George 'Kid Sheik' Cola

A slashing, aggressive lead trumpeter, always at the front of a jam session. Kid Colar took some informal lessons from Wooden Joe Nicholas, then started his first band in 1925 in New Orleans. He spent the next 18 years playing in the Storyville district. Colar attended the US Air Force Music School from 1943 to 1945, then headed another band before joining George Lewis at Manny's Tavern in 1949. Colar was part of the Eureka Brass Band and Harold Dejan's Olympia Brass Band in the '50s. During the '60s he recorded with his own groups the Swingsters and Storyville Ramblers, then toured England in 1963 with Barry Martyn's band. He worked regularly in the late '60s with former band member Capt. John Handy, recording with him in Europe and New York in 1966 and 1968. He was a regular at Preservation Hall in the '70s and '80s, and made another visit to England as a guest soloist in 1976. ~ Ron Wynn, Rovi