Catlett started on alto saxophone in Charlie Taylor’s band, with Quincy Jones, at Garfield High School, in 1944. After developing what doctors thought was tuberculosis, he was advised to switch to a non-wind instrument and took up bass, which he played locally with Billy Tolles, Paul Neves and others in the early ’50s before going on the road with Horace Henderson in 1956. In 1959 he was hired by vibraphonist Cal Tjader then went to Europe with Quincy Jones’ big band for 10 months, after which he played and recorded with Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong and many other jazz names. Catlett returned to Seattle in 1978, where he finished out his career as a first-call sideman, working regularly at Parnell’s, Jazz Alley and at Lofurno’s, with Melody Jones. … Continue readingBuddy Catlett

Raised in Kansas City and Denver, Russell played with the early Kansas City swing band led by George E. Lee and inspired Buck Clayton to take up trumpet. A high-note specialist, Russell also played with Grant Moore and His Original New Orleans Black Devils, a “territory band” that toured the midwest, and soloed on two recordings by Moore. After playing with drummer Vernon Brown in a band led by Burt Bailey, in Milwaukee, Russell was reccommended by Brown to Al Pierre, and Rusell moved to Seattle to play with Pierre throughout the 1940s. … Continue readingBob Russell

While a student at Garfield High School, Tolles, self-taught, founded a swing band, the Savoy boys, thatt featured contemporaries who would go on to make lasting contributions, including saxophonist Gerald Brashear, trumpeter Sonny Booker, trombonist Major Pigford and pianist Kenny Boas. The band took its name from the venue where it played, the Savoy Ballroom, at 21st Avenue and East Madison Street. After graduating from A &T College in North Carolina in 1948, Tolles was in and out of Seattle for the next 10 years, forging a reputation as a hot, soulful bebopper and Seattle rock’n’roll pioneer, forming a rock band in 1951 and hosting a TV show in 1956 on Channel 13, “Rock’n’Roll Party.” Tolles performed with bassist Bob Marshall and band leader Bumps Blackwell and also booked early R&B acts such as T-Bone Walker and James Brown. Tolles moved to Denver in 1966, where he became an institution on the jazz scene, headlining his own group for several decades. … Continue readingBilly Tolles

Ramsay grew up in Centralia, Wash., taught himself to play saxophone and learned to play jazz while stationed at Ft. Lewis from 1948-1952. where he met and played with other soldier-musicians such as Eric Dolphy and Leo Wright. Ramsay gigged often in Tacoma and around Olympia and Seattle. In 1958 Ramsay assembled an all-star big band featuring players such as Chuck Metcalf and trumpeter Don Smith. He later became a regular contractor of pit bands for touring stars such as Billy Eckstine, Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis. From 1979 forward, Ramsay toured with nationally known jazz players, such as Buddy Tate, Maynard Ferguson and Benny Goodman and in 1984 began a long relationship with the Count Basie Band. When he i not on the road, Ramsay plays in town with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and the Ramsay-Kleeb Big Band, which he co-leads with Milt Kleeb. … Continue readingBill Ramsay

Raised in Seattle, Turay was inspired by guitarist Eddie Lang and Django Reinhardt. In the late ’30s, Turay played bass, sitting in with Palmer Johnson at the 411 Club; with Junior Raglin, at the Black and Tan; and in private sessions with Raglin and guittarist Milt Green. After working on cruises and, after the war, with a band at the Roll Inn, downtown, with Al Pierre bassist Bill Rinaldi, Turay joined Elmer Gill at the Ebony, in one of the most popular Jackson Street bands of the late ’50s. A first-call player on the downtown commercial scene, Turay also led his own jazz band at Pete’s Poop Deck. Turay eventually gravitated toward teaching, running the top guitar studio for budding jazz musicians. … Continue readingAl Turay

Raised near Tacoma, pianist Al Pierre was Seattle’s first professional African-American swing band leader, playing at the Savoy Ballroom at East Madison Street and 21st Avenue. He played in the Portland area before establishing himself in Seattle around 1934. His “little big band” had a regular gig at the Union Club, at First Avenue and Cherry Street, from 1943-49, and featured some of the top players in town, including drummer Vernon Brown and saxophonists Jabo Ward and Terry Cruise. For a while, Pierre owned his own club at 12th Avenue and Yesler Street, Al’s Lucky Hour. Pierre’s last hurrah was a tour to Alaska around 1949-50, after which he became ill and is believed to have died shortly thereafter. … Continue readingAl Pierre

The brother of the well-known New York pianist Ellis Larkins, Al Larkins played in Elmer Gill’s trios at Sessions and the Ebony; with Billy Tolles at the short-lived New Orleans Club; and held down the bass chair in the Jive Bombers in the early ’50s. Larkins also played tuba in one of Seattle’s most popular New Orleans-revivalist groups, the Rainy City Jazz Band and taught social studies at Franklin High School. To honor his community service in the Madrona neighborhood, a park on 34th Avenue East and East Pike Street was named after him in 1979. … Continue readingAl Larkins

Born in Virginia, raised in Harlem and educated at Fisk University, Alphonse “Al Hickey” Hickerson played in the Fisk Collegians (later known as the Jimmie Lunceford band) then joined the Navy, in 1941. Stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Base, outside Chicago, Hickey began playing in Chicago with his former Fisk classmate, trumpeter “Doc” Wheeler and reed man William Funderburg in a group they called the Jive Bombers, a name they retained as a Navy swing unit when they were all transfered to Sand Point Naval Air Station in Seattle, in 1942. The Jive Bombers played in the lively, popular “jump” style of Louis Jordan and the group prospered into the 1950s with changing personnel that at some points included Gerald Wiggins, Wyatt Ruther and drummer Ralph Davis. In 1948, the Jive Bombers competed in a “battle of the bands” with none other than Lester Young, who was playing at the Washington Social Club. Hickey subsequently played in Alaska with Elmer Gill. He moved to Porltand in 1953, where he played for 42 years in a popular quartet, the Hamiltones. … Continue readingAl Hickey

Originally from Kansas City, Davis was considered by Jabo Ward to be one the top tenor sax man in town. Jimmy Rowles likened Davis’ style to Lester Young’s and jammed with him the first night the young pianist came to Seattle, in 1937, at the Black and Tan. In the late ’30s Davis was with Palmer Johnson’s sextet at the Congo Club, which also included Junior Raglin, and appeared on the big Metropolian Theatre concert in 1940, as well. In 1944, Davis was at Basin Street with Leon Vaughn’s band. Davis was said to have gone mad trying to get the “atomic” note out of his horn after Hiroshima. … Continue readingAaron Davis