The compilations collect material that was originally released on Verve or on one of the labels that became part of the Polygram group. The 20th and 60th releases in the series were various artist collections.

VJM 31 - Cannonball Adderley

VJM 32 - Chet Baker

VJM 33 - Benny Goodman

VJM 34 - Coleman Hawkins

VJM 35 - Johnny Hodges

VJM 36 - Gerry Mulligan

VJM 37 - Oscar Peterson Plays Broadway

VJM 38 - Django Reinhardt

VJM 39 - Cal Tjader

VJM 40 - Dinah Washington Sings Standards

The Crusaders album collection 1972-2003 (FLAC)

 

The Crusaders were an American jazz group that were successful from the 1960s to the 1990s. The group were known as the Jazz Crusaders from their formation in 1960 until shortening their name in 1971. The Crusaders were comfortable playing a wide assortment of genres, from straight ahead jazz, to urban R&B, to R&B-based jazz, to even blues. The band reached a commercial apex in 1979 with their hit single "Street Life", featuring lead vocals by Randy Crawford, and their accompanying album of the same name. 

 

Peggy Lee - The Singles Collection (4 CD, 2002) [FLAC]

 Peggy Lee was a renaissance woman, a multi-talented singer and composer who achieved popular as well as critical success. Short of a complete recordings box set, The Singles Collection is the best Peggy Lee career anthology yet, and a big improvement over the oddly compiled and sequenced 1998 box set Miss Peggy Lee. The Singles Collection isn't complete -- Lee released hundreds of singles -- and it doesn't come close to compiling all of her hits (in fact, it doesn't even compile all of her Top Ten hits), but it does offer a chronological journey through her catalog from her early days with Benny Goodman and Bob Crosby all the way up to the '70s when she recorded for A&M. Although Capitol Records produced the box set, the selections include cuts from other labels, including Lee's Decca Records period. Nearly half of the box's 110 tracks are new to CD, and collectors will appreciate the glimpse into the studio afforded by a handful of bonus tracks that include false starts and studio chatter. Lee may have enjoyed commercial success with "ethnic" novelties ("Mañana" being the foremost example) and upbeat pop songs, but it is her interpretations of serious jazz and pop tunes that have made her a contender for the title of Best Vocalist of the 20th Century. The Singles Collection follows her artistic growth and demonstrates the breadth of her interpretive abilities, which gives a better picture of Lee's artistry than any single album or inferior anthology could do.

Fats Waller - Chronogical Classics 1922-1940 (10 CD/FLAC)

 

Fats Waller seems never to have suffered from seasickness. Every photograph and eyewitness account of his transatlantic nautical adventures indicates a strong constitution, unfazed by rough seas even if the rest of the passengers were hanging over the rails. When Waller invaded London in August 1938, a team of Anglo and European musicians were assigned the task of accompanying him through the grooves of six phonograph recordings. Known for the rest of time as "Fats Waller & His Continental Rhythm," this band hammered out one amazing performance after the next. "Don't Try Your Jive on Me" and "Ain't Misbehavin'" both feature the organ, cool at first but gradually gathering steam and finishing grandly with horns in the air. "Music, Maestro Please" is late-'30s sentimentality at its finest, with tinkling celeste and even a bit of romantic violin. After Dr. Jekyll goes off to mope behind the potted palms, Mr. Hyde bursts in on a riotous version of Slim Gaillard's "Flat Foot Floogie" and an alarming ode to disappointed hopes with the catchy title "Pent Up in a Penthouse." Here Waller threatens to "step out the window and turn left," a frightening proposition for anyone occupying a suite so many floors up from the street. Fats's maniacal treatment of "A-Tisket A-Tasket" surpasses even the original version, made famous by its composer Ella Fitzgerald. One week after this combustible session, Fats placed himself at the console of a pipe organ, that instrument so dear to his heart. It is a crying shame that no recordings were made when Waller was granted access to the organ of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Fats later said he considered that to have been the greatest moment of his life. Back in London, the organist pointedly concentrated on spirituals, the music his father the Baptist preacher would have preferred. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is gorgeous. Near the end the music, the song seems to become partially composed of light as Waller's fingers create swirling tides of heavenly tonalities. Before the session was over, Fats was given the opportunity to accompany the lovely Adelaide Hall, famous for her wordless vocal on Duke Ellington's original version of "Creole Love Call." Some music critics, unable to enjoy Hall's diva approach, insist that she was "not a jazz singer." This is a very odd assessment considering all the wonderful jazz recordings she made throughout her long life, much of which was spent in Scandinavia, where she always received respectful admiration. Here Fats teases her with quips that help to spice up a very sweet pair of love songs. Back in New York and bolstered by His Rhythm, Fats wrestled with his repertoire, still saddled with droopy titles like "I'll Never Forgive Myself." While "Two Sleepy People" is pleasant, it pales when compared with Waller's lusty V-Disc version of 1943. Here in the waning weeks of 1938, "You Look Good to Me" is the best of the vocal tracks, second only to the bouncy instrumental "Yacht Club Swing."

Benny Carter - Anthology : The Deluxe Collection (Remastered) [3 CD,2020/FLAC]

Benny Carter was a major figure in every decade of the 20th century since the 1920s, and his consistency and longevity were unprecedented. As an altoist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and occasional trumpeter, Carter was at the top of his field since at least 1928, and in the late '90s, Carter was as strong an altoist at the age of 90 as he was in 1936 (when he was merely 28). His gradually evolving style did not change much through the decades, but neither did it become at all stale or predictable except in its excellence. 

James "Blood" Ulmer discography [1977-2009]

Free jazz has not produced many notable guitarists. Experimental musicians drawn to the guitar have had few jazz role models; consequently, they've typically looked to rock-based players for inspiration. James "Blood" Ulmer is one of the few exceptions -- an outside guitarist who has forged a style based largely on the traditions of African-American vernacular music. Ulmer is an adherent of saxophonist/composer Ornette Coleman's vaguely defined Harmolodic theory, which essentially subverts jazz's harmonic component in favor of freely improvised, non-tonal, or quasi-modal counterpoint. Ulmer plays with a stuttering, vocalic attack; his lines are frequently texturally and chordally based, inflected with the accent of a soul-jazz tenor saxophonist. That's not to say his sound is untouched by the rock tradition -- the influence of Jimi Hendrix on Ulmer is strong -- but it's mixed with blues, funk, and free jazz elements. The resultant music is an expressive, hard-edged, loudly amplified hybrid that is, at its best, on a level with the finest of the Harmolodic school.

Duke Ellington - Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band [3 CD, 2003]

Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band is a 2003 three-disc compilation combining the master takes of all the recordings by Duke Ellington's Orchestra during the years of 1940 to 1942 with an additional nine tracks, including five alternative takes and four new masters. While essentially an expanded re-release of 1990s The Blanton–Webster Band, the packaging, sound and updated notes make this, according to Allmusic, "truly worth either an initial investment or reinvestment". All About Jazz: New York noted that these performances, from what is often considered "the band in its prime", "not only set the standard for big bands and jazz orchestras, but created an ideal near insurmountable to improve upon". The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this compilation as part of its suggested "Core Collection."

Bassist Jimmy Blanton was only with the Ellington orchestra for two years, retiring in 1941 due to tuberculosis, and dying the following year at the age of 23. Despite this compilation's "Blanton-Webster Band" subtitle, Blanton does not appear on the final 17 tracks of the collection, having been replaced on bass by Alvin "Junior" Raglin. 

Anita O'Day - The Complete Anita O'Day Verve-Clef Sessions (9 CD, 2019) [FLAC]

 

This collection presents everything Anita O'Day recorded for Norman Granz' Clef and Verve labels, including her reunion with Gene Krupa in 1956, and her cameo number in "The Gene Krupa Story". Except that one track is missing - "Get Out Of Town", from the album "Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter With Billy May", which was track 9 on disc 6 of the original Mosaic box set, is not here. Nevertheless, 197 tracks for just over a tenner is astonishing value. You can find a review of the music in this set here: Anita was a real jazz singer and her interpretations of the great American songbook are much more original than many of the time.

Stan Getz - The Complete Roost Recordings 1950-1954 [3CD, 1997/FLAC]

 

The Complete Roost Recordings is a 1997 compilation 3-CD set of sessions led by saxophonist and bandleader Stan Getz recorded for the Roost Records label between 1950 and 1954.The compilation includes material previously released on Getz's Roost LPs The Sound, The Getz Age, the two volumes of Stan Getz at Storyville and the album with guitarist Johnny Smith - Moonlight in Vermont along with alternate takes and previously unreleased performances.

Norah Jones discography [2002-2020] (FLAC)

 

Vocalist and pianist Norah Jones developed a unique blend of jazz and traditional vocal pop, with hints of bluesy country and contemporary folk, due in large part to her unique upbringing. The daughter of Ravi Shankar, Jones grew up in Texas with her mother. While she always found the music of Billie Holiday and Bill Evans both intriguing and comforting, she didn't really explore jazz until attending Dallas' Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. During high school, Jones won the Down Beat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Original Composition in 1996, and earned a second Best Jazz Vocalist award in 1997. Putting her vocal talents on the back burner, Jones worked toward earning a degree in jazz piano at the University of North Texas for two years before accepting a friend's offer of a summer sublet in Greenwich Village during the summer of 1999.

