BLACKWELL'S JUNIOR BAND, BUMPS

Homebase:
Stats: 1948...
Misc Notes: “Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell was a musician, producer and composer who worked with the top names in early jazz and rock and roll. Blackwell was born in Seattle on May 23, 1918. In addition to operating a butcher shop on East Madison Street, he also led the Bumps Blackwell Band, and the Bumps Blackwell Orchestra.

Then in 1947 Blackwell discovered a talented local teenage band led by their drummer, Charles Taylor Jr. (a son of the local pianist Evelyn Bundy who’d formed the pioneering Garfield Ramblers jazz combo here back in the 1920s). Taylor had recruited two of Oscar Holden, Sr.’s kids -- Grace Holden (piano) and Oscar Holden Jr. (sax) – along with a newcomer whose family had just moved to the ’hood: the teen trumpeting phenom Quincy Jones. Taylor’s band had only played a few lunch-break dances at Garfield High School, the spring season Garfield Funfest talent show, and a dance at the YMCA, when Blackwell offered to manage them as the Bumps Blackwell Junior Band. Blackwell quickly scored them a regular Sunday gig at the Savoy Ballroom (2203 E Madison Street), and then booked them at a high-profile gig playing opposite no less a figure than Cab “Hi-De-Ho” Calloway at the prestigious Civic Auditorium (at 225 Mercer Street). Blackwell also began reshaping the band by bringing in new members, including the blind teenage pianist Ray Charles, and singer Ernestine Anderson. Along the way those youngsters got opportunities to play with stars like Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway and Billy Eckstine. They also had the chance to record a song -- featuring Ernestine Anderson's vocals -- with two Central District record shop owners, Tom and Ellen Ogilvy. In 1949 Blackwell moved to Los Angeles where he worked for decades with many top R&B and rock 'n' roll stars.