Alley, a lifelong San Franciscan who broke down many racial barriers during his musical career, died Sunday after a long illness.
Musicians say Alley could have become one of the biggest names in jazz. Instead he decided to spend his career in his native San Francisco, where he attended high school with Joe DiMaggio. Jazz vocalist Jon Hendricks called Alley “the dean of San Francisco jazz."
Born in 1915 in Winnemucca, Nev., Alley and his parents moved to San Francisco not long after his birth. A high school track and football star, Alley's interest in jazz started when his parents took him to see jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton perform.
Alley began his career playing clubs in San Francisco's Fillmore District before World War II and started his own band, the Vernon Alley Trio, in 1939. In 1940, Alley went to New York and joined the Lionel Hampton band and two years later moved to the Count Basie Orchestra, reaching the pinnacle of the jazz world at age 27.
But Alley left the Basie band after several months to return to San Francisco, where he stayed the rest of his life. He became a fixture on the city's night club scene, worked on television and radio and served as musical director of the Blackhawk, the city's top jazz club.
During his career, Alley played with jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald.
As chairman of San Francisco's black musicians union, Alley fought racial barriers and advocated for the integration of the city's jazz clubs. After the black and white unions merged, he served as chapter president for many years.
Alley was hospitalized with a minor stroke in August 2002 and spent the rest of his life in a residential care program.
Alley is survived by his brother Eddie, 94, and a longtime companion, Lorna deRuyter. A memorial service is scheduled for Monday in San Francisco.
- Associated Press
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