Gerald Wells

Alto saxophone and piccolo.

Wells was an important early jazz man on the West coast. Born 1887, probably in St. Vincent, he came to Seattle in 1913 but in 1914 was playing in San Francisco with early jazz band leader Sid LeProtti. Wells toured the West with the So Different Orchestra, which brought jazz to Honolulu in 1917 and then became the first jazz band to play in Army uniform, during WWI. Wells later became President of the Local 493 Musicians Union (the black local).

Jackson Street After Hours (print); https://www.historylink.org/File/10329