The Salt City Five received national attention after winning the Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts live TV show in 1952 when Arnie Koch introduced them as the Talent Scout. Godfrey enjoyed them so much that he put them on Arthur Godrey and Friends. Originally from Syracuse, N.Y. (The Salt City) the members were students at Syracuse University and, except for Alger, played in the Syracuse marching band.

The last surviving member of the original Salt City Five – Don Hunt – died Aug. 5 in Lyons, N.Y. at age 87.
His inspired skills on the trumpet were a major factor in the Salt City Five’s rise to fame,” said former SC5 manager Arnie Koch. The band also featured trombonist Will Alger, clarinetist Jack Maheu, drummer Bob Cousins and pianist Charlie French.

It was on Sept. 22, 2006 that three of the five original Salt City FIve members appeared at a “Jazz ‘N Caz” concert. It was their last appearance together. Arnold Koch, longtime manager of the Salt City Five/Six, introduced the evening....

Fifty-four years ago, five guys from Syracuse, three of them from the Syracuse University Marching Band, started a dixieland band called the Salt City Five. They were: Will Alger, trombone, Jack Maheu, clarinet, Don Hunt, trumpet, Bob Cousins, drums, and Charlie French, piano. It is our loss that neither WIll nor Charlie are still with us.

If someone had walked into Almalfi’s Restaurant in Syracuse one evening in 1953 they would have seen the eventually world-famous Toots Thieleman playing harmonica with the Salt City Five.

When the Salt City Five cofounder and trombonist, WIll Alger, died in
1992 at 66, his close friend, Charlie Mussen, commented in JazFax,
“The number one musical influence on Will’s life was Jack Teagarden. Jack could do no wrong as far as Will was concerned. He had no patience for someone who criticized his idol.”