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Singleton Palmer

Bust
of Singleton Palmer
St. Louis jazz musician Singleton Palmer began his musical
career playing trumpet at Sumner High School. To increase his chances of
getting a professional job, he also learned tuba and string bass, the
instruments he played for most of his career. Playing in clubs, hotels, and
riverboats, and touring with different groups, he caught the attention of Clark
Terry, who invited him to join Count Basie’s band. After three years of
touring, he returned to St. Louis and formed the Singleton Palmer Dixieland
Sextet, which played at the Opera House in Gaslight Square for more than 10
years. After the decline of Gaslight Square, the group played on the Robert E.
Lee and Goldenrod showboats.
Throughout Palmer’s career, he supplemented his
earnings as a musician with a day job as a maintenance man at Chromalloy
American Company, a foundry, manufacturer of protective coatings, and
specialist in engine repair. In 1975, his fans at Chromalloy presented him with
this bust of himself, “for the 25 years of pleasure you have given us and for a
heart as big as your talent.”