Campbell Aurelius "Skeets" Tolbert (February 14, 1909, Calhoun Falls, South Carolina - November 30, 2000, Houston, Texas) was an American jazz clarinetist, alto saxophonist, vocalist, composer and bandleader.
Though Tolbert never had a standard to his credit, he composed and arranged a great number of tunes that would become hits for others, notably Nat King Cole.
In 1936 he played with Fats Waller, primarily alto sax, this time was clearly highly influential on Tolberts own style of writing and arranging.
[3] Freddie Green, Kenny Clarke, Red Richards, Otis Hicks, Carl "Tatti" Smith, Lem Johnson, Buddy Johnson, Theodore Carpenter, Leonard Hawkins Harry Prather, Clarence Easter, all played with Tolbert in the band, which recorded in 1939 under the name Tolbert's Gentlemen of Swing.
He also emulated Waller's style of writing odd tunes such as "The Stuff's Out," "Papa's in Bed with His Britches On," and others with silly lyrics.
In a 1995 interview with Eddie Detmeyer, Red Richards noted that the band at the Queen's Terrace would frequently get called to play in the "big room" for bigger acts including Jackie Gleason because Tolbert knew the music.
Most of his gigs were "tough jobs" according to Richards because he was so good but always remained in the background, never gaining fame or enough money to live, which is why he left to pursue teaching.
[4] Tolbert completed studies at Columbia University in 1946 and broke up the group to take a job in Charlotte, North Carolina as a high school music teacher.