T. J. Fowler

01 / The Detroit story

The Detroit story

Fowler came to Detroit from Georgia at the age of six, learned piano and studied at the Detroit Conservatory of Music. In the early 1940s he played in local bands led by saxophonist Guy Walters and trumpeter Clarence Dorsey, and in 1947 he formed his own group, which first backed Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams on Savoy. From 1948 his band recorded under his name for Paradise, Sensation, National, Savoy and Chicago's States label, with saxophonist Walter Cox, guitarist Calvin Frazier and singers such as Alberta Adams and Varetta Dillard. In the mid-1950s the band accompanied T-Bone Walker. Later in the decade Fowler switched mainly to electric organ and ran his own short-lived Bow label, and in 1959 Berry Gordy hired him as an adviser to the fledgling Motown company. In later years he ran a landscaping business in Detroit. He died in Ecorse, Downriver, in 1982.

Highlights

1. Studied at the Detroit Conservatory of Music
2. Led a Detroit jump-blues band from 1947; recorded for Sensation, Savoy and States
3. Band featured Walter Cox, Calvin Frazier and singer Alberta Adams
4. Adviser to Berry Gordy's new Motown company in 1959