Helms displayed a talent for music at a young age and was invited to perform with the University of South Carolina Band while in the ninth grade at Columbia High School. An early stylistic influence was trumpeter Chet Baker, but as his style matured, Helms became a devotee of the great jazz trumpet player Clifford Brown and easily mastered the hard bop style and phrasing that was part of Brown's legacy.
Helms was an avid supporter of jazz saxophonist Chris Potter who had the opportunity to learn his craft while performing with Helms.
Higher education
Helms earned his Bachelor of Music degree in 1973 from the University of South Carolina and taught music in the public schools for many years.
Jazz festival organizer
Helms was a founding organizer in 1986 (with Veron Melonas), and musical director of the Main Street Jazz Festival in Columbia, South Carolina.[5] Beginning with the summer of 1987, The Jazz Foundation, Inc., a South Carolina non-profit organization founded in 1987, of which Helms was the registered agent, became one of the sponsors of the festival. The foundation's mission was to promote the city of Columbia and to celebrate a uniquely American art form. Other sponsors included the Columbia Action Council (a South Carolina non-profit organization) and The Elite Epicurean Restaurant of Columbia, then owned by Veron S. Melonas (1933–2001). In 1989, the festival featured Tommy Newsom, Red Rodney, Urbie Green, Bill Watrous, Jimmy Heath, Chris Potter, Bill Crow, Andy Simpkins, Harold Jones, Ed Soph, Johnny Frigo, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Ross Tompkins, and Derek Smith, among others. Video highlights of the performances were produced by South Carolina Educational Television.[6][7]
Spoleto Festival USA
Johnny Helms was a featured soloist at the 1977 (summer) Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, South Carolina with the One O'Clock Lab Band, Phil Woods, Louie Bellson, and Urbie Green.[8] The event marked the first time that the Spoleto festival had been held in the Americas.[9][10] Since its 1958 founding in Italy by Gian Carlo Menotti, jazz had never been performed at a Spoleto event. Since its US spinoff debut in 1977 — Spoleto USA — jazz has held an integral role in what has become the largest performing arts festival in the Americas, dwarfing its Old World parent.[11] A recording of the performance was broadcast March 25, 1978, and September 28, 1978, on National Public Radio program, Jazz Alive.[12][13][14] The NPR Broadcasts were part of a jazz series produced by Nation Public Broadcasting called Jazz Alive.[15]
