Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Genres:	R&B / Soul
Descriptive "tags":	blues
Decades Active:	1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
Search for Artist on:	OLDIES.com, Wikipedia, Flikr (photos), YouTube (videos)
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Biography

Jalacy Hawkins, 18 July 1929, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, d. 12 February 2000, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Reportedly raised in Cleveland by a tribe of Blackfoot Indians, young Jalacy became interested in music at an early age, teaching himself piano at the age of six and, having mastered the keyboard, he then learned to play saxophone in his early teens. Hawkins was also an adept young boxer, winning an amateur Golden Gloves contest and becoming Middleweight Champion of Alaska in 1949. He judged music to be the easier option, and became a professional musician, playing piano with artists such as Gene Ammons, Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, James Moody, Lynn Hope, and on one occasion, Count Basie. In 1950, Hawkins began developing an act based more on his almost operatic bass-baritone voice, and the following year he joined Tiny Grimes' Rocking Highlanders as pianist and occasional vocalist, making his recording debut with the band for Gotham Records in 1952 (the record...

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