Willie Bryant

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Willie Bryant (August 30, 1908, New Orleans - February 9, 1964, Los Angeles) was an American jazz bandleader, vocalist, and disc jockey.

Bryant grew up in Chicago and took trumpet lessons to little success. His first job in entertainment was dancing in the Whitman Sisters Show in 1926. He worked in various vaudeville productions for the next several years, and in 1934 he appeared in the show Chocolate Revue with Bessie Smith.

In 1934 he put together his first big band, which at times included Teddy Wilson, Cozy Cole, Johnny Russell, Benny Carter, Ben Webster, Eddie Durham, Ram Ramirez, and Taft Jordan. They recorded six times between 1935 and 1938; Bryant sings on 18 of the 26 sides recorded.

Once his ensemble disbanded, Bryant worked in acting and disc jockeying. He recorded R&B in 1945 and led another big band between 1946 and 1948. In the 1950s he was the emcee at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. He moved to California later in the 1950s and died of a heart attack there in 1964.