James Melvin Lunceford was 'The Real King of Swing' & 'The King of the Battle of the Bands'.About this Event
The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Group Inc. Presents Jimmie Lunceford 2022 Legacy Awards - Homecoming Court Celebration
Come out as various artists pay tribute to Jimmie Lunceford in their own unique way as well as recognize the 2022 Posthumous King/Posthumous Queen/King/Queen/Prince/Princess Court which include: the late Dr. Herbert Brewster (Posthumous King) the late Lucie E. Campbell (Posthumous Queen), Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell (King), Wendy Moten (Queen), Christopher "Drumma Boy" Gholson (Prince), and Deborah Thomas (Princess). We will also be doing special tributes to Young Dolph, H.D. Whalum, Sr. (The Late Patriarch of The Whalum Family Music Dynasty), & L. Alex Wilson (Civil RIghts Movement Journalist & Activist) among other notable Memphians. Lt. Col. Aundra Segrest will be performing as the late Jimmie Lunceford.
Special tribute performances by: Steve Lee (Prince, 2019), Carla Thomas (Queen, Toni Green (Queen, 2018), Tonya Renee Dyson (Princess, 2018), Earlice Taylor (Queen 2017), Ekpe Abioto (King, 2018), Cequita McKennley (Princess, 2017), Harold Scott (Prince, 2021), Jackie Murray (Princess, 2020), Dr. Alvin Mckinney (Prince 2020), etc.
Recognized Honorees:
Floyd Newman (King, 2017), Earlice Taylor (Queen, 2017), Cequita McKennley (Princess, 2017), Logan Westbrook, Howard Grimes, Dr. Bill Hurd (Prince, 2017), Ekpe Abioto (King, 2018), Toni Green (Queen, 2018), Steve Lee (Prince, 2018), Tonya Renee Dyson (Princess, 2018), Kirk Whalum, Michael James (Miscellaneous), George Coleman, Charles Lloyd, Hank Crawford, Jr., Glover Mosely, Ronnie Williams, Johnnie Yancy, Malvin Massey, James Gholston, Dr. Alvin Mckinney (Prince, 2020) Dr. David and Yvonne Acey, Carla Thomas (Queen 2019), Sidney Kirk (King 2019), Carl Flake, Larry Dawson, James Alexander, Terry Saffold, Sandra Bray, Garnett Brown, Deborah Gleese Barnes (Princess 2019), Robert "Bobby Lavell" Garner (King 2020), Joyce Cobb (Queen 2020), Johnnie Turner, Barbara Cooper, Elaine Turner, Noah Bonds, Grover Mosely, Herbert Smith, Clarence Christian, Velma Jones , Maxine Starling Strawder, Andre Matthews “Chief”, Anthony Holmes, Alfred Rudd, Deborah Gleese-Barnes (Princess 2019) Nookie Taylor, Bennie West, Vivian Branch, Miran Decosta Willis, Deborah Manning Thomas, Phillip Joyner (Prince 2019), Deke Pope, Anthony Jones, Jackie Murray (Princess 2019)Lonnie McMillian, “Boo” Mitchell, Frank Phillips, Candice Ivory, Honeymoon Barner, Charles William, William “Albert” Bell, Charles Little “Buck” Riley, Naomi Moody, Ozzie Smith, Willie Hall, Judy Farmer, “Boo” Mitchell, Stephanie Bolton, Wendi Moten, Percy Wiggins, Booker T, Jones, David Dorton, Sandra Bray, John Gary, Al Green, George Ralph Collier, Herman Green, Donald Brown, Calvin Newborne, Dr. John Bass, Eddie Harris, Eddie Harris, Audie Smith, Vanessa Thomas, Harold Malburn, Kelly Hurt, Lester Snell, Anthony Quinn Richardson, Sr., Hattie Isenm, Howard Pistol Allen (Funk Brother), Mickey Gregory, Cedric Russell Moore, Kenneth Jackson, Charles "Chuck" Thomas, III, Marcel Holman, Sidney Ford, Gerald Harris, Charlton Johnson, Damion Pearson, Jack Ashford (Funk Brother), Dr. Bobby Rush (King, 2021), Beverly Johnson (Queen, 2021), The Temprees,(Harold Scott, Walter Washington and Deljuan Calvin ), Larry Dodson (Prince(s), 2021), and Valetta Brinson (Princess, 2021), etc.
