In 1942, Mr. Ballard moved from Frankford to Harlem, and his career took off. "His immediate ambition is to join the prestigious band of Cootie Williams, the former Duke Ellington trumpeter," Stark wrote, using present tense to make the story immediate.
"He takes the A train to the audition, an auspicious choice for a swing musician. . . .
"When his turn comes, Ballard is elated at what he has to play." The arrangement of "Air Mail Special" "is the same arrangement that his old band in Philadelphia used. Ballard, blessed with a prodigious memory, knows this chart as well as his phone number.
"But he doesn't let his listeners know that. He pretends he is sight-reading. . . .
"He gets the job. It is his first big break. He opens with Williams' band, including singer Pearl Bailey, at the Grand Terrace Ballroom in Chicago."
Mr. Ballard continued playing well into this century.
On Dec. 1, 2006, he received a Mellon Jazz Achievement Award and a $5,000 check, which, an Inquirer story reported, he donated to the Philadelphia Clef Club.
On Dec. 7, 2006, he celebrated the month of his 88th birthday by playing at the Collingswood First Thursday Concert Series at the Collingswood Community Center.
Cheryl Green, a relative who cared for Mr. Ballard for the last decade, said that "at age 89, he formed a new trio that was the house band for Mozaic," a restaurant and art gallery on Frankford Avenue near Orthodox Street. "He played his last set" at the LaRose Jazz Club on Germantown Avenue near Queen Lane, she said, "at age 90." Over the decades, Green said, his recordings totaled more than 300.
But his past is where the big names glittered.
