Seldon Powell  - Seldon Powell Plays (1956)

Tenor Saxophone – Seldon Powell Trombone – Bob Alexander Trumpet – Jimmy Nottingham Bass – Arnold Fishkin Drums – Don Lamond Guitar – Billy Bauer Piano – Tony Aless

Kevin Eubanks (guitar) 1957 :: Happy jazziversary to guitarist Kevin Eubanks. Kevin Tyrone Eubanks is an American jazz and fusion guitarist and composer who was the leader of The Tonight Show Band with host Jay Leno from 1995 to 2010. He also led The Primetime Band on the short-lived The Jay Leno Show.

After Eubanks moved to New York, he began performing with noted jazzmen such as Art Blakey (1980–81), Roy Haynes, Slide Hampton and Sam Rivers. Like his brother Robin, he has played on record with double bassist Bill Dryden and Dave Holland. In 1983, while continuing to perform with others, he formed his own quartet, playing gigs in Jordan, Pakistan, and India on a tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

His first recording as a leader, Guitarist, was released on the Elektra label when Eubanks was 25 years old. It led to a seven-album contract with the GRP label and four albums for Blue Note. In total, Eubanks has appeared on over 100 albums. In 2001, he founded the label Insoul Music on which he has released six albums.

In 1992, Eubanks moved to the West Coast to assume the guitar spot in The Tonight Show Band. At this time, he composed The Tonight Show with Jay Leno's closing theme music, “Kevin's Country”. In 1995, Eubanks replaced Branford Marsalis to become the leader of The Tonight Show Band. He served in this capacity from 1995 to 2010.

When NBC moved Leno’s show from late night to primetime (10PM in the Eastern time zone), Eubanks moved with the band to continue conducting the music for the short-lived The Jay Leno Show. Eubanks appeared on the new show as The Primetime Band. It was announced on February 16, 2010 that Eubanks would only be returning for a short time as band leader when Jay Leno began his second tenure on The Tonight Show.

On April 12, 2010, Eubanks announced on the show that he would be leaving The Tonight Show following its 18th season. His last show was on Friday, May 28, 2010. Eubanks indicated in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer that he wanted to refocus on music, adding that his leaving was not provoked by any problems with Leno or NBC. Following his departure from The Tonight Show, Eubanks began touring with band mate Marvin “Smitty” Smith on drums and Bill Pierce on sax.

Jerome Richardson (reeds) 1920 - 2000 :: Jerome Richardson was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet and piccolo. He played with Charles Mingus, Lionel Hampton, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, and later with Earl Hines’ small band.

Jerome Richardson’s ability to double on a number of instruments in the reed/woodwind family kept him in steady employment for half a century. A first-call reed player in New York and Hollywood, Richardson’s work on saxophones and flute have enhanced literally thousands of recording sessions. Always a very valuable musician to have on a session, he excelled on tenor, alto, flute, baritone, and soprano, as if each one were his main instrument. He tended to be underrated or passed over because he was a studio musician who was often mostly in the ensembles, but Richardson was a fine soloist too.

Richardson did not lead many recording dates in his career but he headed two for New Jazz, (then Prestige) during 1958-1959. “Midnight Oil,” has Richardson mostly on flute, forming an unusual front line with trombonist Jimmy Cleveland. They are joined by a four-piece rhythm section with pianist Hank Jones and guitarist Kenny Burrell, performing cool-toned bop. “Roamin’ with Richardson,” is a quartet outing with pianist Richard Wyands, bassist George Tucker, and drummer Charlie Persip. The leader plays baritone on three songs, two on tenor, and one on flute, swinging on each of his horns. He also put out; “Going to the Movies with Jerome Richardson,” on United Artists and one of the very first jazz-rock records ever made on Verve called “The Groove Merchant.”

Gus Johnson (drums) 1913 - 2000:: Gus Johnson proved the vital drum impetus for a succession of the most famous names in jazz over a long career in the music. His satisfied employers included Count Basie, Woody Herman, Gerry Mulligan, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne, but his resourceful, swinging style was entirely at home in any setting in which he was featured.

That versatility, and his sensitive use of dynamic contrasts, from gentle accompaniment behind a vocalist through to powerhouse big band swing, allowed him to play equally effectively in a wide range of contexts. He took up music in earnest as a young child, studying piano, bass and drums in school, and made his public debut at the age of 9 in Houston.