Past Posthumous King/Queen:
Emerson Able, Jr (2017) and Ruby Wilson (2017)
Isaac Hayes (2018) and Lulah Hedgeman (2018)
Johnnie Ace (2019) and Lil Hardin-Armstrong (2019)
Booker Little (2020) and Vera Little (2020)
Onzie Horne (2021) and Madame Florence Cole (2021)
PostHumous Prince:
Jasper "Jabbo" Phillips (2021)
"Jimmie Lunceford has the best of all bands. Duke Ellington is great, Count Basie is remarkable, but Lunceford tops them both."
-- Legendary Swing Band Leader Glenn Miller
James Melvin Lunceford was 'The Real King of Swing' & 'The King of the Battle of the Bands'...Jimmie should also be better known as The Father of Jazz Studies because he is credited as being the 1st person to teach jazz in a formal educational setting in any place in the world ? ? ?! He did this back in the 1920s at Manassas High School, a Rosenwald School, which was the 1st fully accredited high school for Black children in Shelby County,TN in what is now known as North Memphis. By many accounts Jimmie is considered the 1st high school band director at any Black school in the Memphis area and he was not even hired to be a music teacher. His student band, The Chickasaw Syncopators, was a very popular dance band in the Memphis area.
In 1930 Jimmie quit his day job and hit the road with his best students and buddies from Fisk University. By 1934 The Jimmie Lunceford Orchestras was the house band at the legendary Cotton Club in Harlem, NY succeeding the likes of The Duke Ellington Orchestra & The Cab Calloway Orchestra respectively. During its heyday The Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra WAS BIGGER THAN THAT OF COUNT BASIE & DUKE ELLINGTON!!! During the Swing Music Era of the 1930s & 1940s THE JIMMIE LUNCEFORD ORCHESTRA WAS THE MOST POPULAR DANCE BAND FOR BLACK AMERICANS IN THE COUNTRY!!! And for this reason they were nicknamed The Harlem Express!!! They were also known as the 'trained seals' because of their amazing discipline, precision and presentation. Featured in tailor made suits they were very skilled and adept at doing choreography, telling jokes and singing.The trumpet section would even throw their horns in the air mid-song and catch them and continue to play where they left off!!! Their sound known as 'The Lunceford 2 Beat' was the envy of many swing bands both Black and White. They were the NUMBER ONE ATTRACTION at The ApolloTheatre FOR ONE WHOLE DECADE!!! Not bad for a music organization that started out as a high school dance band 'straight outta memphis.'
Jimmie Lunceford was also an aviation pioneer. He owned & flew his airplane(s) ✈️ during The Great Depression. He brought his 1st one in 1940 for almost $500,000 in today’s money ??…Remember this was during a time when Whites did not want Blacks sitting at an integrated lunch counter let alone flying high in the friendly ? skies…He alo used to fly his plane to gigs as well.
Jimmie Lunceford was both a real humanitarian and philanthropist when it came to loving and serving Black people, in particular the Black youths. When his orchestra would sell out on Beale Street, he would nonetheless provide free concerts and musician clinics for the students at his old stomping grounds of Manassas High School. He actually used his own money to start music programs for Black children throughout the country. He saw music as a rite of passage to help young Black boys and girls to become responsible Black men and women.
Unfortunately, Jimmie was gone too soon at the young age of 45. He allegedly dropped dead from a heart attack while signing autographs at a music shop before a concert in Seaside, Oregon on July 12, 1947. Some people suspect that it could have been foul play from some type of food poisoning. Allegedly, Jimmie had gotten into some type of argument with a restaurant for not wanting to serve him and his men because they were Black. Allegedly, they were served tainted beef sandwiches. Other band members got sick, but Jimmie was the only fatality.
