Jimmy Coe

Jimmy Coe (b. Tompkinsville, Kentucky, March 20, 1921 – d. Indianapolis, February 26, 2004) – Saxophonist and bandleader. At age three, Coe’s family moved to Indianapolis, where he attended segregated schools (including Crispus Attucks). In 1941-42, Coe traveled and recorded—mainly on bari sax—with the Jay McShann Band, and he briefly replaced Charlie Parker on lead alto. During that time—according to Coe—the group played at New York’s Apollo Theater, where audience member Charlie Parker fell asleep during Coe’s first solo. Other than his time on the road and his military service during WW II, Coe spent most of his life in Indianapolis, where he gigged during Indiana Avenue’s heyday and beyond. Starting in the 1950s, he made many recordings with groups that he led, and he collaborated on records with other local performers on labels in Indianapolis and Cincinnati. In addition to recording with Indy artists such as Flo Garvin, Jerry Seifert, the Five Stars, and Ronnie Haig, he also recorded with jazz great Tiny Bradshaw in Cincinnati. In the last decade of his life, he led one of the most prominent big bands in the city.