Joe Newman, one of the very few musicians (other than Freddie Green) to play for long periods with Count Basie's orchestras of both the 1940s and '50s, had an unclassifiable trumpet style. Influenced early on by Louis Armstrong and more prominently by Harry "Sweets" Edison, Newman was a mainstream player who was versatile enough to hold his own with Count Basie's younger (and generally boppish) sidemen. Born to a musical family in New Orleans, Newman not only played with the college band at Alabama State College, but took over its leadership.
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