Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Musa Kaleem was born Orlando Wright on January 3, 1921 in Wheeling, West Virginia. He bought a clarinet in 1937, and by 1939 was touring as a saxophonist with the El Rodgers Mystics of Rhythm, featuring Eddie Jefferson on lead vocals.
In the early 1940s he began using the name Gonga Musa, and then Musa Kaleem, the name by which he is best known. He played often in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Fortiess, gigging with Erroll Garner, Mary Lou Williams, and Art Blakey.
In the middle of the decade he toured with Fletcher Henderson, then relocated to New York City and played with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, and the Savoy Sultans by the end of the 1940s. The 1950s saw Kaleem playing on cruise ships, however, upon his return in the 1960s he played with James Moody, Coleman Hawkins, Tiny Grimes, and rejoined Jefferson.
Saxophonist and flautist Musa Kaleem passed away on March 26, 1988 in Los Angeles, California.
