Huey Lawrence

A native of Pittsburgh, Huey Lawrence studied under Johnny Marino of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He came South to play football for A&T, where he also became quickly known for his trumpet talent. He said playing with Helen O’Connell with B-1 at Chapel Hill was his biggest musical thrill–at least up until 1945, when he told Otto Harris that his main ambition after the war was to “hit the main stem on the big time and parade up the street with Manana’s 45-piecd band.”

Mr. Lawrence was one of my main sources for discovering not only the rich history of B-1 but also of the Rhythm Vets, with whom he also jammed after the re-premiere of “Pitch a Boogie Woogie” in 1988. He and his wife, Willa ,were always gracious hosts, and I loved visiting them in their Ayden home, where he’d often sit fingering his dented and bandaged horn while we talked, and sometimes in a memory he’d play.

–Harris, Otto. “Musically Speaking.” Pearl City, HA. Mananan. 17 Mar. 1945: np.