Cliff Leeman, Drums, 1913, Portland, ME
It was during the mid to late '30s that Leeman began working with the big bands. His first job was with Artie Shaw and then later with Tommy Dorsey. During the '40s he worked with Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, and then led his own small band. During this period he also worked regularly in Raymond Scott's radio show, "Hit Parade" ,that was broadcast over CBS. Later he worked frequently at jazz clubs such as Eddie Condon's and recorded with numerous jazz groups in New York. In the early '60s, Cliff spent a great deal of time in Las Vegas with groups led by Bob Crosby and also with Wild Bill Davison. With Yank Lawson's band he toured Japan, Australia, and New Zealand during the mid '60s. He continued to perform in jazz clubs and at music festivals until shortly before his death. A versatile and highly accomplished drummer, with a wonderful technique, he was equally at home in big and small ensembles. Cliff Leeman died in 1986.
Raymond Scott, Piano, 1910, New York, NY
After studying music at the Institute of Musical Art in New York, Scott joined CBS as a staff pianist and composer in the mid '30s. For CBS Raymond did it all--he performed as a band leader of a studio quintet, he recorded novelty pieces, wrote film scores, and even worked as an actor. Between 1939 and 1942 he toured and recorded with his own big band, but it was a band that didn't have strong soloists nor a good sense of swing. In1942 he returned to CBS and organized a much different band,a band that included Emmett Berry, Jerry Jerome, and Cozy Cole. He later expanded the group by adding Charlie Shavers, Ben Webster, Benny Morton, Johnny Guarnieri, George Johnson, Israel Crosby, and Specs Powell. During the '50s and '60s he once again did it all-- working in popular music as a composer, arranger, recording engineer, and conductor. He settled in California in the early '70s, and thereafter worked primarily on the West Coast.
Roy Ayers, Vibraphone, 1940, Los Angeles, CA
Roy loved music from the time he was a toddler. He studied keyboard instruments, clarinet, and singing with his mother, then concentrated on vibraphone from his late teens. After attending college for a brief period, he played West Coast jazz with Gerald Wilson's big band, Teddy Edwards, Curtis Amy, and Chico Hamilton. He made his first recordings while with Wilson and Amy. He performed with Herbie Mann at the Lighthouse in California in the mid '60s. He also toured with Mann, who produced three of his albums. In 1970 Roy formed the group Ubiquity, which played what he described as an amalgam of jazz, blues, rhythm-and-blues, pop, bossa-nova, and Latin music. During the late '70s the influence of disco could be discerned in his work.
Craig Harris, Trombone, 1954, Hempstead, NY
Dave Burrell, Piano, 1940, Middletown, OH
