Sweet Willie Singleton

Sweet Willie Singleton was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Sweet Willie Singleton’s professional music career began in the early 1960’s when he became a ‘Bandsman’ in the U.S. Navy where he was stationed in the Washington, D.C. area.

Sweet Willie was selected as the U.S. Navy Ceremonial trumpet player to play taps at the Funerals for General Douglas MacArthur and President John F. Kennedy.  Sweet Willie was also Bugler: Vietnam Veterans, Arlington Cemetery, 1963-64.

Bob Amato met Sweet Willie Singleton for the first time in late 1981 when he joined the world famous “Blue Room Orchestra” in late 1981. At the then, ‘Fairmont Hotel’ in downtown New Orleans, the ‘Blue Room’ featured a full time 13 piece orchestra that performed behind the world’s most esteemed musical acts from 7:30PM-12:30 – Monday-Saturday.

Bob was hired by Blue Room Orchestra Bandleader, Bill Clifford to play 3rd trumpet with the understanding that Bob could step in and play lead trumpet in the event that the
existing lead trumpet player, Sweet Willie Singleton was unavailable or needed assistance playing a show that had particularly demanding lead trumpet parts.

The orchestra played two shows behind big name entertainers nightly. And, beginning at 7:30PM also performed multiple sets of dining and dancing music as well concluding at 12:30PM.

The first couple of nights after joining the orchestra, the lead trumpet player, Sweet Willie Singleton, turned over the lead trumpet ‘dance book’ to Bob for Bob to sight read.  Sweet Willie played lead trumpet behind the show acts during this ‘try out period’.

Bob quickly realized what an extraordinary lead trumpet player Sweet Willie Singleton was. The first thing that Bob noticed was the beautiful tone that Sweet Willie produced coupled with flawless intonation. Sweet Willie was the nickname “Sweetness” acquired back in the early 1970’s when he started working with jazz trumpet great Clark Terry on a regular basis. (Awarded National Endowment for the Arts Student Travel Grant to study with Clark Terry, 1973) The nickname “Sweetness” was attributed by Clark Terry to the beautiful tone  that Sweet Willie always produced on both trumpet as well as fluegelhorn. In addition, Sweet Willie could produce a huge volume of sound that one could hear in ‘three States’ during loud passages, but still would fill a large room without amplification during quite passages. Above all, Sweet Willie’s musical phrasing was always perfect and real joy to listen to. In a nutshell, Sweet Willie Singleton was the consummate “Lead Trumpet” player. It became clear to Bob early on, that for good reason, Sweet Willie was the most respected member of the Orchestra.  Sweet Willie’s lead trumpet work , sound, and phrasing was reminiscent of the great recording studio lead trumpet player Conrad Gozzo.  Although Bob could hit the notes and play commercial trumpet as loud as most anyone, Bob’s lead trumpet skills were a shadow of Sweet Willie Singleton.

And, Sweet Willie could really ‘swing’.  Sweet Willie’s musical phrasing was a small fraction of a second ‘behind the beat’.  Ordinarily, the feeling of ‘swing’ in a band originates with drummer and/or bass player.  However, Sweet Willie’s musical personality and ability to swing so effortlessly was so dominant that ‘swing feel’ originated within the lead trumpet capabilities of Sweet Willie Singleton rather than the orchestra’s rhythm section.

In addition, when called upon, Sweet Willie Singleton was an outstanding jazz trumpet and flueglehorn player. Whether the style was ‘modern or traditional dixieland style’ of music Sweet Willie Singleton would perform beautiful, jaw dropping improvised solo’s. Sweet Willie was also an excellent sight reader who could also play classical or symphonic orchestral styles of music quite capably as well.

Sweet Willie also had a terrific sense of humor that inevitably kept the orchestra in ‘stitches’.

On occasion, just before a difficult full orchestra ensemble feature blowout during the course of a featured musical “Vocal Act” performance, Sweet Willie would shout, “FOLLOW ME BOYS” before a ‘big orchestral’ push.  The outburst always caused the featured ‘Vocal Act’ to look back at the orchestra and it was difficult to play without cracking up.

Sweet Willie Singleton received many compliments on his lead trumpet playing skills from most of the featured entertainers that the Blue Room Orchestra performed behind.

Subject to availability, Sweet Willie Singleton was specifically asked by major ‘Big Name’ recording artists to play lead trumpet behind many recording artists on the artists National Stage Shows and Tours such as>>>
– Joe Williams in Osaka & Tokyo, Japan
– Harry Belafonte in Bermuda
– Della Reese in Green Bay, WI
– The Temptations in New Orleans, LA
– Lou Rawls in Up-State New York Tours
– Sarah Vaughn in Cleveland, OH
– Gladys Knight in Baton Rouge, LA
– Aretha Franklin in New Orleans, LA
– Neil Sedaka in New Orleans, LA
– Lena Horne in New Orleans, LA
– Mills Brothers in Naples, Italy
– Lannie Kazan in Vancouver and Quebec, Canada
– The Four Tops in New Orleans, LA
– The Spinners in New Orleans, LA
– Al Hibbler at Kennedy Center
– Johnny Taylor in Mobile, AL & Gulfport, MS
– The Dells in Baton Rouge, LA
– Red Skelton in New Orleans, LA
– Vic Damone at Mike Douglas Show–Philadelphia
– Bob Hope in Green Bay, WI

