Little is known about tuba player Pete Briggs, one of the earliest musicians from South Carolina to make a name for themselves.
Born in 1904, Briggs was in the famous Jenkins Orphanage Band of Charleston, SC, as a child. By the early '20s, Briggs was playing professionally with groups like the Jaunty Jim Jam Jazzers.
He relocated to Chicago in 1926, where he began performing with violinist and bandleader Carroll Dickerson. The following year, he joined Louis Armstrong and His Stompers, where he helped to provide the rhythmic foundation for classic jazz recordings like "Potato Head Blues" and "Black and Blue."
By 1944, Briggs had given up jazz for a life in farming. His date of death is unknown.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of the ColaJazz Foundation and SC Public Radio. Support for this program is made possible in part by Fox Music House of Columbia and Charleston.