Jimmie is buried in Elmwood Cemetery. However, his legacy should not be. According to the great historian and radio pioneer Nat D. Williams, Jimmie's Legacy should be treated by Memphis in this way:
Jimmy Lunceford was buried here in Memphis. The spot he occupies should have something of a special significance. ... He took a group of relatively unsophisticated Memphis colored boys and welded them into an organization which scaled the heights of musical eminence. ... He presented something new in the way of musical presentations by Negro orchestras. Lunceford and many others like him chose to remain at home, and with their people. [His death] should have meaning in inspiration and guidance to others. If we permit it, Lunceford's burial in Memphis can mean this."
Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell is a GRAMMY Award-winning engineer, producer, composer, award-winning movie producer, and owner of Royal Studios in Memphis, TN. Born in 1971, Boo is the son of legendary Hi Records and Al Green producer, Willie Mitchell. Boo began his storied musical career in 1987 at the young age of 16 honing his chops songwriting and playing keyboards. His first paid session as a keyboard player was in 1988 on Al Green’s GRAMMY Award-winning “As Long as We’re Together." That same year, he formed a rap group called the M-Team.
For more than a decade, Boo has worked in the studio and on stage with a who’s who of phenomenal artists such as, Al Green, Buddy Guy, Keith Richards, Boz Scaggs, John Mayer, Trombone Shorty, U2, Elton John, Bobby "Blue” Bland, The Neville Brothers, Edwin Hawkins, Keb Mo, William Bell, Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, BJ Thomas, Carla Thomas, Steve Jordan, Jim Keltner, Melanie Fiona, Paul Rodgers, The Bar-Kays, Dave Stewart, Isaac Hayes, Anthony Hamilton, Robert Cray, George Porter Jr., Angie Stone, The Bar-Kay's, Bobby Rush, Doug E Fresh, Ty Segall, Melissa Etheridge, Paul Rodgers, Mannie Fresh, The Wu-Tang Clan, Jim Lauderdale, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Snoop Dogg, The North Mississippi Allstars, Mystikal, Sam Moore, Eric Benet, Bruno Mars, Robert Plant, Robert Randolph, G Eazy, Jeff Bhasker, Mark Ronson and others.
In 2016, Boo made Memphis Music History by winning the Record of the Year GRAMMY Award for his work on the Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars hit "Uptown Funk." It was the first time a record made in Memphis earned a GRAMMY for Record of the Year.
Wendy Moten is an exceptional, adaptable singer, a pure musical spirit, and a bridge fromMemphis to Nashville to the rest of the world. Respected in the music industry as aconsummate professional for years, the wider public discovered her talent and charm throughher remarkable run on NBC’s The Voice in 2021. She turned all four judges’ chairs on her blindaudition and ended up in second place overall – unprecedented for an artist in her 50s. A nativeof Memphis, Moten sang R&B for EMI Records in the 90s then moved to Nashville to become anin-demand harmony singer. She spent 15 years as the duet partner for Julio Iglesias and hasrecorded duets with Michael McDonald, Kirk Whalum, Joe Bonamassa and John Oates. She hastoured with Martina McBride, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, and Vince Gill. Moten has performed as a soloist on the Grand Ole Opry multiple times and been a featured artist in the Country MusicHall of Fame and Museum’s Musician Spotlight series. In 2019 she joined the Grammy-winningNashville western swing band The Time Jumpers.
Grammy Award-winning producer Drumma Boy is raising the stakes on a decorated, multi-platinum 20-year-career. “I’ve made hits for everybody else,” asserts the Memphis, Tennessee native who made game-changing records with Usher, T.I., Jeezy, Yo Gotti, and others. “This is an opportunity to put some hits on the board for myself.” Drumma’s upcoming Drumma Boy & Friends album links him with many collaborators from past hits. More importantly, it shows the face and star power of not just a producer but an entrepreneur, musician, coach, app developer, brand ambassador, and, more recently, a podcast co-host. After taking some personal time away, Drumma is captivating the spotlight with a renewed purpose and joy
Deborah is a Gospel Singer and has been singing since the age of six. Her roots are with Golden
Leaf Missionary Baptist Church (Memphis, TN), where she gleaned from the late Reverends
Cleophus Robinson and Oris L. Mays. In 1972, Deborah opened with Kim Weston and others in
the Gospel segment of Wattstax. She sang Thomas Dorsey’s “Precious Lord”. She continued
her singing with Olivet Baptist Church in Memphis, TN with the Reverend Kenneth T. Whalum,
Sr. and the Olivet Celestial Voices. In 1992, she released an independent project with Sky
Records titled “Blest Be the Tie”. During the pandemic she released a single “Shout Now”,
available on most streaming platforms.
