Heroes From Alabama

Celebration: Erskine Hawkins & The Alabama State Collegians

Featuring: The Tommy Stewart Orchestra

August 8th, 3:00 P.M. Irondale, Alabama

In 1929 the all-black Alabama State Teachers College in Montgomery, Alabama was faced,
with the distinct possibility of facing closure under the force of the Great Depression and the
evils of Jim Crow. The Governor of Alabama at the time refused to provide any financial
support to cover teacher’s salaries and other pertinent expenditures, typically required of post-
secondary institutions. However, under these audacious conditions and dire circumstances,
the Alabama State Collegians were birthed,
nourished, and eventually flourished. Soon the
Collegians were performing opposite the likes of
highly touted and respected bands such as;
Duke Ellington and Count Basie. The first band
was organized by a young, brash 22-year-old
saxophonist from Industrial High School (Parker
High) in Birmingham, Alabama, Paul Bascomb.
The administrators at Alamam State asked Paul
Bascomb to expand his small group and
develop a big band. Paul would go on to play
with The Erskine Hawkins Orchestra and the
Count Basie Orchestra and form smaller bands
of his own. Paul Bascomb had such a reputation
that he would go on and replace the recently
departed Tenor Titan Lester Young in the Count
Basie band.

In the fall of 1929, the band hit the road set to

compete against the finest big bands across the
country. Did they succeed? Alabama State
Teachers College, now the University has a current student body of over 5,000 students
offering 47-degree programs and an endowment of over 100 million dollars. The Collegians
continue to influence and impact modern music, from hip hop to soul and R&B. For example,
The hit arrangement “Tuxedo Junction” was covered over 100 times. Also, ASU Collegiate
Alumnus Wilbur “Dud” Bascomb Influenced modern innovators of the trumpet such as; Miles
Davis, ‘Fats” Navarro, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillispie. In short, the Alabama State
Collegians influenced the entire world of western music.
Tommy Stewart is an American trumpeter, arranger,
composer, and record producer. He has been a member of the Magic City Jazz Orchestra,
Cleveland Eaton and the Alabama All-Stars, the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame All-Stars, and Ray
Reach and Friends. He was a 1988 inductee into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. John T.
"Fess" Whatley trained Stewart, Erskine
Hawkins, Dud Bascomb, Paul Bascomb, and Sun
Ra (previously known as Herman Blount). Whatley taught music at Industrial High in
Birmingham, which at the time was one of the largest populated high schools in America, with
more than 3,500 students walking its hallways. Alvin "Stumpy" Robinson, the band director at
Washington Jr High School, was also influential in Stewart's development.

'My solos started taking on a quality where

there were long runs and...where the playing
was sort of behind the beat. Sort of like the style
of Dud Bascomb...'

Dizzy Gillespie

‘At that time Navarro was favoring the style of trumpeter ‘

Dud Bascomb from the Erskine Hawkins orchestra.’

Trumpeter Idrees Sulieman

 Schedule of Events

Concert Symposium - August 7 , 2021

th

8:00 A. M. – 9:45 A. M

Symposium: The Impact of “Fess” Whatley on HBCU’s and Big Bands

Concert - August 8 , 2021

th

3:00 P. M. – 6:00 P. M.

Celebration: Honoring Erskine Hawkins and The Alabama State Collegians

7:00 P. M. – 10:00 P. M. -Jam Session

Project Deliverables

1. Live Audio & Video Recorded Album and Jam Session Included
2. Video Documentary
3. Symposium Documentary