Lullaby of Birdland + September Song / Swedish Gumbo

This single from the Elmer Gill Trio was produced by local Seattle, Washington, record label, Celestial Records. The A side features two Jazz standards which would have been recognizable to most listeners at the time. The B side features an original song written by Elmer Gill (1926-2004).

The Elmer Gill Trio was an interracial Jazz group, formed in the early 1950s by Gill with Al Turay (1913-2010) and Al Larkins (b. unknown - 1977). Gill, who moved to Seattle in 1946, was instrumental in challenging the segregation of Seattle’s music scene. After experiencing racial discrimination while playing at the Spinning Wheel, which was white only, Gill began stipulating in his contracts that “anybody, regardless of race, creed, or color, as long as they were acting in accord with the place” would be allowed to attend his performances. A year later, Gill became part owner of the Ebony Cafe and hired Turay and Larkins to play with him at the new venue. Both the new band and the new restaurant were a success. In 1956, Gill continued his work to desegregate Seattle music by proposing that the Elmer Gill Trio play at the New Washington Hotel’s Brigadier Room which was traditionally held by AFM Local No. 76, the white musicians’ union. Although the hotel’s local management were hesitant to accept, the hotel chain’s board of directors approved the proposal. Larkins and Turay eventually returned to playing at the Ebony Cafe, and Gill replaced them with Monk Montgomery (1921-1982) and Milt Green (b. unknown) thus becoming the “first black group to play in a first-class hotel in downtown Seattle.”