Benny Payne

Consummate pianist and arranger, Benny Payne played with greats like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Chu Berry, and Fats Waller, but his longest collaboration was with the lounge singer Billy Daniels; during the 1950s, they were among the first African-American entertainers to appear on national television. In 1964, Payne appeared on Broadway in a revival of "Golden Boy" with Daniels and Sammy Davis, Jr.