Musa Kaleem

Who is Musa Kaleem?

Orlando Wright, better known as Musa Kaleem is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.

Wright bought a clarinet in 1937, and by 1939 was touring as a saxophonist with the El Rodgers Mystics of Rhythm, featuring Eddie Jefferson on lead vocals. Early in the 1940s he began using the name Gonga Musa, and then Musa Kaleem, the name by which he is best known. He played in Pittsburgh often in the 1940s, gigging with Erroll Garner, Mary Lou Williams, and Art Blakey. In the middle of the decade he toured with Fletcher Henderson, then relocated to New York City and played with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, and the Savoy Sultans in the late 1940s.

In the 1950s Kaleem played on cruise ships. Upon his return in the 1960s he played with James Moody, Coleman Hawkins, and Tiny Grimes. He played again with Jefferson in that decade as well.