(July 7th 1888 - June 25th 1957)

Born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1888 Curtis J. Mosby was a drummer who toured during the 1910's with the "Tennessee Ten" before moving to Chicago and becoming the leader of his own jazz ensemble. In the early 1920's he moved to Los Angeles where he opened a record shop and formed his "Blue Blowers" band taking up residency at Solomon's Dance Pavilion in 1924. In 1927 the Mosby band's recordings for Columbia boosted their popularity and earned them a string of prominent gigs. After opening his own nightclub, the Apex the following year "Mosby's Blue Blowers" would go on to achieve even greater fame appearing in the two iconic 1929 films "Thunderbolt" and "Hallelujah". In late 1929 a stretch of bad luck saw Mosby's Apex club closed down after a police raid, but after being acquitted of all charges he would open another one in San Francisco a year later. In coming years Curtis Mosby owned and operated a number of jazz clubs but was never able to achieve his former success and was eventually forced out of business altogether.