(2002) Norah Jones - Come Away With Me (CD + Enhanced BonusCD, Limited Edition)

(2004) Norah Jones - Feels Like Home (Deluxe Edition)

(2007) Norah Jones - Not Too Late

(2009) Norah Jones - The Fall (Deluxe Edition)

(2010) Norah Jones -  ...Featuring

(2012) Norah Jones - Covers

(2012) Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts (Deluxe Edition)

(2017) Norah Jones - Day Breaks

(2019) Norah Jones - Begin Again

(2020) Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off The Floor

Dave Stryker - Blue to the Bone Vol. 1-4 (1996-2011/FLAC)

 

Dave Stryker (born March 30, 1957) is an American jazz guitarist. He has recorded over twenty-five albums as a leader and has been a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and Kevin Mahogany.

Dave Stryker’s music is deeply rooted in blues, having performed with Jack McDuff in the 80s and Stanley Turrentine in the 90s. Dave’s special blend of jazz and blues culminated first time in 1996 in the form of “Blue To The Bone I”. Since then the project has become a popular on-going series.

Verve Jazz Masters series Vol. 21-30

 

 Jazz Masters is a series of mainly single artist compilations released by Polygram/Verve between 1994 and 1996. The compilations collect material that was originally released on Verve or on one of the labels that became part of the Polygram group. The 20th and 60th releases in the series were various artist collections.

VJM 21 - George Benson

VJM 22 - Billy Eckstine

VJM 23 - Gil Evans

VJM 24 - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

VJM 25 - Stan Getz & Dizzy Gillespie

VJM 26 - Lionel Hampton & Oscar Peterson

VJM 27 - Roland Kirk

VJM 28 - Charlie Parker Plays Standards

VJM 29 - Jimmy Smith

VJM 30 - Lester Young

 

The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Anything Goes! The Dave Brubeck Quartet Plays Cole Porter (1967/FLAC)

The Quartet performs eight of Cole Porter's most famous songs on this enjoyable outing. Few surprises occur but the music often swings hard, pianist Brubeck and altoist Paul Desmond take several excellent solos and bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello really push the group. 

•     Dave Brubeck – piano
•     Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
•     Gene Wright – double bass
•     Joe Morello – drums
•     Teo Macero – producer 

A1 Anything Goes

A2 Love For Sale

A3 Night And Day

A4 What Is This Thing Called Love

B1 I Get A Kick Out Of You

B2 Just One Of Those Things

B3 You're The Top

B4 All Through The Night

Steve Coleman - Live at the Village Vanguard Volume II (2021) [ FLAC]

 Recorded live in performance at the renowned Village Vanguard in New York City, "Mdw Ntr," finds MacArthur Fellow Steve Coleman exploring new terrain in his use of non-linear performance practices in his music. Featuring his long-running flagship ensemble Five Elements, he utilizes spontaneous and pre-composed modules, or motivic cells that can be played in any order, allowing each musicians to spontaneously jump forward or backward to different sections – even between compositions – highlighting different strata of the music and reinventing the form each time in a completely interactive way. Coleman often composes these modules by envisioning them as chains of tonal dyads that are strung together along rhythmic patterns to create melodic structures, something he sees as an analogue of DNA sequences. 

• Steve Coleman (alto saxophone)
• Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet)
• Kokayi (wordsmith)
• Anthony Tidd (bass)
• Sean Rickman (drums) 

1. Menes to Midas 12:29

2. Unit Fractions 16:15

3. Little Girl I'll Miss You 09:34

4. Compassion (drum solo) - Ascending Numeration - DeAhBo (Reset) 16:14

5. Pad Thai-Mdw Ntr 14:33

6. 9 to 5 09:36

7. Mdw Ntr 08:42

8. Rumble Young Man, Rumble 08:52

9. Khet & KaBa 07:38

10.DeAhBo (Reset) 08:04

11.9 to 5 - Mdw Ntr 21:33 

Claude Hopkins And His Orchestra - The Chronogical Classics 1932-1940 (3 CD/FLAC)

 

Claude Driskett Hopkins (August 24, 1903 – February 19, 1984) was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader. 

Hopkins was born into a well-educated, middle-class family, both parents being members of the faculty of Howard University. He studied formally at Howard before starting a career as a dance band pianist. In the mid-20s he visited Europe as leader of a band accompanying Joséphine Baker. Later in the decade and into the early 30s he worked in and around New York, leading bands at many prestigious dancehalls, including the Savoy and Roseland. In 1934 he began a residency at the Cotton Club, sharing headline space with the Jimmie Lunceford band, which lasted until the club closed its Harlem premises in February 1936. In the late 30s and early 40s Hopkins toured extensively but folded the band in 1942. He regularly employed first-class musicians such as Hilton Jefferson, Edmond Hall, Vic Dickenson and Jabbo Smith. After a spell outside music he returned to the scene, fronting a band in New York in 1948, and continued to appear in the city and other east coast centres, with large and small groups, into the 70s. Among the musicians with whom he performed during these years were Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Wild Bill Davison and Roy Eldridge. The bands which Hopkins led always had a relaxed, lightly swinging sound, eschewing powerhouse bravura performances.

