Elmer Crumbley, Trombone, 1908, Kingfisher, OK
During the 1920s Elmer worked in the mid west with the bands of Jabbo Smith, Erskine Tate, Tommy Douglas, and Zack Whyte. In the mid '30s he led his own band in the Omaha, Nebraska area before moving to New York to join Jimmy Lunsford's band. He worked and recorded with Lunsford until the mid '40s. During the '50s Elmer worked with Luckey Millinder and Erskine Hawkins, and led several small groups of his own. During the late '50s and early' 60s he played with the Reuben Phillips orchestra at the Apollo theatre in New York. In the early '70s he performed and recorded with bands such as Cab Calloway's, Earl Hines' and again with Coleman Hawkins. A fine musician who was always in demand, Elmer just seemed to fade away after the mid '70s.
Stanley Jordan, Guitar, 1959, Chicago, Ill
Stanley began his music lessons on the piano when he was about six years old, and switched to the guitar at 11, and soon began playing in rock and roll and soul music groups. While studying electronic music, theory, and composition at Princeton University, (graduating in 1981), he managed to perform with Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Carter. In 1982 he recorded his first album as a soloist; "Touch Sensitive". The album was a wonderful display of his virtuosity and technique, but commercially it was not a success. In the following years Stanley gained greater recognition, performing at festivals and recording with a variety of leaders. During the 1980s he worked with Quincy Jones, Michael Urbaniak, and Richie Cole. Although very capable at conventional technique on the guitar, he has a unique style of his own, preferring to tap the strings of the instrument with both hands, allowing him to play two independent lines and to comp against his own solos. His versitility makes him much in demand as a sideman.
