William "Cat" Anderson, Trumpet, 1916, Greenville, SC
Cat grew up in the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina, where he played in the student band, and received a thorough basic training in the rudiments of music. Around 1931, while still in his teens, he assembled a band called The Cotton Pickers. By the late '30s Cat was out in the music world playing professionally in the big-bands of Lionel Hampton and Claude Hopkins. In 1944 Duke Ellington hired Cat as his high note specialist. In the mid '40s Cat led his own band for a few years, and then rejoined Duke, where he remained until the end of the decade. Anderson took a prominent part in many of Ellington's"suites" of that period because Duke actually wrote in parts for him. Beginning in the early '70s Cat performed primarily as a freelance on the West Coast, and occasionally rejoined Duke for special events. Anderson's high-note ability tended to overshadow his outstanding abilities as a section leader, and as a very capable jazz soloist with his own style and remarkable precision of execution. He published several teaching manuals such as" The Cat AndersonTrumpet Method: Dealing With Playing in The Upper Register". Cat Anderson died in 1981.
Scott Hamilton, Saxophone, 1954, Providence, RI
Scott, who grew up in New England, began playing the sax while in his teens, and in 1976 moved to New York, where he was able to work with "name" musicians and quickly gained public and critical acclaim. He has performed and recorded with his own quintet that included stars such the guitarist Chris Flory, and drummer Chuck Riggs. In the mid '70s he began an important association with Warren Vache, which continued well into the 1980s. The two musicians complimented each other's playing and have recorded many albums together, and also worked together as sidemen with Benny Goodman, Rosemary Clooney, and Woody Herman. During most of the '80s Scott also worked with the great trumpeter Ruby Braff, and performed with popular jazz touring bands such as the Concord Jazz All-Stars, the Concord Superband, and the Newport Jazz Festival All-Stars. Hamilton's tenor playing is obviously an extension of the tradition established by Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, and Illinois Jacquet. He is an extremely gifted improviser, and is very capable of transforming the most unlikely material into memorable music.
Steve Turre, Trombone, 1948, Omaha, NE
Steve grew up in California where he had music lessons with local teachers before finally attending North Texas State University during the late '60s. Later, In San Francisco, he recorded with the Latin rock group Santana, and from around 1968 played sporadically with Roland Kirk. It was during the early 1970s that Steve played with Ray Charles and Woody Shaw, then traveled to New York with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. His next important gig was with the Thad Jones/Mel lewis Orchestra, with which he toured Europe. Turre performed and recorded with Chico Hamilton during the mid '70s, playing trombone and also the electric bass. During the same period he again recorded with Woody Shaw; his beautiful solos are particularly prominent on the album "Moontrane". He later performed for Slide Hampton's group and also wrote arrangements and worked for Max Roach. In the 1980s Steve toured with Cedar Walton and then returned to Woody Shaw's band.
Earl Coleman, Singer, Port Huron, MS
