Browse Items (31 total)

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Industrial High School Band, 1930-1931. Band director John T. “Fess” Whatley at far right.

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Bandleader John T. "Fess" Whatley stands at far left in the center row. Many of Whatley's students would go on to professional careers as jazz musicians.

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John T. “Fess” Whatley with other Black delegates to the 42nd annual convention of the American Federations of Musicians, Louisville, Kentucky, 1937. Barred from participating in Birmingham’s white musicians’ union, Whatley co-founded Local 733 for…

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Fess Whatley’s Sax-o-Society Orchestra, c. 1940s.

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John T. “Fess” Whatley (1885 – 1972), Birmingham’s legendary “Maker of Musicians,” 1968. From 1917 into the 1950s, Whatley’s music program at Industrial / Parker High School produced numerous professional musicians, many of whom performed in the…

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As a high school student in the 1940s, Frank Adams played in both the bands of Fess Whatley, Birmingham's celebrated "Maker of Musicians," and Herman "Sonny" Blount, later famous as Sun Ra. In this interview excerpt, Adams compares the experience of…

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In this interview excerpt, Frank Adams describes a conflict with high school bandleader (and legendary disciplinarian) John T. “Fess” Whatley – and an unexpected invitation from Sun Ra, the otherworldly bandleader then known as Sonny…

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Newspaper advertisement for Fess Whatley's Jazz Demons, remembered as Birmingham, Alabama's first jazz band.Birmingham News, November 20, 1921.

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Newspaper advertisement for Fess Whatley's Jazz Demons, remembered as Birmingham, Alabama's first jazz band. Birmingham News, November 20, 1921.

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Press coverage in the Kingsport [TN] Times anticipating Fess Whatley's presentation of the Sonny Blount Orchestra. On the heels of his own successful 1934 summer tour, Whatley organized and promoted a tour along the same route, featuring the band of…

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Newspaper advertisement for Fess Whatley at the Rustic Gardens in Crawfordsville, Indiana.Lafayette [IN] Journal and Courier, October 27, 1934.

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Newspaper advertisement for Fess Whatley's Sax-o-Society Orchestra at Cullman, Alabama's annual Roosevelt Birthday Ball, a benefit combatting infant paralysis.Cullman Tribune, January 28, 1937.

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Newspaper advertisement for a "New Year's Eve Barn Dance Frolic" featuring Fess Whatley at Birmingham's City Auditorium.Birmingham News, December 29, 1937.

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Newspaper advertisement for a "New Year's Eve Barn Dance Frolic" featuring Fess Whatley at Birmingham's City Auditorium.Birmingham News, December 30, 1937.Three of the stars of Whatley's band are identified by name: trumpeter Johnny ("Johnnie")…

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Newspaper advertisement for a "New Year's Eve Barn Dance Frolic" featuring Fess Whatley at Birmingham's City Auditorium. Birmingham News, December 31, 1937. Three of the stars of Whatley's band are identified by name: trumpeter Johnny ("Johnnie")…

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Advertisement for Fess Whately's Saxo-Society Orchestra of Industrial High School, circa 1930: "A Neat Appearing Group of Men that Will Grace Any Function."

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Newspaper advertisement for Fess Whatley's 12-Piece Orchestra in an "Exclusive Colored Dance" at Birmingham's City Auditorium, Birmingham News, February 7, 1940.

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Newspaper advertisement for a Christmas dance with Fess Whatley's Vibra-Cathedral Orchestra,Weekly Review, December 2, 1940.

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In 1941, the Black-owned Weekly Review ran a readers' poll to determine the best swing band in Birmingham. Contenders included the bands of Fess Whatley, Howard Funderburg, and Frank Hines; the Society Troubadours; and Teddie's Honey Boys.Weekly…

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Weekly Review, January 24, 1941.

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