Zutty Singleton Last Recording 1969 Johnny Wiggs, Danny Barker, Bob Greene

The Fourth Annual Manassas Jazz Festival was held on 7 December 1969. It was an afternoon concert in the auditorium of Osbourn High School. There was a formidable All Star line up with the two eldest members being New Orleans veterans, drummer Zutty Singleton at age 71 and cornetist Johnny Wiggs at age 70. I was in attendance that day when they performed two sets together during the program and the audience responded enthusiastically. The next day found both of them together again in a Washington, DC recording studio. They were asked by the United States Information Agency (USIA) to make a recording of New Orleans styled Jazz. The primary objective of the USIA at that time was to promote American public diplomacy. In this instance they were promoting the culture of New Orleans Jazz, an original American art form. The selected band members were all drawn from the previous day Manassas Festival roster. The seven piece ensemble consisted of Johnny Wiggs (cornet), Ernie Carson (2nd cornet), Bobby Gordon (clar