2017 A Year to Remember! The mission of DC Legendary Musicians (DCLM) is to preserve, protect, and promote the artistic legacy, contributions, and well-being of performers, and to educate the students and the community as a whole on the careers and contributions of Washington, DC’s professional musicians.
From the Director’s Desk Washington, DC has long been an overlooked center of music, despite its dynamic nightclub industry and the historic Howard Theatre. In particular, Washington, DC has not had a successful recording industry, a key reason why many professional musicians—including native Washingtonians—have left the city in pursuit of professional opportunity and success. DC can lay claim to many great professional musicians and performers who were born or lived in the city, including Duke Ellington, Keter Betts, Charlie Rouse, Ron Holloway, Edward “Butch” Warren, John Malachi, Nasar Abadey, Robert “Brotha Ah” Northern, Billy Eckstine, Pearl Bailey, Roger Wendell “Buck” Hill, Shirley Horn, Billy Stewart, Marvin Gaye, Charles “Skip” Pitts, Johnny Gill, Gregory “Guitar Greg” Gaskins, Carter Jefferson, Jimi Smooth, Robert “Mousey” Thompson, Billy Taylor, Frank Wess, Al Johnson, Whop Frazier, Curtis Pope, Jimi Dougans, King Raymond Green, Harold Winley’s Clovers, The Jewels, Chuck Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Rainbows, Don Covey and many others. DC Musicians have made great strides and contributions to the world of music that should be recognized and documented. (Continued on page 2.)
Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale is the founder, director, and chair of DC Legendary Musicians, Inc., and she is an Associate Minister at Metropolitan AME Church.