Deborah is also an actress and has had roles in “The Firm” with Tom Cruise as the Quinn Family
Maid and in the choir in the movie “Hustle and Flow”. She has wonderful memories of two runs
as “Mahalia” and recently as Rosetta Tharpe in the play “Marie and Rosetta” at Hattiloo
Theatre in Memphis
As one of the most prolific and popular religious composers of the 20th century, the Reverend W. Herbert Brewster gave the gospel world several of its first million-selling records and, alongside contemporary Lucie E. Campbell, made Memphis a city second in prominence only to Chicago during gospel's golden era. Brewstere's songs also commented on and informed African-American struggle and progress in the years leading up to the Civil Rights Movement. A true church polymath, Brewster was pastor, composer, playwright, vocal group founder and coach, poet, radio show host, and more. Brewster's songs propolled the careers of the most famous singer and group in black gospel at the time - Mahalia Jackson and the Clara Ward Singers respectively - and he is remembered as a pioneer in the development of the black gospel music pageant.
“A mother of gospel music”
Lucie Eddie Campbell was a singer, songwriter, and pianist who wrote more than 100 hymns, anthems, musicals, and pageants. Her songs spread, but her name faded in some circles.She narrated the 1994 NPR/Smithsonian audio documentary Wade in the Water, a 26-part series about African American sacred music and traditions.
Campbell served for 47 years (1916–1963) as the music director of the National Baptist Convention USA (NBC), the nation’s largest Black denomination. Annual gatherings drew up to 20,000 people, and Campbell wrote and debuted a new song each year. She auditioned singers, chose songs, directed 1,000-voice choirs, and sold copies of her own songs and the hymnals she helped compile. Today, however, searching the NBC website for Lucie Campbell turns up nothing.
Campbell gave national exposure to musicians who went on to become world famous, including Marian Anderson, Robert Bradley, Thomas A. Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson, and Eugene Smallwood.
Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. (July 27, 1985 – November 17, 2021), better known by his stage name Young Dolph, was an American rapper. In 2016, he released his debut studio album, King of Memphis, which peaked at number 49 on the Billboard 200 chart. He was featured on O.T. Genasis's hit single "Cut It", which peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. Young Dolph's seventh album, Rich Slave, was released in 2020 and became his highest-charting project, debuting at number four on the Billboard 200.
Lt. Col. Aundra Segrest, A 27-year law enforcement officer with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) currently serving in the rank of “Lt. Colonel”. I have ascended the career ladder of law enforcement serving in the Tactical Unit, hostage negotiations, dignitary protection escort and security detail service for high-profile officials and celebrities who frequently requested my escort, such as Rev. Jessie Jackson, President Bill Clinton, Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton, The Honorable Louis Farrah Chan, actors Angela Bassett, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Stevie Wonder, Oprah Winfrey and others.
He has earned a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Walden University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Ashworth University. Despite the demanding law enforcement career and educational pursuits, I am strongly attracted, excited and passionate over the pursuit of acting and film productions.
His acting career was stirred in October 2012 when I was asked to take the leading role in the stage-play, “One Man’s Loss is Another Man’s Treasure,”. It was then that I was smitten by the theater-bug. Later that year, I made my debut performance acting with a leading role in the stage play, Black Soap V as Detective Lancaster with Ettaro Fine Arts Foundation. The play production Black Soap was written, produced, and directed by Ms. Florence Roach. Awarded the Tennessee Theater Teacher’s Hall of Fame, Ms. Florence Roach has been an excellent mentor credited to my renewed interest and growth in acting. The Black Soap award-winning stage-play production launched me additional leading roles in continued series of Black Soap VI, VII, VIII and IX at the Buckman Performing Fine Arts Center and the Cannon Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Since my debut, I have performed in more than 20 live-stage plays in the community and surrounding areas.
Event Venue
Orpheum Theatre, 203 South Main Street, Memphis, United States
USD 0.00
