Sammy Lowe (May 14, 1918,

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

– February 17, 1993, Birmingham) was an American trumpeter, arranger, and conductor.

Career

Lowe was active both in

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

and in R&B music, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. From the 1930s to the late 1950s, he arranged music and played trumpet for the

Erskine Hawkins Erskine Ramsay Hawkins (July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is best remembered for composing the jazz standard " Tuxedo Junction ...

Orchestra. He is present on many recordings of Erskine. He also recorded with alto saxophonist Bobby Smith and made arrangements for

Dud Bascomb Wilbur Odell "Dud" Bascomb (May 16, 1916, Birmingham, Alabama – December 25, 1972, New York City) was an American jazz trumpeter, best known for his tenure with Erskine Hawkins. Yanow, Scott. Dud Bascomb biography AllMusic He was a 1979 ind ...

. From the late 1950s until his semi-retirement in 1990, he arranged music for

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blue ...

(1967),

Al Hirt Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album '' Honey in the Horn'' (1963), and for the them ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conce ...

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

, Sam Cooke, The Softones, The Tokens,

The Platters The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...

Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), better known as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960 ...

, Sylvia,

Ray, Goodman & Brown Ray, Goodman & Brown is an American R&B vocal group. The group originated as The Moments, who formed in the mid-1960s and whose greatest successes came in the 1970s with hits including " Love on a Two-Way Street", "Sexy Mama", and " Look at Me ...

, Cameo, Little Peggy March,

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

, Panama Francis and Pat Thomas among others. He is perhaps best known for being one of James Brown's arrangers, including on the hits " It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and " Prisoner of Love". Lowe was one of the first inductees to the

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (AJHF) was founded in 1978, and opened a museum on September 18, 1993, with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general appreciation of the medium of jazz music as a legitimate, original and di ...

Discography

As leader

*1964: ''Hitsville, USA'' (RCA)

As sideman

With Willis Jackson *'' Soul Grabber'' (Prestige, 1967)

References

* Sammy Loweat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Sammy 1918 births 1993 deaths Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American session musicians James Brown Orchestra members 20th-century American musicians Jazz musicians from Alabama American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians