Tommy Gwaltney

Clarinet, alto saxophone, vibes, promoter

Born: February 28, 1921 in Norfolk, Virginia

Died: February 11, 2003 in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Founder of Blues Alley in DC

Copyright © 2003 

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Tommy Gwaltney was a clarinetist and vibraphone player. He studied with Ernie Caceres and Peanuts Hucko, and took up vibes while suffering from a temporary lung ailment. He performed in New York with Charlie Byrd, Bobby Hackett, Billy Butterfield and others, and record an album, Goin' To Kansas City, with Buck Clayton (1960).

He founded the well-known jazz club, Blues Alley, in Washington DC in the mid-1960s.


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