Sammy Davis Jr. – international star of stage and screen, member of the ultra-cool Rat Pack, Las Vegas headliner – was not born in Huntsville. But Will Mastin, the man Davis credited with launching his career, did begin his life here.
Mastin, a star in vaudeville’s heyday, was one of many luminaries highlighted by historian William Hampton and Huntsville Music Board member Codie Gopher during “Black History Month 2025: A History of Music in Alabama and Huntsville.” They painted the local music scene as a family affair that starts on the block but reaches around the world.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) Chamber Choir performs spirituals by Alabama-born composer William L. Dawson during “Black History Month 2025: A History of Music in Alabama and Huntsville” on Feb. 25, 2025, in Charger Union Theater on the UAH campus.
Ellen McDonald | UAH
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), the City of Huntsville’s Music Office and Downtown Huntsville, Inc. partnered for the event, which happened the evening of Feb. 25 at Charger Union Theater. UAH is a part of The University of Alabama System.
Hampton, founder of the Huntsville Revisited Museum, is known for his extensive collection of photos documenting Huntsville’s history. He shared a photo of the Will Mastin Trio with Davis flanked by his father, Sammy Davis Sr., and Mastin, who was born in Huntsville in 1879 and moved to New York to become an entertainer.
“During an interview with Johnny Carson back in the ’70s,” Hampton noted, “Johnny mentioned Frank Sinatra launching his career, and Sammy said, ‘No, my Uncle Will Mastin did.’ And that’s where Huntsville comes in.”
Before Hampton and Gopher told stories of Huntsville’s ties to the entertainment world past and present – from blues to rock to soul to funk to hip-hop – UAH music students displayed their talents.
Pianist Avery St. Julian, a piano pedagogy and music and math double-major, offered a breath of springtime with Florence Price’s “Honeysuckle at Dusk.” Price was the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer as well as the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. St. Julian also played a jazz arrangement of “Amazing Grace.”
After the inspiring performances, Hampton shared several lesser-known facts about famous musicians:
“Father of the Blues” W.C. Handy taught at Alabama A&M University for a couple of years, but his musical philosophy conflicted with school founder William Hooper Councill’s. Handy, Hampton said, had sampled a taste of boogie-woogie in the Mississippi Delta, while Councill was classically trained.
Then there was Alabama native and Alabama A&M University student Herman Blount, who went on to become Sun Ra, jazz composer, bandleader and poet known for his experimental music with a cosmic flair.
“If you are familiar with groups like Parliament Funkadelic and Earth, Wind and Fire, he is the pioneer of that genre,” Hampton said.
When it comes to Alabama musicians and hip-hop, Gopher’s the man with the score. He’s spent more than 20 years in the music creative zone at home and abroad. His many projects include helping to curate the first hip-hop exhibit at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia in 2018.
Gopher shared memories of managing Huntsville-based hip-hop group G-Side on their 2010 tour in Oslo, Norway. He also mentioned a flood of performers who’ve come to Huntsville to record in more recent days, drawn by the likes of Grammy-winning Huntsville-based producer and songwriter Kelvin Wooten.
“Kelvin just got nominated for an NAACP award for Coco Jones’ latest record,” Gopher said, “and Coco’s manager is Jeremy Jones from Huntsville.”
The local connections Gopher described seemed to encompass all areas of today’s hottest sounds.
To build on a culinary metaphor Hampton employed at the start of his talk, the event served up a big slice of luscious chocolate cake – and the audience devoured it. Based on comments after the program, they were eager for a second helping.