Charles "Charlie" Brantley, a musician born in West Tampa, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Tampa, Florida, around the turn of the 20th century. Brantley began his music career in 1935, when he joined the Florida Collegians, a group of Tampa musicians. Influenced by bandleader Louis Jordan, he started his own group, Charlie Brantley and His Original Honey Dippers, in 1944. Brantley gave young musicians the opportunity to break into the music scene by performing with his band and would often allow them to stay at his home on 1901 Cherry Street in Tampa. When a young Ray Charles came to Tampa in the fall of 1946, Brantley hired him as a piano player and allowed him to stay at his house. Brantley founded the Negro Musical Association in the late 1940s and continued to perform with his band until June 1949, when a severe heart and nerve condition forced him to quit playing and take on a management role. Brantley passed away on Christmas Day in 1964.
Source
Original black and white photograph: Profiles: Bands & Artists, Tampa Bay Music Scene Historical Society.