​​BUFFALO, N.Y. — ​It’s a close knit community – those who knew Charles Reedy, a jazz musician who played at the historic Colored Musicians Club for 75 years.

“I would say you probably have like 5%, maybe 10%, that would know him,” George Scott, Colored Musicians Club curator, said. “You know? But if you ask within the music world, you probably be talking about 99%.”

“He was out always throwing a lick to have what Charlie Parker would have played. And so hence, that's why we always call him Charlie,” Scott continued.

He played with some of the greats, but came from humble roots, learning the sax from neighbors like Spider Martin, who became more like brothers.

“They should go to Pennsylvania and all over to play music because they love that and never worry about getting they didn't want the money be paid,” Martin, Reedy’s friend, said. “They just wanted to play.”

A love that helped him push through the Korean War and racism that plagued the nation.

“They get pulled over by Niagara Falls cop,” Scott said. “So he you know, he's asking him, ‘where are you guys, you know, coming from and he said, well, I want you to get your instruments, I want you to play something for me.’ They play a, you know, a few bars of a song. And then after that, he said, okay, well, I'll let you go this time. But you know, I don't want you to come this way ever again.”

Reedy built a resilience that he passed on to the next generation.

“It didn't matter if you were…just way out of your league. He was always willing to sit and talk,” Jack Nossavage, local music historian, said.

Making sure this institution continues.

“There's not too many places for our children of color that they can look at and have some pride in,” Scott said. “You know, and I think that's why they were so insistent on helping us so we at least have something that we can present back to our kids and their kids and the kids on”

An embodiment of never quitting on what you love, who will be missed.

“A lot of those stories will live in and the guys that were in the bands,” Nossavage said. “They lose a little bit of that shine that that, you know, that little glimmer in Charlie's eye.”