International Music Festivals

– Jamboree Jazz Festival, Warsaw, Poland
– The Hague Jazz Festival, Amsterdam, Holland
– Prince Albert Hall Festival, London, England
– Dresden Festival, East Berlin, Germany
– Namur Jazz Festival, Namur, France

National Music Festivals

– Mobile Jazz Festival (Mobile, AL)
– All American Jazz Festival (Washington, DC)
– College Jazz Festival (Notre Dame, IN)
– Louisiana Jazz and Heritage Festival (New Orleans, LA)
– Southern University Jazz Festival (Baton Rouge, LA) –Featured in 1994 Year of the Trumpet festival
– French Quarter Festival (new Orleans, LA)

Concerts/Special Events
– Ellington Remembered — Carnegie Hall, NYC
– Great Woods Jazz & Blues (Count Basie Band) — Great Woods, MA
– Alvin Alley & Ellington — Lincoln Center, NYC
– Ellington Series Concerts — St. John the Divine, NYC, Buffalo, NY,, and Hampton, VA
– Ellington Series Concerts Europe–Ambassador Tour
– Greenville Symphony, Jazzicali II — North Carolina
– Cornet Kings Before Armstrong — Lincoln Center, NYC
– Jazz at Lincoln Center-The Armstrong Continuum — December 1994
– Lincoln Center, NYC, Wynton Marsalis, Music Director
– Crescent City Jazz Band–New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, 1996 — Ellis Marsalis, Music Director
– The Toledo Symphony, January 1995
– The Richmond (IN) Symphony, May 1995
– The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, January 1994, January 1995, March 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
– The Youngstown (OH) Symphony, February 1995
– The Delaware Symphony Orchestra, April 1995
– The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, August 1996
– Red Wing, MN Chautauqua, June 1995
– Chautauqua, NY, July 1994, July 1996, August 2004
– New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, January 17, 18, 19, 1997
– Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, summer 1997
– The January Series, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
– Brevard Music Camp, June 2000
– Little Rock (AR) Jazz Festival, summer 2000
– Bay Chamber Concert Series, Maine, summer 1998, summer 2000, and summer 2005
– Charleston, SC Historical Society, November 2002
– Ben Vereen concert
– Mercedes Ellington concert
– Monica Mancini concert, 2000
– Starlight Trio concert at Cannonsburg, July 2000
– Capital Quartet concert, 2001
– Frank Sinatra, Jr. concert, 2001
– Manhattan Transfer concert, January 2002
– Benny Goodman concert at Cannonsburg, July 2002

Sweet Willie Singleton regularly performed as a Soloist/Lead Trumpet/Sideman with a number of bands, ensembles, and orchestras:
1965 – 1973 – Jimmy Noon Jr. Orchestra
1973 -1974 – Royal Garden Brass Quintet
1974 – 1975 – Count Basie Orchestra
1975 – 1978 – Duke Ellington Orchestra under the Direction of Mercer Ellington
Sweet Willie also was also a featured vocalist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Here he is performing “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” during a 1977 Dresden, Germany Performance>>

1979 – 1980 – Clark Terry Big Band
1980 -1982 – Lead Trumpet with the Blue Room Orchestra at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans, LA
1983 – 84 – Al Hirt Band
1983-85 – Dave Bartholomew Big Band
1983-1994 – Kid Johnson Orchestra
1984 – Clyde Kerr, Sr. Big Band, New Orleans World’s Fair
1984-1992 – Mississippi Queen Steamboat Ship
1985-1992 – Herb Tassin Big Band
1985-1986 – New Orleans Brass Quintet
Sweet Willie is also an excellent composer. Here is performing his own composition, “Boobis” on fluegelhorn with the NOBQ>>

1985 -1992 – Chuck Easterling Swing-a-Phonic Orchestra
1985 – 2000 – William Houston Orchestra
1985 – 1991 – Steven Foster Band
1990-1991 – Scandinavian Star Ship Band
1992 – 2000 Al Belletto Big Band
1995 – 2000 – Buddy Boudreaux Big Band
Currently:
1992- Present – Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble — the performance arm of the jazz archives of Tulane University
Guest Principal Trumpet on a reoccurring basis for the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra

Fairmont/Roosevelt Hotel – Blue Room – Orchestra/Artist/Shows – New Orleans, LA
Dick Stabile, Music Director 1980
Bill Clifford, Music Director 1981-1982

– Ella Fitzgerald
– Ike Cole
– Lou Rawls
– Roger Miller
– Cheeta Raviera
– John Gary
– Four Freshmen
– George Shearing
– Anthony Newley 
– Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr.
– Clint Holmes 
– The Temptations
– Stella Parton
– The Four Tops
– Gladys Knight & The Pips
– The Spinners
– Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé 
– Carol Channing
– Billy Daniels
– Connie Stevens
– Johnny Desmond
– Cathy Carson
– Billy Eckstein
– Rose Marie 
– Nancy Wilson
– Melba Moore
– Mills Brothers
– Joe Williams
– Jane Powell
– Rosemary Clooney
– Rita Coolidge
– Debbie Boone
– Cyd Charise
– Tony Martin
– The Pointer Sisters

RECORDINGS: Fantasy Records, Columbia, RCA, Naxus, Sweet Willie Productions

EDUCATION:
B.M. degree, 1979 Jazz studies with trumpet concentration – Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA
Awarded National Endowment for the Arts Student Travel Grant to study with Clark Terry, 1973.
Courses taken toward the masters degree – Kansas State University, 1994-95

Sweet Willie Singleton’s Website is>>>
http://sweetwilliamsingleton.com/