 

Frank Sinatra - 100 Hits collection (5 CD, 2007/FLAC)

 The name and music of Francis Albert Sinatra (1915-1998) remain today a dominant feature of the show business landscape. Seldom can one man have made quite as big an impact as ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’. He released over 100 albums in his six decades as a recording artist, winning nine Grammy awards and creating a legend that will surely never be surpassed.

 

Gregory Porter - Still Rising - The Collection (2021/FLAC)

 

Gregory Porter's Greatest Hits double album. This will be the first EVER hits collection from the seven-time Grammy nominated, two-time Grammy winner, celebrating Gregory Porter's decade of success with his best songs from 2010 to 2021, multiple brand new songs, bonus material, and new recordings of his much-loved global hits.

 

Andrew Hill - Mosaic Select 16 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

With the release of these sessions, recorded between 1967 and '70, every piece of music from Andrew Hill's Blue Note recordings has been issued. This outstanding, unique pianist-composer is heard in a variety of contexts, and only six of the 31 selections on this set have ever been out in any form. Their common denominator is Andrew's brilliant improvisations and unique compositions.

The 1970 sextet with trumpeter Charles Tolliver and saxophonists Pat Patrick and Bennie Maupin features six challenging pieces played with drive and swing. Some of the best writing in the set comes from two 1969 dates that pair Hill's quartet (Maupin, Ron Carter and Mickey Roker or Carlos Garnett, Richard Davis and Freddie Waits) with a fully integrated string quartet. Three tunes from each of these projects were previously issued, but now the entire sessions have been newly remixed from the original eight-track tapes for release.

A February 1967 session with saxophonists Robin Kenyatta and Sam Rivers features Hill's recorded debut at the organ on two selections, an instrument to which he returns for two pieces on his May 1967 trio date with Ron Carter and Teddy Robinson. From October 1967 comes a powerful septet date with Woody Shaw, Kenyatta, Rivers and Howard Johnson in the front line

The Quintet (Charlie Chan, Charlie Mingus, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie) - Jazz At massey Hall (1956-2004/FLAC)

Bop pioneers Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell,and Max Roach are on fire in this performance given in 1953. Parker is listed as "Charlie Chan" due to his contract with his record label.

 Recorded live at Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada; May 15, 1953.

• Alto Saxophone – Charlie Chan
• Bass – Charlie Mingus
• Drums – Max Roach
• Piano – Bud Powell
• Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie

01. Perdido (7:43)

02. Salt Peanuts (7:40)

03. All The Things You Are / 52nd Street Theme (7:51)

04. Wee (A.K.A. Allen's Alley) (6:42)

05. Hot House (9:11)

06. A Night In Tunisia (7:34)

Verve Jazz Masters series Vol. 11-20

 Jazz Masters is a series of mainly single artist compilations released by Polygram/Verve between 1994 and 1996. The compilations collect material that was originally released on Verve or on one of the labels that became part of the Polygram group. The 20th and 60th releases in the series were various artist collections.

VJM 11 - Stéphane Grappelli

VJM 12 - Billie Holiday

VJM 13 - Antonio Carlos Jobim

VJM 14 - Wes Montgomery

VJM 15 - Charlie Parker

VJM 16 - Oscar Peterson

VJM 17 - Nina Simone

VJM 18 - Sarah Vaughan

VJM 19 - Dinah Washington

VJM 20 - Introducing Jazz Masters

Lucky Thompson discography [1944-2016]

 

Born in Columbia, SC, on June 16, 1924, tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson bridged the gap between the physical dynamism of swing and the cerebral intricacies of bebop, emerging as one of his instrument's foremost practitioners and a stylist par excellence. Eli Thompson's lifelong nickname -- the byproduct of a jersey, given him by his father, with the word "lucky" stitched across the chest -- would prove bitterly inappropriate: when he was five, his mother died, and the remainder of his childhood, spent largely in Detroit, was devoted to helping raise his younger siblings. Thompson loved music, but without hope of acquiring an instrument of his own, he ran errands to earn enough money to purchase an instructional book on the saxophone, complete with fingering chart. He then carved imitation lines and keys into a broom handle, teaching himself to read music years before he ever played an actual sax. According to legend, Thompson finally received his own saxophone by accident -- a delivery company mistakenly dropped one off at his home along with some furniture, and after graduating high school and working briefly as a barber, he signed on with Erskine Hawkins' 'Bama State Collegians, touring with the group until 1943, when he joined Lionel Hampton and settled in New York City.