Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Rusty Bryant was born Royal Gordon Bryant on November 25, 1929 in Huntington, West Virginia and grew up in Columbus, Ohio where he became a fixture of the local jazz scene. 

He worked with Tiny Grimes and Stomp Gordon before founding his own ensemble, the Carolyn Club Band in 1951. Signing with Dot Records in 1954 Rusty released several albums as a leader in the second half of the 1950s. In 1953, his live recording All Nite Long which was a faster version of Night Train, became a hit R&B single in the U.S.

With his Dot contract ending in 1957 he returned to Columbus to do mostly local engagements, playing often with pianist-organist Hank Marr and a young Nancy Wilson also sang in his group. It was not until his appearance on the 1968 Groove Holmes album That Healin’ Feelin’ that he resurfaced beyond regional acclaim, and soon after he began leading dates for Prestige Records. 

Bryant recorded extensively for the label from 1969 through the middle of the 1970s, being a sideman with Ivan “Boogaloo Joe” Jones, Johnny “Hammond” Smith, Charles Kynard, and Sonny Phillips. His 1970 release Soul Liberation was his most commercially successful, reaching No. 35 on the U.S. Black Albums chart and No. 15 on the Top Jazz Albums chart. 

Tenor and alto saxophonist Rusty Bryant, who recorded into the early 1980s before returning to Columbus and played mostly local dates, died on March 25, 1991.

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