Orlando Wright, better known as Musa Kaleem (January 3, 1921 – March 26, 1988) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

saxophonist and flautist.

Career

Wright bought a clarinet in 1937, and by 1939 was touring as a saxophonist with the El Rodgers Mystics of Rhythm, featuring

Eddie Jefferson Eddie Jefferson (August 3, 1918 – May 9, 1979) was an American jazz vocalist and lyricist. He is credited as an innovator of vocalese, a musical style in which lyrics are set to an instrumental composition or solo. Jefferson himself claims ...

on lead vocals. Early in the 1940s, he began using the name Gonga Musa, and then Musa Kaleem, the name by which he is best known. He played in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

often in the 1940s, gigging with

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

, and

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

. In the middle of the decade he toured with

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical ...

, then relocated to New York City and played with

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Jimmie Lunceford James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Early life Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, ...

, and the

Savoy Sultans The Savoy Sultans was the name of two related 20th-century American jazz ensembles. Savoy Sultans (1937–1946) The original Savoy Sultans were formed by saxophonist Al Cooper, and played at the Savoy Ballroom from 1937 to 1946. This small swing ...

in the late 1940s. In the 1950s, Kaleem was a seaman. Upon his return in the 1960s, he played with James Moody. Musa Kaleem profile Allmusic.com; accessed November 13, 2014.

Discography

Tiny Grimes Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes (July 7, 1916 – March 4, 1989) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a rec ...

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

, '' Blues Groove'' (Esquire, 1958) *

, ''The Jazz Singer'' (Inner City, 1976) * James Moody, ''James Moody'' (Argo, 1959) * James Moody, ''Cookin' the Blues'' (Argo, 1965) *

Dizzy Reece Alphonso Son "Dizzy" Reece (born 5 January 1931) is a Jamaican-born jazz trumpeter. Reece emerged within London's burgeoning bebop jazz scene during the 1950s and went on to become a leading proponent of hard bop jazz in New York City. He l ...

, ''

Comin' On! ''Comin' On!'' is an album by Jamaican-born jazz trumpeter Dizzy Reece, featuring performances recorded at two sessions in 1960, but not released on the Blue Note label until 1999.

'' (Blue Note, 1960, reissued on CD in 1999)

References

1988 deaths 1921 births American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz flautists Musicians from West Virginia 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 20th-century American flautists {{US-jazz-saxophonist-stub