The Jesters were formed in 1955 by four youngsters at Cooper Junior High School on 120th Street in Harlem, NY, Lenny McKay, Anthony “Jimmy” Smith, Leo Vincent, and Noel Grant. In 1956, Adam Jackson was added to the lineup. After winning the Apollo Theater’s amateur show three consecutive weeks in 1957, Paul Winley offered them a recording contract with his Winley label. McKay and Jackson sang most of the group’s leads, including “So Strange”, “Please Let Me Love You”, “The Plea”, and “I Laughed” in 1957-58.
In 1959, after the original lineup had fractured, Jackson and Smith reorganized the Jesters with brothers Melvin and Donald Lewis. It was that year that the classic album, The Paragons Meet The Jesters, was issued. Considered one of the greatest rock’n’roll vocal group LPs of the era and, perhaps, of all time, it turned countless youngsters on to the sounds of these New York City standouts.
In 1960, the Jesters returned to the airwaves, resurrecting the 1954 Diablos’ ballad, “The Wind”. With Jackson leading, the song became their signature hit. The Jesters made their last recordings in 1961 but remained friends and occasionally performed when a booking arose. In 1974, the Jesters were invited to appear at the Academy of Music in New York City. The four members who had recorded “The Wind”, Adam Jackson, Jimmy Smith, and Melvin and Donald Lewis reunited, and were joined by Adam’s younger brother, Ronald Jackson, formerly of the Youngtones, who sang tenor.
Beginning in the early 1970s, Boston-area disc jockey, concert host and producer, historian and enthusiast, Little Walter DeVenne began documenting the pioneers of vocal group harmony, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll using Super 8 movie film, reel to reel tape recorders, and whatever means were available to him. Concerts in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and other locations were preserved. Sadly, Walter died in 2021, and the films were feared lost or destroyed. Through the efforts of Walter’s friend and longtime disc jockey, Mike Bollea, many of these recordings have been preserved.
Through Mike’s generosity and a desire to see Walter’s historic films shared with fans and devotees of this music, we present the Little Walter’s Time Machine Official Archives series, remixed and synched by Todd Baptista, from the original source material. Copying, reuploading, distributing, selling, or any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
The nine minutes of color footage of the Jesters captured by Little Walter DeVenne at this concert begins with a performance of the Heartbeats’ “Down On My Knees”, led by Melvin Lewis and featuring the prominent bass of his brother, Donald. Adam Jackson then leads “I Laughed”, originally sung by Lenny McKay, before concluding with a splendid version of “The Wind”. This footage has never been broadcast or shared in any form since it was shot nearly 50 years ago. Adam Jackson died in 1994, and Melvin Lewis continued to lead the Jesters until his passing in 2010.
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