In the course of my research, I’ve encountered evidence that these musicians served or performed with U.S. Navy bands during World War II, but their Navy base affiliation beyond training at Camp Robert Smalls is not yet known.

Foster, Rufus Clifford
 trumpet, piano

Foster was born in Albion, Michigan and graduated from Albion High School before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, in which he was “a member of the first all Black Navy Band during World War II.”

He subsequently graduated from Michigan State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music and a Master’s in Music Composition and Theory. His thesis was principally his original symphony, “Haitian Suite.”

At the Eastman School of Music, he studied with Howard Hanson and joined a jazz group with other Navy band veterans.

He worked at the Cleveland post office before beginning a long career teaching music at Rawlings Juniior High School and then John Adams High School, where he also chaired the Department of Music.

He and his wife, Mildred, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary shortly before he died in October 2009.

–“Was talented musician and educator.” Cleveland Call & Post. [6 Oct. 2009]
       Obituary courtesy of Shelly Stokes, his step-daughter.

Funderburg, Howard 
Funderburg was a popular orchestra leader in Birmingham prior to World War II. He’s identified as a Navy bandsman by Burgwin Matthews.

[Greer, Frank]
Another talented Birmingham, Alabama musician, Greer was drafted into the Army. He hoped to further his musical education but was denied admittance to the Army’s School of Music because its quota for Black musicians had been filled. He played in pick-up bands while serving as a Field Artillery 2nd Lt. Some sources mistakenly list him as having served in the Navy.
    Lloyd, Michael. The Life and Legacy of Frank Terry Greer and his Influences on Historically Black College and University Bands. Master’s thesis. Gainesville, FL: U of Florida. 2016.

Grimes, Johnny trumpet
Another of Fess Whatley’s students at Birmingham’s Industrial High School, Johnny Grimes was the “undisputed champion of Birmingham trumpet players.” After his Navy service, Grimes moved to New York City, where he played with the Erskine Hawkins band and then regularly with the Reuben Phillips Apollo Theater Band. He was a prolific recording artist with trumpet credits on tracks like James Brown’s 1964 Out of Sight sessions.
     Another Johnny Grimes led territory bands in the Southwest in the 1930s and sang with Lucille Bogan’s Birmingham Busters in 1937..

• • • 

Sources

Matthews, Burgin. Magic City. Chapel Hill, UNC P, 2023.

Smith, Chloe  “John ‘Fess” Whatley — The Giant of Birmingham Jazz Education.” 16 June 2021. chloeandanna-music.medium.com. 9 Dec. 2024.