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H.B. Barnum Casual Power Breakfast - Music
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A Casual Power Breakfast In Hollywood
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| H.B. Barnum |
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The Breakfast crowd included friends, studio session, and band musicians that are on many hit records.
Barnum’s music career got an unusually early start when at age four, he won a nationwide talent competition singing and playing the piano. This led to appearances on the hit TV shows Amos ‘n’ Andy and The Jack Benny Program. He dropped his first solo album at age fourteen. After graduating from Manuel Arts High in LA, Barnum formed a short-lived doo-wop group, and joined another that he produced. His first hit as a producer “Tan Shoes and Pink Shoelaces” by singer Dodie Stevens in 1958 along with his own solo hit “Lost Love” launched his award filled producer, arranger and composer career and he never looked back.
The Record H.B. Barnum Steven Bogarat
After joining Capitol Records as a house producer, arranger and composer while often teaming up with friend David Axelrod, demand for Barnum’s services went into overdrive. Artists like Frank Sinatra, Lou Rawls, many of the Motown acts, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Dinah Washington, Gladys Knight, B.B. King, Nancy Wilson, O.C. Smith, Etta James, Count Basie, P Diddy, and we can go on, all worked with him. As par for the course, composing scores for TV and Films soon followed as well as composing and arranging for commercial jingles. To date Barnum has accumulated 100 gold albums and 160 gold singles to adorn his walls.
Beginning in 1967, Barnum has an annual Thanksgiving dinner for the community in LA. He also formed the famed H.B. Barnum’s Life Choir as well as having served as minister of music at St. Paul Baptist Church.
Nowadays with hip-hop and rap being dominated with computer robot sounds, are young people not learning real instruments these days? Barnum says that is not true. He explained, “There’s a lot of young people doing great. I’m fortunate enough to work with a lot of them. I was in Prescott, Arizona recently at a music school. These young brothers were learning classics and jazz. They study people like Charlie Christianson, Bird, and Lester Young. They’re out there. Unfortunately, the masses have been led by some bad shepherds. And when you have bad shepherds, the sheep goes astray. But we’re going to try and get it back together. I want to make sure that people when you frown on the young people, give them the same kind of admiration and support that you give to the nut heads out there.”
Barnum proudly gave a shout out to the 369th Experience, which is a jazz performing band made up of musicians from some 17 HBCU’s of which Barnum is a composer and arranger. Before there was Duke Ellington, George Gershwin or Dizzy Gillespie there was James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hellfighters Marching Band – America’s most famous African American military band. They introduced jazz to Europe. Officially known as the 369th Regimental Band, the Harlem Hellfighters were the first African American regiment to fight during World War I. They became one of the longest-serving, most decorated units of the Great War. Their military exploits struck fear and respect from the enemy who were shocked by the skill, bravery, and relentlessness of Black U.S. soldiers.
Barnum encourages everyone, especially young people, to google the 369th Infantry aka the Harlem Hellfighters and the 369th Experience. and checkout their website: https://www.369experience.com
2024 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM
