Seattle's Jackson Street jazz clubs flourished in the first half of the twentieth century, with their popularity peaking in the late 1930s through early 1950s. Seattle-born photographer Al Smith was a familiar figure in the clubs, often taking pictures of musicians and patrons, then returning the following week to sell prints.

In the mid-1940s, trumpeter Leon Vaughn formed his own band at Seattle’s Basin Street nightclub on Maynard Avenue South and South Jackson Street in the basement of the Bush Hotel. Players in this 1948 image are (left to right) Ralph Stephens, piano; Leon Vaughn; Aaron Davis, tenor saxophone; Clarence Williams, guitar and vocals; and Milton Walton, alto saxophone.