George Kelly

George Kelly was the only musician to be a regular member of both <a href="spotify:artist:4dyeN3BL98fC65mFE7qUJS">Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans</a> of the 1940s and <a href="spotify:artist:3YqwsNEXzkfW6T57ux4QAr">Panama Francis' Savoy Sultans</a> of 40 years later. Kelly began on the piano when he was nine before switching to alto and finally tenor. He played locally in Florida and <a href="spotify:artist:3YqwsNEXzkfW6T57ux4QAr">Panama Francis</a> was an early sideman in his band the Cavaliers; Kelly also gigged with Zack Whyte in 1938. After moving to New York, the tenorman was with the Sultans during 1941-1944. Other associations included <a href="spotify:artist:0Tb8S5bNKO7nZV1eunOwZa">Rex Stewart</a> (1946), bassist Lucille Dixon (1948-1950), and <a href="spotify:artist:2SJ9t86XCfdJnyoMgAtPU1">Tiny Grimes' Highlanders</a>. Kelly mostly worked with lesser-known groups in the '50s and '60s (other than <a href="spotify:artist:6fkwnXeEKj729M5HSIaoMr">Cozy Cole</a> in 1965), toured Europe with <a href="spotify:artist:1qZnWtvzKVV0lJQZBapchU">Jay McShann</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2SJ9t86XCfdJnyoMgAtPU1">Tiny Grimes</a> in 1970, and during 1970-1976 he was part of <a href="spotify:artist:5bOsFzuJ6QZMr86ezC4oXY">the Ink Spots</a>' backup band. During his last decade he had a higher profile, visiting Europe with Ram Ramirez (1976) and being part of both the new <a href="spotify:artist:4E0GU2t4SVaQ7EaQ76wOYB">Savoy Sultans</a> and the Harlem Jazz & Blues Band. Kelly had a strong tenor tone that looked back towards the swing era while he was clearly aware of later developments. In addition to many sideman appearances during the 1976-1984 period, George Kelly recorded as a leader for Dharma (1976), Black & Blue (1979), Barron (1982), Vanacore (1982), Sam Hot (1984), and Stash (a tribute to <a href="spotify:artist:4xgDy82aqLHAG2Is3ELRWv">Don Redman</a> in 1984). ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi