Red Wootten, Bass, 1921, Social Circle, GA
Red worked with Jan Sevitt and Tony Pastor during the first part of the 1940s, and by the end of the decade he was with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. The 1950s found him performing with Woody Herman, Charlie Barnet, and Red Norvo. During the last part of the '50s he performed and toured Europe with the Benny Goodman orchestra. Thereafter he became less active as a jazz musician, and concentrated instead on studio work in Hollywood, and also composed and arranged film scores. In the mid '70s Red accompanied Anita O'Day in her club routines.
Joe Sullivan, Piano, 1906, Chicago, IL
Joe, a pianist and composer, studied at the Chicago Conservatory for two years and thenleft school to play on the vaudeville circuit. He appeared as a featured soloist with many bandleaders and also performed on radio. Red's first recording was as a member of Red McKenzie and Eddie Condon's Chicagoans, where he gained some fame for his powerful solo on "China Boy". In 1936 he developed tuberculosis, but after his recovery he resumed working as a soloist with various groups, mainly in the New York area. In 1939 Joe led one of the first racially integrated ensembles in New York at Cafe Society and the Famous Door, both popular jazz clubs. During the 1960s he appeared at several jazz festivals and began working on a regular basis at the Trident in San Francisco. He was again taken ill during the latter '60s while performing at the Newport Jazz Festival, and thereafter performed only infrequently. He did manage to later appear in several films, and also produce music for films. Sullivan was strongly influenced by the stride pianists Fats Waller and Earl Hines. Joe Sullivan died in 1971.
Jack McVea, 1914, Los Angeles, CA
