Sammy Price, Piano, 1908, Honey Grove, TX
Sammy's first important gig was with Alphonso Trent's band as a dancer not as a musician. He also sang. Sammy did it all, but eventually settled on the piano, leading a band of his own in Athens,Texas. In the mid '20s he had a big band, playing theaters and touring. He made his first recordings in Dallas, where he was active until around 1933. He later moved around, working in Chicago and Detroit, and in 1937 he left the road and became a staff musician for Decca in New York City. Around this time he also managed to maintain a group of his own, employing musicians such as; Lester Young, Emmett Berry, Ike Quebeck, J.C. Heard, and Sid Catlett. In the late '40s, in Europe, he recorded with Mezz Mezzrow, and Sidney Bechet, among others, and in 1950 he returned to Dallas where he owned two jazz clubs. Thereafter, he returned to New York, then again toured Europe as the leader of a band called the Blusicians. During the 1960s Price toured Europe frequently and when in New York worked with most of the prominent musicians of the period, and spent much time working in Eddie Condon's club.
Carmen Mastern, Guitar/Leader, 1913, Cohoes, NY
When Carmen was very young he studied the banjo and violin, working in a family band with his brothers John, Frank, Eddie, and Al. By the early '30s he was working on his own as a professional musician, and in 1935 he moved to New York where he went to work for Wingy Manone. Around 1938 he worked with Tommy Dorsey, and in 1940 was named "Best Guitarist" by Downbeat Magazine and Metronome. In the early '40s Carmen was a staff musician for NBC, before being drafted and became a member of Glenn Miller's Air Force orchestra. From 1953 until 1970 Mastern was again a staff musician at NBC, then during most of the next decade he worked with the New York Jazz Repertory Company. Carmen's solo style was chordal in nature, and was later eclipsed by the single-string style of Charlie Christian. Carmen Mastern died in 1981.
Norman Simmons, Piano, 1929, Chicago,
Norman received his formal music education at the Chicago School of Music, where he was a student of Max Sinzheimer from 1945 to 1949 ,while at the same time playing with musicians such as Clifford Jordan and Paul Bascomb. In the mid '50s, in chicago, he was the house pianist at the Bee Hive and also formed a modern group with Vernel Fournier and Victor Sproles which recorded under Wardell Gray's leadership. He spent the last part of the 1950s in Chicago at the C & C Lounge and also accompanied Dakota Staton and Ernestine Anderson in the recording studios. He later decided to move to New York where he wrote arrangements for various artists on Riverside Records, and also worked with Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Later he recorded with Roy Eldridge and a group co- led by Scott Hamilton and Warren Vache (1978-79). Simmons began teaching piano and band playing for the Jazzmobile in 1974.
Mark Whitfield, Guitar, 1966, Lindenhurst, NJ
