Paul Bascomb
Paul Bascomb( Birmingham, Alabama –, Chicago) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, noted for his extended tenure with Erskine Hawkins.
He is a 1979 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
Bascomb was a founding member of the Bama State Collegians, which was led by Erskine Hawkins and eventually became his big band.
Bascomb's brother Dud played in this ensemble as well.
Bascomb remained in this ensemble until 1944, aside from a brief interval in 1938 – 39 where he played in Count Basie's orchestra after Herschel Evans's death.
From 1944 to 1947 he and Dud co-led a septet which evolved into a big band.
He recorded for States Records in 1952; these sides were reissued by Delmark Records in the 1970s.
From 1953 to 1955 he recorded for Parrot. was active as a performer nearly up until the time of his death.
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Ramsay Hawkins( July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed" The 20th Century Gabriel".
He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard" Tuxedo Junction"( 1939) with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson.
The song became a popular hit during World War II, rising to No. 7 nationally( version by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra) and to No. 1 nationally( version by the Glenn Miller Orchestra).
Vocalists who were featured with Erskine's orchestra include Ida James, Delores Brown, and Della Reese.
Hawkins was named after Alabama industrialist Erskine Ramsay.
Paul Kooistra
Paul Kooistra was the past President of Erskine College and Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, South Carolina.
Kooistra was born in Duluth, Minnesota, and received an M. Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia and a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama.
Kooistra is a Presbyterian minister and the past coordinator of Mission to the World, the missions agency of the Presbyterian Church in America( PCA), which has become the largest Presbyterian missions agency in history under his tenure, with more than 600 career and several hundred short- term missionaries abroad.
He was elected moderator of the 2008- 2009 General Assembly of the PCA.
He served as a pastor and professor at Belhaven College and Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, and president of Covenant Theological Seminary( the official seminary of the PCA).
Kooistra has written devotional booklets" Thirty- One Days of GraceSupper's Ready" and" Pursuit of Joy".
On July 18, 2014, he was elected president of both Erskine College and Erskine Theological Seminary, which are affiliated with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Dud Bascomb
Wilbur Odell" Dud" Bascomb( May 16, 1916, Birmingham, Alabama – December 25, 1972, New York City) was an American jazz trumpeter best known for his tenure with Erskine Hawkins.
He is a 1979 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
Nicholas Hawkins (MP)
Nicholas Hawkins of Cardiff was a Welsh Member of Parliament.
He represented Cardiff Boroughs in 1597.
Fred C. Gartner
Fred Christian Gartner( March 14, 1896 – September 1, 1972) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Reuben Phillips (musician)
Reuben Phillips( died February 13, 1974 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and bandleader, born in Providence, Kentucky.
After five years as an alto saxophonist with Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy, he played with Willis Jackson( 1950) then Josephine Baker and Louis Jordan( 1951).
From 1952, Phillips has been a freelance arranger, musician and band leader in the New York area.
He made arrangements for Dinah Washington, Lavern Baker, Ruth Brown, Billy Ward, Earl Bostic, Arnett Cobb among others.
He also played and recorded with Gene Redd, Sammy Lowe, George Rhodes, Dud Bascomb, and later recorded with Willis Jackson( 1970) and Erskine Hawkins( 1971).
He recorded two albums with his own big band, the house band at the Apollo Theatre on 125th Street in Harlem in the 1960s and 70s.
Alain Payet
Alain Payet( 17 January 1947 – 13 December 2007 in Paris as a result of cancer), also known under the pseudonyms John Pardaillan, John and Frederick Brasil Amor, James Gardner, James Gartner and Alain Garnier, was a film director of French pornographic movies and erotica.
Skeeter Best
Clifton" Skeeter"
Best( November 20, 1914 – May 27, 1985) was an American jazz guitarist.
Best played in Philadelphia from 1935 to 1940, recording with Slim Marshall and Erskine Hawkins.
In 1940, he joined Earl Hines's orchestra, playing with him until he joined the U.S. Navy in 1942.
After the war, he played with Bill Johnson from 1945 to 1949.
He toured East Asia with Oscar Pettiford in 1951 and 1952, and formed his own trio in the 1950s.
He did a critically acclaimed session with Ray Charles and Milt Jackson in 1957 called" Soul Brothers".
In 1958, he recorded with Mercer Ellington and taught in New York City.
He also recorded with Harry Belafonte, Etta Jones, Nellie Lutcher, Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson, Paul Quinichette, Jimmy Rushing, Sonny Stitt, Charles Thompson, and Lucky Thompson.
Bill English (musician)
Bill English( born August 27, 1925, New York City) is an American jazz drummer.
English played early in his career with rhythm and blues musicians in the 1950s, including Sonny Thompson and Amos Milburn.
He then worked with Julian Dash, Bennie Green, and Erskine Hawkins in the mid-1950s before becoming a house drummer at New York's Apollo Theatre.
Late in the 1950s he worked with his own ensemble, and in the 1960s played with Earl Hines, Prestige Blues Swingers, Gene Ammons, Quincy Jones, Joe Newman, Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell, and Eddie Jefferson.
He remained active into the 1970s, working with Eric Dixon among others.

Question: Were Fred C. Gartner and Erskine Hawkins of the same nationality?
Answer: yes