Bennie Wallace Quotes

Bennie Wallace began playing in local clubs with the encouragement of East Ridge, Tennessee High School band director and drummer Chet Hedgecoth and professional reed player Billy Ussleton, who appeared as a guest at a stage band festival and heard Wallace with the East Ridge High School Swing Band. After studying clarinet at the University of Tennessee, Wallace settled in New York in 1971 with the encouragement of Monty Alexander, who hired him and recommended him to the American Federation of Musicians local, which virtually guaranteed his entry.