He formed his own vocal group, the Four Rhythm Aces, after graduating from high school in Kansas City, but subsequently decided to concentrate on drums. He began working with bandleaders like Jo Jones, Lloyd Hunter and Ernest Redd in the mid-1930s, then joined the band led by pianist Jay McShann in Kansas City in 1938, a band which included the youthful Charlie Parker.

He remained with McShann’s band until 1943, and made his recording debut with the pianist. He entered the US Army in 1943, but returned to playing after the war, initially working for McShann again, then in bands led by pianist Earl Hines, saxophonist Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson, and trumpeter Cootie Williams.

He joined the Count Basie Orchestra in 1949, and played with the pianist in his subsequent slimmed-down sextet, a move forced upon the leader by the harsh economics of the period. He was a key member of the new big band which Basie launched in the early-1950s, powering the music in his typically fluid fashion, and played an important role in reestablishing Basie as a major force.

He left Basie in 1954, and worked as a freelance in New York, where he accompanied singers Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald (the latter for nine years), recorded with Billie Holiday, and played on many live dates and recording sessions. He had spells as a member of bands led by trumpeter Buck Clayton (1955-57) and saxophonist Woody Herman (1959-60) during this period, played frequently with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, and also recorded with saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Zoot Sims and Al Cohn.

In 1969, he joined the World’s Greatest Jazz Band, a traditional and mainstream group which had grown out of the celebrated Colorado Jazz Parties run by Dick Gibson. The band was co-led by Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart, and enjoyed considerable success on the festival circuit. He remained with the band until 1974, and also recorded with pianists Ralph Sutton and Jay McShann and saxophonist Eddie ‘Lockjaws’ Davis in that period.

Joe Hinton (vocalist) 1929 -1968 :: Joe Hinton was an American soul singer. He began as a gospel singer with the Chosen Gospel Quartet and the Spirit of Memphis Quartet. Producer Don Robey asked the singer to try doing secular tunes, and Hinton began recording for Robey’s record label, Peacock Records, in 1958.

It was not until 1963, with his fifth single on the label, that he managed to chart with “You Know It Ain’t Right”; the next single, “Better to Give Than to Receive”, also hit the lower regions of the charts. His biggest hit was 1964’s “Funny How Time Slips Away”, written by Willie Nelson; the tune (simply credited as “Funny” on the original record label) peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year.Cash Box magazine listed “Funny How Time Slips Away” as #1 for four weeks on their R&B chart. The track sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. “I Want a Little Girl”, the next single, also charted, but it was his last hit.

Hinton died of skin cancer in 1968 in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 38, while still in the prime of his recording career.

Seldon Powell (tenor) 1928-1997 :: Seldon Powell was an American soul jazz, swing and R&B tenor saxophonist and flautist born in Lawrenceville, Virginia, probably best remembered for his early work with musicians like Tab Smith (1949), Lucky Millinder 1949-51), Neal Hefti or Louis Bellson. During the 1960s he ventured into the soul jazz idiom and worked with musicians like Clark Terry, Lou Donaldson, Johnny Hammond Smith and Buddy Rich.

A veteran tenor saxophonist and flutist, Seldon Powell adjusted and honed his style over the years, being flexible enough to play anything from swing to hard bop and in between. He wasn’t the greatest soloist, most ambitious composer, or most spectacular arranger; he was simply a good, consistent player who survived many changes and trends to remain active from the late ’40s until the ’90s. Powell was classically trained in New York, then worked briefly with Tab Smith in 1949 before joining Lucky Millinder and recording with him in 1950.

Powell was in the military in 1950 and 1951, then became a studio musician in New York. He worked and recorded with Louis Bellson, Neal Hefti, Friedrich Gulda, Johnny Richards, and Billy Ver Planck in the mid- and late ’50s. Powell also played with Sy Oliver and Erskine Hawkins, and studied at Juilliard. He traveled to Europe with Benny Goodman's band in 1958, and worked briefly with Woody Herman.

Powell was a staff player for ABC television in the ’60s, and also played and recorded with Buddy Rich, Bellson, Clark Terry, and Ahmed Abdul-Malik. He did a number of soul-jazz and pop dates in the late ’60s and early ’70s, among them a session with Groove Holmes and big-band dates backing Gato Barbieri and Dizzy Gillespie. Powell was principal soloist in Gerry Mulligan's 16-piece band at the JVC Jazz Festival in New York in 1987. He recorded as a leader for Roost and Epic.

Barry Goldberg - Soul Man (Buddah)