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Chuz Alfred

The Chuz Alfred Quintet began traveling the U.S. and Canada in June 1954. In March 1955, the president of Savoy Records contacted the group. The quintet recorded a rhythm and blues single at King Studios in Cincinnati; then, in September, went to New York to record another. On September 27, 1955, the group's album, Jazz Young Blood, was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey with Ola Hanson, trombone; Chuck Lee, piano; jazz great Vinnie Burke, bass; and the legendary Kenny Clarke, drums. In 1956, the quintet left New York's Gale Booking Agency and signed with General Artists Corporation (GAC). This led to an exclusive management contract with Ray Bloch and Associates. Amid increasing change and adversity, the quintet was unable to fulfill a recording date with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1958. It disbanded in September when Chuz accepted an invitation from Ralph Marterie to join his big band in Chicago on October 1 of that year. Despite the opportunities during the 1950s to join Woody Herman, Carl Perkins, Buddy Morrow, Perez Prado, Ray Eberly, Claude Thornhill and Al Belletto's Sextet, Chuz left the road in June 1959 to finish his bachelor's degree in Radio-TV at Ohio State University.

At Columbus' Davis Discovery Center in 1995, Chuz was inducted as an initial member of the Columbus Senior Musicians Hall of Fame. In mid-1997, Chuz was commissioned by a Fortune 200 company to produce an instrumental CD of ten songs made famous by Frank Sinatra. This was recorded by Joe Viers at the John Schwab Studio in Columbus and later replicated by Disc Makers, Inc., Pennsauken, New Jersey. The sponsoring corporation was so pleased with the spirit and results of the project that Chuz was encouraged to explore reissuing the music to an extended market.

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