Salim, Yusuf, 1929-2008

Yusuf Salim (aka Joseph Blair) (1929-2008) was born in Baltimore, Maryland and began his musical career there at age 14 as a pianist with the Ken Murray Sextet. Salim was hired at age 17 as the house pianist with the Royal Theatre, where he stayed for seven years with a band headed by Tracy McClair, who had played with the Bama Collegians and Erskine Hawkins. While he worked at the Royal Theatre, he performed with entertainers such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Moms Mabley, and Redd Foxx. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he travelled to New York City with The Bill Swindell Band and performed at the Braddock Bar in Harlem. He also witnessed and participated in jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem and Birdland in Manhattan. In 1974, Salim moved to Durham, North Carolina. He opened a club called The Salaam Cultural Center which offered music workshops to train and further the careers of North Carolina jazz musicians, including vocalists Eve Cornelius and Nnenna Freelon. He also hosted a thirteen-part WUNC-TV (PBS) series called "Yusuf and Friends." Salim received the North Carolina Arts Council Jazz Fellowship in 1999. He has written over 53 compositions which have been recorded by Gary Bartz, Mongo Santamaria, Cannonball Adderley, and others.