Weldon C. McDougal – Pianist

1942 – 2022 (age 79)

Following graduation from Edison High School, he joined the US Army in 1960, where he displayed his musical talents as a burglar playing taps for his fallen comrades.

He became an accomplished pianist after returning to Philadelphia, touring and playing with many jazz bands, even performing with his similarly named and musically-inclined cousin, Weldon H. McDougal III. A calm and even-tempered person, he had a dry sense of humor, and those who knew him appreciated that aspect of his character. His passion for music led him to teach music to young people every weekend at the Clef Club.

Tony ‘TNT’ Jones – Acoustic & Electric Bass

(Dates unknown)

The talented and versatile Philadelphia-based Tony ‘TNT’ Jones played both the electric and upright bass instruments. Tony began playing percussion with a 12-piece group in his neighborhood when he was five years old, and in time, he developed a lifelong love of bass. When he was 15 years old, he started performing with artists from Philadelphia International Records. During his tenure as musical director with Sister Sledge, from 1985-1997, Jones became known as TNT.

His recording or performing credits include Nina Simone, Billy Paul, Grover Washington Jr., Sister Sledge, Sonny Stitt, Red Rodney, Eartha Kitt, Larry Coryell, Pacquito d’Rivera, Taj Mahal, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, Big Mama Thornton, Pharoah Sanders, Lonnie Liston Smith, Ronnie Laws and countless others.

Using equal intensity and artistry, the musician performed Jazz, Funk, Blues, and Jazz Fusion as a composer, producer, vocalist, and arranger.

In 2018, Jones was honored and recognized with a Citation from the Philadelphia City Council members and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for his outstanding contributions in music. The Global Entertainment Media Arts (G.E.M.A.) Foundation also honored Tony TNT Jones with their Citation and Seal for his contributions to the educational, musical, and cultural arts in America and abroad.

Khan Jamal – Vibraphone & Marimba Player

1946 – 2022 (Age 75)

Khan Jamal, a vibraphonist who combined the ethos of a spirit-seeking avant-garde with elements of jazz-funk and post-bop, was a rich musical presence in Philadelphia ever since the early 1970s. He started playing the vibraphone in his late teens, mastering the harmonic language established by Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson, and refined by Bobby Hutcherson. His musical training took place at the Granoff School of Music, which Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane had also attended, and at the Combs College of Music, which has a classical foundation. In addition to studying privately with Bill Lewis, Jamal recorded an album of vibraphone-marimba duets with him.

As a bandleader, he was prolific but largely underappreciated, and as a sideman, he was something of a secret weapon. Among his associates were tenor saxophonists Archie Shepp and Frank Lowe, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, with whose Decoding Society he briefly played in the early 1980s. Jamal also served in the Sun Ra Arkestra, and he joined other former Arkestra members in a band called Cosmic Forces early in his career.

Sounds of Liberation, which he founded in Philly’s Germantown neighborhood in 1970, included guitarist Monette Sudler and alto saxophonist Byard Lancaster. The group’s intensity was fueled by a powerful rhythm section comprised of Billy Mills on bass, Omar Hill and Rashid Salim on percussion, and Dwight James on drums.

In recent years, Jamal’s music has received renewed attention as a new generation discovers the more than two dozen records on which he appears as a leader, co-leader or sideman.

“Drum Dance to the Motherland,” a 1973 Dogtown album by the Khan Jamal Creative Art Ensemble, was reissued by Eremite Records, which referred to it as “the most iconic underground jazz release of the 1970s.” Jamal’s 1984 album “Infinity” has also been reissued by Jazz Room, a rare covetable album with Lancaster on alto saxophone and flute, Murray on drums, Bernard Samual on piano, Clifton Burton on harmonica, Reggie Curry on bass, Dwight James on drums and Omar Hill on percussion.

Pat Martino – Jazz guitarist

1944 – 2021 (Age 77)

The Philadelphia-born jazz guitarist Pat Martino passed away at 77 after a long struggle with respiratory illness. He was known for his incredible guitar skills and kind heart, but due to chronic respiratory issues, Martino had to retire from performing in 2018.

He was introduced to jazz by his father, who sang in local clubs and briefly studied guitar. After moving to New York City at the age of 15, Martino began playing professionally. During this time, he lived with Les Paul and began playing jazz clubs such as Smalls Paradise. Later he moved into a suite at the President Hotel on 48th Street. He played at Smalls six months of the year, and at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the summers.

During his early career, Martino recorded and played with Lloyd Price, Willis Jackson, and Eric Kloss. Other jazz organists with whom he collaborated include Charles Earland, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Trudy Pitts, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ludwig, and Joey DeFrancesco.

As a result of a near-fatal brain aneurysm in 1980, Martino underwent surgery to remove a part of his brain, leaving him with amnesia and no memory or understanding of his career or how to play the instrument that made him famous.

Amazingly, he re-learn how to play. In 2004, the Down Beat magazine Readers’ Poll named him Guitar Player of the Year. In 2006, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab reissued his album East! on Ultradisc UHR SACD.