Oklahoma Musicians

Jazz history

Carlos Wesley (“Don”) Byas

The Oklahoma Historical Society identifies Byas as born in Muskogee in 1912, raised in a musical family, trained on violin, clarinet, and saxophone, active with local bands and a Langston group, and later a major swing and bebop tenor saxophonist with Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, and others.

County navigation follows places named in the source records. A city crossing county boundaries can link to more than one county; this does not establish an exact historical location, birthplace or current residence.

Oklahoma connection

OHS documents Muskogee birth, local swing bands, and a group formed while attending Langston.

Musical work and relationships

Tenor saxophonist; Count Basie Orchestra; associated with Charlie Christian, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Max Roach.

Hall of Fame account

The Hall catalog lists Carlos Wesley (Don) Byas as a tenor saxophonist inducted in 1997.

Evidence and remaining questions

Birth-year/date conflict should be preserved because OHS and record-based references differ.

Sources

  1. www.okhistory.org/learn/african-americans12
  2. www.okhistory.org/pdf/african-americans.pdf
  3. gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2031722/m2/1/high_res_d/1994-v72-n01_a01.pdf
  4. findingaids.loc.gov/exist_collections/ead3pdf/music/2007/mu007001.pdf
  5. www.okjazz.org/inductees/