Musician: James “Step” Wharton (1917 – 1999)

James “Step” Wharton (1917 – 1999) first played professionally in 1934 while still a student at Crispus Attucks High School as the pianist for a band playing at the Walker Casino. He continued his musical education at the local Cosmopolitan School of Music and at Ohio State University. By the 1940s, he was making a living from his musical talents, performing both solo and with bands and orchestras. He was also known for his arrangements for Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and others. The Goodman Orchestra included three of his original compositions in its regular repertoire.

In 1944, a columnist for Downbeat, the leading jazz enthusiast magazine, said of Step: “This talented 88er has everything and more, that all the great jazzmen have ever had — originality, personality, versatility, and an amazing sense of music from classics to boogie.” Step himself described his style as “not letting my right hand know what my left hand was doing.”

In 1951, he began performing in a weekly TV show on WFBM called Steppin’ with Step. He lived in New York, playing various night clubs, recording for Allen Records, and making concert appearances with Ethel Waters and Bill Bojangles Robinson.

He continued to play into the 1990s and worked at Crown Hill Cemetery for a while in the 1980s. He was president of the American Federation of Musicians Local 3, and a member of Holy Angels Catholic Church, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The only recording of Step playing we have been able to find is this version of “Medium Well, not Well Done” recorded directly from the radio during a WFYI fund drive appearance in the 1980s. He is buried in an unmarked grave in Section 99. Efforts are underway to get a tombstone to remember Step.