[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN MEMORY OF VERNON ALLEY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Saturday, October 9, 2004

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, It is with great personal sadness and San 
Francisco's deep sorrow, that I rise to pay tribute to Vernon Alley, 
the most distinguished and beloved jazz musician in San Francisco's 
history, who passed away on October 3rd. Vernon honored his beloved 
City by choosing to pass up playing in the big jazz cities of New York 
and Chicago to devote his life to enchanting and inspiring generations 
of San Franciscans. He elevated our City with his music and his 
dedication to racial justice.
  A lifelong San Franciscan, Vernon went to high school with Joe 
DiMaggio, where he became an all-star fullback. His interest in jazz 
began as a boy when his parents took him to see jazz pioneer Jelly Roll 
Morton. He started his own group in the 30's in the Fillmore. In 1940 
he went to New York and joined the Lionel Hampton Band. Two years 
later, he became a member of the Count Basie Orchestra.
  Vernon Alley knew and played with the greatest jazz musicians and 
performers of his generation--Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie 
Parker, Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole, Charles Mingus, Ella Fitzgerald, 
and Billie Holiday.
  He returned to his beloved San Francisco in 1942. The music scene 
exploded in the 40's when African Americans moved to San Francisco's 
Bayview District to work in the shipyards. Vernon fostered jazz in the 
Bay Area during the heyday of the Fillmore District and North Beach 
jazz scenes of the 1940's and 50's.
  Vernon was as dedicated to fighting racism as he was to his music. He 
singlehandedly integrated the San Francisco Musicians Union. As 
chairman of the board of the black musicians local, he fought for 
integration of the City's jazz clubs, luring most of the white 
musicians into his local, because they wanted to play jazz in the swing 
clubs. As an accompanist for Ella Fitzgerald, he fought the 
segregationist policies of the casinos of Las Vegas.
  A close friend of many San Francisco mayors, he served for years on 
the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Human Rights Commission. He 
was active in the City's arts community and hosted two popular radio 
programs and a television show. His good friend, columnist Herb Caen, 
whom he first showed around town when Caen was a young newspaperman, 
often mentioned Vernon as a man ``whose smile lights up the town, even 
on foggy days.''
  Vernon was inducted into the San Francisco State University Alumni 
Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2001, when his health was declining, the San 
Francisco Jazz Festival put together a 3\1/2\ hour tribute called ``The 
Legacy of Vernon Alley'' that drew more than a thousand musicians and 
friends. Later that year, an alley in a redevelopment project was named 
``Vernon Alley.''
  We will never forget our most beloved jazzman. With a twinkle in his 
eyes, an infectious smile, a booming laugh, and his bass ``Baby'' in 
hand, he captivated us all. I hope it is a comfort to his brother, 
Eddie, his longtime companion, Loma Ruyter, and his nieces and nephews 
that so many friends and fans share their grief and are praying for 
them at this sad time.

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