Arnett Howard

Arnett Howard (born September 6, 1950) is an African American jazz musician, journalist, teacher, author, historian, and official ambassador for Columbus, Ohio.

Life
Arnett was born September 6, 1950 in Welch, West Virginia, but was raised in Plain City, Ohio. He graduated from Jonathan Alder High School in 1968, where he played trumpet in the school's marching band. After high school, he started taking classes at Capital University in 1968, but left college in 1970 to pursue his musical career. He eventually graduated from Capital in 1999. Howard returned to Capital University in 2007, as a teacher, to teach a class called "Columbus Jazz History". He has also co-authored the books Columbus: The Musical Crossroads and Listen for the Jazz: Key Notes in Columbus History.

Musician
Howard first started playing music professionally in 1967. He was a member of several local bands including "The Soul Internationals", "The Vadicans", "The Metronomes", "Dave Workman's Blues Band", "Cash McCall and his Bumswipe Blues Band Boys" and "The Soul Superbs". He lead "Arnett Howard's Creole Funk Band" from 1988 to 2002, and became such a legend in the Columbus region that he is now an ambassador for the City of Columbus. Howard retired from Croele Funk Band in 2002, and his new band is simply called "Arnett Howard & Friends". Since 1985, Howard has performed more than 4,000 concerts in central Ohio and around the world. In 2003, he also played with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra.

He is also known for writing the "Football Friday Night" theme song for Columbus' WCMH-TV.

Selected discography

 * Arnett Howard's Creole Funk Band (1987)
 * Live at Victory's (1988)
 * Lancaster Festival Live (1989)
 * Ten For Ten (1994)
 * Arnett Howard's Rocket '88's (1996)
 * Kidding Around (1997)
 * Joyful Music, Generous Spirit (2001)
 * Extended Family (2002)
 * Final Funk (2003)
 * Fiyah on the Bayou (2003)
 * I'm a Walkin', Talkin' Pair of Pants (2003)
 * Elijah's Wooden Book (2003)
 * Welcome to the Lancaster Festival (2005)
 * Arnett Howard Christmas (2005)