Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Irvin Stokes was born November 11, 1926 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He moved to New York City in 1947 and recorded with a Charlie Singleton sextet in 1949. Throughout the 1950s he worked in the big bands of Tiny Bradshaw, Duke Ellington, Mercer Ellington, Erskine Hawkins, Buddy Johnson, Andy Kirk, and Jimmie Lunceford. 

By the end of the decade Stokes was playing in Austin Powell’s ensemble, then went on to record with Bobby Donaldson and Lou Donaldson in the early 1960s. Principally with Broadway musical bands in the 1970s such as Hair, in 1978 he played on the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra’s tour of Europe, and with Panama Francis at the end of the decade. 

His credits in the 1980s included George Kelly, Illinois Jacquet, Oliver Jackson, and the Count Basie Orchestra. He was a regular performer alongside Spanky Davis at Doc Cheatham’s Sunday brunch gig at the Sweet Basil Jazz Club, continuing in this role after Cheatham’s death in 1997, when Chuck Folds took over. He also played with the Statesmen of Jazz late in the 1990s. 

Trumpeter Irvin Stokes, who recorded two albums as a leader, Just Friends and Broadway w/Oliver Jackson, retired from music.

Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Greensboro trumpeter to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…

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