Wiggins Music Group Worldwide celebrates with Carl Jack​son Entertainment

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GOLD RECORD BASSIST HENRY “THE SKIPPER” FRANKLIN HERALDED WORLDWIDE

GOLD RECORD BASSIST HENRY “THE SKIPPER” FRANKLIN HERALDED WORLDWIDE

By Dee Dee McNeil/jazz journalist

They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. In Henry Franklin’s case, it’s absolutely true. His father, “Samuel “Sammy” Franklin, made his mark in Denver, Colorado first playing violin, then trombone and finally mastering the trumpet. For years he performed with the George Morrison Band and honing his craft as part of the popular YMCA band in Denver. Later, he found himself in Kansas City as part of the Benny Moten Band.

He also played in Lionel Hampton’s orchestra, Andy Kirks band, and a number of others before he decided to form his own musical organization in Los Angeles. The Sammy Franklin Orchestra entertained at various west coast clubs, as well as fraternity and sorority dances. Once settled into the Los Angeles music scene, probably one of the things he found most attractive (other than the good weather and crush of music jobs) was pretty, little Vera Wysinger, a native of California and a registered nurse. They married and up popped Henry Carl Franklin, who today his friends fondly refer to as, “the Skipper”.

I recently asked Henry Franklin how he got that nick name of “the Skipper”?

“I borrowed it from my son. On our first album for Black Jazz Records in 1971, we titled it, ‘The Skipper.’ Pianist, Bill Henderson (Kamon), had written a tune for his God son, (who is my son) and he named it Skipper. People associated the album title with my name and they started calling me ‘The Skipper’. My son’s a Junior, but he’s the original Skipper”.

When I asked Henry about his dad and the music business he said, “He had a popular society dance band in Los Angeles, but he wasn’t into Bebop. I turned him on to that. I used to bring the cats over to our house and that’s when he heard it. His main message to me was to practice, practice, practice.”

At eighteen years old, Henry Franklin had followed his dad’s instructions and was already part of a popular local group with vibraphonist, Roy Ayers.

“Roy had the Latin Jazz Quintet that included Bill Henderson (piano), sometimes Elmo Jones on piano, me and Carl Burnett (drums). After high school, Elmo left and went to school at Howard University. Nobody’s heard from or seen him since,” Henry told me. Ayer’s Latin Jazz Quintet played at Frat Houses, private parties and eventually night clubs. The fledgling group used to follow Cal Tjader around every time he would come to town. People would hire Cal for entertainment when they hosted parties and Henry said their group would go in and play on Cal’s intermission. READ MORE ABOUT SKIPPER....

Unreleased 1992 Tupac Television AppearanceFound, Will Air On iFame TV

Exclusive: Rare Tupac footage from 1992 has been found and it will air on iFame TV today, January 28, 2013. Rare Tupac footage from 1992 will air on iFame TV today. The footage comes from a television program,

“Dance Party USA.”

This footage is rare because the episode only aired once, on January 12, 1992 and it has been archived since. HipHopDX was given the premiere of the trailer from iFame TV today (January 28th).

The full 30-minute program features an interview with Tupac about his work in Juice, a film that was released days after the episode first aired. Tupac also performed on the episode and was a part of the rest of the show.

Today, iFame TV will air the program and it will be seen through iFame TV, iFameTV.com, ROKU and the cellphone app Yamgo. iFame promises that it is, “Tupac like you’ve never seen him before.”

Other episodes of “Dance Party USA” will also be re-aired soon. iFame TV has episodes that featureBig Daddy Kane, Gang Starr and Heavy D, among others. iFame will also be airing episodes of another television program, “Dancin’ On Air.” Outside of this, iFame features Independent music videos, films and concerts.