WILLIAMS, CHARLES MELVIN (COOTIE
). Jazz trumpeter ( in Mobile, Alabama). He played trombone, tuba, and drums in his school band. Later he taught himself to play trumpet. In his early career he played with various groups, including the
Young Family Band
(family of
Lester Young
), the Eagle Eye Shields, and the
Alonzo Ross
DeLuxe Syncopators. In 1928 he went to New York with Ross and thereafter played for short periods with
William (Chick
) Webb
and...