Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996.
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 67 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely accepted in both the white and black communities, largely due to the ballad style introduced to the group by lead singer Bill Kenny.
John Vivian McVea was an American swing, blues, and rhythm and blues woodwind player and bandleader. He played clarinet and tenor and baritone saxophone.
Marjorie Hyams was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, and arranger. She began her career as a vibraphonist in the 1940s, playing with Woody Herman, the Hip Chicks (1945), Mary Lou Williams (1946), Charlie Ventura (1946), George Shearing, and led her own groups, including a trio, which stayed together from 1945 to 1948, performing on 52nd Street in Manhattan. The media, marquees, and promos often spelled her first name "Margie", but she insisted that it was spelled with a "j".
Swan Records was an American record company and label that was founded in 1946 and closed the same year. Sometime before 1959, Swan went out of business. In 1950, Mercury acquired 16 masters once owned by Swan, all being of Phil Napoleon. In 1946, Swan listed its address at 1600 Broadway, Room 1003, New York, New York.
"Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)" (commonly referred to as "Stormy Monday") is a song written and recorded by American blues electric guitar pioneer T-Bone Walker. It is a slow twelve-bar blues performed in the West Coast blues-style that features Walker's smooth, plaintive vocal and distinctive guitar work. As well as becoming a record chart hit in 1948, it inspired B.B. King and others to take up the electric guitar. "Stormy Monday" became Walker's best-known and most-recorded song.
Herschel "Tex" Evans was an American tenor saxophonist who was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. He also worked with Lionel Hampton and Buck Clayton. He is also known for starting his cousin Joe McQueen's interest in the saxophone. Joe McQueen, living until 2019 at age 100, may well have been the last surviving person to have known Herschel during his lifetime.
Ralph Basso Jr., known as Ralph Bass, was an American rhythm-and-blues record producer and talent scout for several independent labels. He was a pioneer in bringing African American music into the American mainstream. During his career he worked in key roles for Black & White Records, Savoy Records, King Records, Federal Records, and Chess Records, recording many leading performers, including Etta James, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Earl Bostic, and groups such as the Platters and the Dominoes. Bass was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a nonperformer.
"A Little Bird Told Me" is a popular song. It was written by Harvey Oliver Brooks (1899–1968) and was published in 1947.
George Roderick Cless was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, perhaps best known for his work on sixteen Muggsy Spanier tunes for Bluebird Records. Additionally, Cless worked with other artists such as Frank Teschemacher, Gene Krupa, Art Hodes, Bobby Hackett, Max Kaminsky and Mezz Mezzrow.
Donald Douglas Lamond Jr. was an American jazz drummer.
"There'll Be Some Changes Made" ("Changes") is a popular song by Benton Overstreet (composer) and Billy Higgins (lyricist). Published in 1921, the song has flourished in several genres, particularly jazz. The song has endured for as many years as a jazz standard. According to the online The Jazz Discography, "Changes" had been recorded 404 times as of May 2018. The song and its record debut were revolutionary, in that the songwriters (Overstreet and Higgins, the original copyright publisher, Harry Herbert Pace, the vocalist to first record it, the owners of Black Swan, the opera singer for whom the label was named, and the musicians on the recording led by Fletcher Henderson, were all African American. The production is identified by historians as a notable part of the Harlem Renaissance.
Phil Moore was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and bandleader.
Robert Earle Spencer was an American trombonist and leader of a progressive swing big band bearing his name — Earle Spencer and His Orchestra. He formed the band in 1946 and disbanded in 1949. The band recorded for Black & White Records — a label so named by its founder, Les Schreiber, to reflect the races of its recording artists.
Comet Records was an American jazz and R&B record label, founded in 1944 by Les Schriber, Sr. and Harry Alderton. The label is most known for having recorded and produced T-Bone Walker and Red Norvo. The label was acquired by Black & White Records and operated as a subsidiary. Comet recorded – but never released – a session with Charlie Parker on June 6, 1945. That master was sold to Dial Records in 1949, when Black & White Records went out of business.
Lucius Antoine Tyson, who performed as Dr. Sausage or Doc Sausage, was an American singer, dancer, drummer and bandleader. He was active from the 1930s to the 1950s and is best known for his 1950 recording of "Rag Mop".
Supreme Records was a small, independent record label based in Los Angeles that existed from 1947 to 1950. It was founded by dentist Albert Patrick and specialized in rhythm and blues. Its artists included Jimmy Witherspoon, Paula Watson, Buddy Tate, Eddie Williams and his Brown Buddies, Big Jim Wynn, and Percy Mayfield.
Paula Watson was an American jazz and R&B singer and pianist.
Robert W. "Rabon" Tarrant was an American jump blues and jazz drummer, singer and songwriter. His most notable composition was "Blues with a Feeling", later recorded by Little Walter and many other musicians, becoming a blues standard.
