George Wettling, Drums, 1907, Topeka, KS
From the mid '20s to the mid '30s George worked in the Chicago area with a series of local bands before joining Wingy Manone's group working on the East Coast, a gig that lasted for around two years. He began his recording career in 1936 with Jimmy McPartland and again with Wingy Manone. He later worked in full-size orchestras led by Artie Shaw and Bunny Berigan. During the same period he recorded regularly as a freelance musician, often in Dixieland groups with Eddie Condon. Some of the musicians he performed with were; Bobby Hackett, Mugsy Spanier, Chico Marx, and Benny Goodman. In 1953 he began leading his own Dixieland bands and was frequently associated with Eddie Condon . George's main influence when he first began playing was Baby Dodds, a Dixieland musician, but was able to play in any style because of his wonderful technique. He also contributed as a writer to Downbeat magazine and wrote liner notes for many albums. George Wettling died in 1968.
Gigi Gryce, Saxophone, 1927, Pensacola, FL
Gigi grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, and received lessons from private teachers before he began studies in composition at the Boston Conservatory in 1948. In 1950 he won a Fulbright Scholarship and continued his studieshe in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Arthur Honegger. After his return to New York he became involved in jazz, performing and recording with Max Roach, Howard McGhee, Tad Dameron, and Clifford Brown. In 1953 George joined Lionel Hampton's orchestra with which he toured the U.S. and Europe, and the next year, back in the U.S., he worked with Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, and Thelonious Monk. He also led his own group, the Jazz Lab Quintet. In 1960 he decided to stop traveling, and devoted his efforts to teaching. Gryce, who also played clarinet and flute, was strongly influenced by Charlie Parker with his alto playing, though he had a thinner tone than Parker. He wrote extensively for Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Pettiford, and Clifford Brown. He has three classical symphonies and various chamber works to his credit. Gigi Gryce died in 1983.
Joe Williams, Singer, 1918, Cordele, GA
Joe Williams was famous for his bass-baritone voice and unique style with a ballad or blues. Duke Ellington said of Williams, "All the accents were in the right places and on the right words". He grew up in Chicago where his primary musical influence was the gospel quartet in which he sang. During the '30s and '40s Joe worked the bands of Jimmy Noone, Coleman Hawkins, Lionel Hampton, Andy Kirk, Red Saunders, and others. From the mid '50s until the early '60s he was with Count Basie, where his dramatic performance of ballads and powerful blues singing were important to his career and to Basie's band. Their greatest hit was "Every Day I Have The Blues",recorded in 1955. From this point on Williams became a solo performer on radio, television, in clubs and at festivals. He performed and recorded with musicians such as Harry Edison, Junior Mance, George Shearing, and Cannonball Adderley. He frequently rejoined Basie, performing and touring. Joe's singing changed the role of the big-band singer without sacrificing his own musical imagination. While with Basie he never sang songs that were associated with the band's previous singer, Jimmy Rushing, he always maintained his own style. Joe's voice was powerful enough that he often performed without amplification, belting above the band. Twice during the late '70s , Joe and Clark Terry toured Africa, sponsored by the U.S.State Department. Well into the 1990s Joe was one of the most dependable and moving performers in jazz. Joe Williams died in 1999.
Gato Barbieri, Saxophone, 1934, Argentina
Gato's first instrument was the clarinet. It was in the mid '40s that he took up the alto sax and within a few years he was sitting in the first-alto chair in Lalo Schifrin's band. Like many alto players of his generation, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane were his early influences. In the early '60s Gato was living in Europe, working for Don Cherry, and by now playing the tenor. At this point he was actually beginning to show an interest in Latin American music and was also gaining a good deal of popularity with numerous appearances in jazz festivals. During the mid '70s he returned to Argentina where he formed a big-band that performed a fusion of Latin American and folk music and even began to work in popular and commercial styles. Gato's sound is much like that of Coltrane, but has a more romantic vibrato, and at times he manages to bring in a sound that can best be described as; a high-pitched wailing tone. In 1972 Gato wrote the music for the film "Last Tango In Paris" and also performed on the soundtrack.
