Clora Bryant

Clora Bryant (May 30, 1927 - August 23, 2019) was an American jazz trumpeter and singer. She performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and was a member of the Sweethearts of Rhythm.

As a child, Bryant was a member of the choir in a Baptist church. When her brother Fred joined the military, he left his trumpet, which she learned how to play. In high school she played trumpet in the marching band. She turned down scholarships from Oberlin Conservatory and Bennett College to attend Prairie View College in Houston, where she was a member of the Prairie View Coeds jazz band. The band toured in Texas and performed at the Apollo Theater in New York City in 1944. Her father got a job in Los Angeles, and she transferred to UCLA.

Read full Bio