Stix Hooper

One of the original Jazz Crusaders, Stix Hooper remains a well-respected drummer although his own solo career has mostly found him in fairly anonymous settings. He started playing drums early on in his native Houston. When he was 16 he put together his own group, originally known as the Swingsters. Later on the group changed its name to the Modern Jazz Sextet, the Night Hawks, and by the late '50s the Jazz Crusaders. Trombonist Wayne Henderson, tenor saxophonist Wilton Felder, and pianist Joe Sample became co-leaders of the quintet (which had a variety of bassists through the ...