Howard University Alum Keith Killgo of the Blackbyrds Returns with His High School Marching Band to His Old Stomping Grounds

By Chad Eric Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts

Featured Image: Howard University Alums Keith Killgo & Professor Paul Carr with the Friendship Public Charter School Tech Prep Marching Band in front of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.

More than 50 years ago, jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter, composer, and vocalist Donald Byrd founded and co-produced The Blackbyrds, a pioneering fusion ensemble made up of student musicians from Howard University. At the time, Byrd was a member of the University’s music faculty and would later earn his J.D. from Howard in 1976.

The Blackbyrds quickly rose to national prominence, delivering a string of crossover hits including “Happy Music,” “Walking in Rhythm,” and “Rock Creek Park,” solidifying their place in the evolution of jazz, funk, and R&B.

 

Among the group’s founding members was drummer and vocalist Keith Killgo, a Howard alum who has continued to carry that musical legacy forward. In 2012, Killgo reformed The Blackbyrds, reaffirming the group’s enduring cultural relevance.

 

Today, he extends that legacy as a music educator at Friendship Public Charter School Tech Prep, where he leads the school’s marching band and mentors the next generation of young musicians.

Last week, Killgo returned to campus, bringing his students with him for a full-day visit to the place where his own artistic journey began.

The group arrived at Cramton Auditorium, where they were welcomed by student ambassador and Art major, Jazzlyn Rainey, and guided on a walking tour of Howard’s main campus. From the Yard to key academic and athletic spaces, students experienced the rhythm and scale of university life before gathering for lunch in the Blackburn Center.

The visit then transitioned into a deeper engagement with the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. Students attended a recital in the Department of Music’s Recital Hall featuring performances by music therapy majors, offering a glimpse into the expressive and clinical dimensions of the discipline.

They then participated in an admissions information session led by Tammy McCants, Director of Enrollment and Academic Services, where they learned more about academic pathways and opportunities within the College.

Following the session, students met with Dean Raquel Monroe for a welcome and commemorative photo—an opportunity to connect directly with the College’s leadership before continuing their day.

 

The visit concluded inside the classroom with Paul Carr, where students sat in on a live jazz ensemble rehearsal. As the group performed "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" by Herbie Hancock, the entire group of high school students could be seen nodding their heads and tapping their feet—fully immersed in the rhythm, energy, and collaborative spirit that define Howard’s music tradition.

 

Reflecting on his time at Howard, Killgo recalled the intensity of the classroom as much as the brilliance of his peers. Surrounded by classmates who would go on to successful careers, he remembers simply trying to keep up—especially in demanding courses like ear training, where students were called to the board to identify complex musical intervals by sound alone. “We were just trying to pass theory,” he shared, a reminder that even among extraordinary talent, growth begins in the discipline of the moment.

A Howard alum who once learned these traditions returned to witness the next generation encountering them for the first time. His students, standing where he once stood, glimpsed what is possible when talent meets training, and when history becomes a living, breathing force.

This is the continuum of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts—where past, present, and future remain in constant conversation. Where artistry is not only taught, but inherited, reimagined, and passed forward.

It is a place where legacy is lived, where alumni return not simply to remember, but to invest, and where future Bison begin to see themselves not as visitors, but as what comes next.

Just days after returning to campus, The Blackbyrds were inducted into the Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement at the Wammie Music Awards, which celebrates and recognizes local artists in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area for their artistic contributions and community impact—a fitting recognition that underscores the enduring impact of a legacy born at Howard and still shaping the future of music today.

Our communications team followed along on their tour to capture the day. Check out the video below to see a one-minute recap: