Skeeter Best
Guitar, Musical Artist
1914 – 1985
Who was Skeeter Best?
Clifton "Skeeter" Best was an American jazz guitarist.
Best played in Philadelphia from 1935 to 1940, recording with Slim Marshall and Erskine Hawkins. In 1940 he joined Earl Hines's orchestra, playing with him until he joined the U.S. Navy in 1942. After the war he played with Bill Johnson from 1945 to 1949. He toured East Asia with Oscar Pettiford in 1951 and 1952, and formed his own trio in the 1950s. He did a critically acclaimed session with Ray Charles and Milt Jackson in 1957 called Soul Brothers. In 1958 he recorded with Mercer Ellington. He also recorded with Harry Belafonte, Etta Jones, Nellie Lutcher, Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson, Paul Quinichette, Jimmy Rushing, Sonny Stitt, Lucky Thompson and Sir Charles Thompson. Later in his life he taught in New York City.
Best died in 1985 after a long illness.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Nov 20, 1914
North Carolina - Also known as
- Best, Skeeter
- Died
- May 27, 1985
The Bronx
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Skeeter Best." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/skeeter_best>.
Discuss this Skeeter Best biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In