Charles Daniel Knowles Sr., aka Captain Hornblower by Ralph DePalma The heyday of Key West’s jazz scene was from the late 1960s through the late 1980s. In 1977, Danny Knowles opened Captain Hornblower’s, a terrific jazz club in a setting right out of a Humphrey Bogart movie. It was located upstairs in what was then […]
Sam Carlson – pouring love into his music Sam Carlson is from Pottstown Pennsylvania, located about 60 miles from Philadelphia. His mother played piano and taught him to sing in the church choir. Both parents loved music. They live near the home of the Philadelphia Folk Festival and would often travel to concerts. Sam started […]
Bob Boyd “Always smiling on the inside” From the upstate hills of Rochester, New York, Bob Boyd was born into a family of musicians. His father was a piano player and conductor. Bob played piano while growing up, graduating from high school in 1976 and studied music at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. He […]
Jennifer Lowe loves who she gets to be in Key West Jennifer Lowe is from Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. She began taking ballet and violin lessons at five years old and continued through high school. She gained a full scholarship to University of Wisconsin in Madison performing with the school orchestra, graduating in […]
Jackie Robinson Inspired In the Spring of 1947, the “great war” was over and our soldiers came back home. A young teenage shortstop at Key West’s then segregated Fredrick Douglas High School read the story of Jackie Robinson. Robinson had broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers and started […]
Chris Rehm and Dani Hoy – The Shanty Hounds Chris Rehm grew up in Ho-Ho-Kus, a small town in New Jersey. He started performing in the eighth grade with the grammar school band. They didn’t have a vocalist so Chris jumped in and started singing the Rolling Stone’s “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”. After high school, he […]
Mary Spear is on a higher and happier frequency Mary Spear was raised in Carroll, Iowa. At fourteen, she was listening to recordings of Joni Mitchell, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan and started playing the guitar. She was very musical in high school, also learning to play the flute and piano. While in high school, […]
Camille Toler – “Life, Love and Key West” Camille Russo Toler comes from a very big Italian family and grew up on the Upper West Side of New York. Later, they moved to Richmond Hill neighborhood in Queens where she graduated from Richmond Hills High School. While Camille never had a voice lesson or studied […]
Albert Romano – Looking for answers Originally from a big Italian family in Providence, Rhode Island, Al Romano was the oldest – he had four sisters. His uncle, Tony Tomasso, lived next door. He was big band trumpeter who could have been a big star but did not want to leave home and tour. Uncle […]
Barry Cuda – A Music Archeologist Kent Smith (aka St. Petey Twig, aka Barry Cuda) was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida. His father was a “hip” eye surgeon who could have easily been an R&B musician. Barry Cuda, as he is known to most Key West locals, listened to his dad’s 78’s and LP’s […]
