BUFFALO, N.Y. — "Music was a major builder of the Black community as well as for Buffalo, because a lot of the musicians here got to play with many of the famous groups and many of them toured with these famous groups."
Those are the words of George Scott of The Colored Musicians Club.
He will tell you history and how performers like Count Basie's band came to Buffalo at least 40 times.
"Our music, particularly jazz, had a rhythm, had a beat that you wanted to move, to dance to, to sing to. As it got exposed and people like Elvis kind of exposed it to the white community, it became popular," Scott said.
Today there is rap and hip-hop.
Scott said he recalls back in the day when the music of his day was considered "demonized music."
He added: "When rap came up, it was the same thing, it was kind of demonized and then as time went by, people started to accept it. So I think we accepted it too, you know, because we knew what they went through and they know what we went through."
Buffalo can boast about the talents of Rick James, Brian McKnight, Joy the Drummer, Zuri Appleby, and Benny the Butcher.
The Colored Musicians Club and Jazz Museum is undergoing a major renovation. more than 2,000 square feet of space is being added to the existing downtown Buffalo building, and part of it will soon be encased in glass.
The area will be used for rehearsals and practices.