Ernie Hensley III was born March 14, 1940 to parents Ernest W. Hensley Jr. and Gladys Barbara Hensley. He was raised in Washington, D.C. At the age of seven, he found a saxophone in his grandmother’s attic and embarked on his musical journey. He took lessons at the Modern School of Music in D.C., acquiring proficiency with the clarinet and the flute through long hours of practice. Hensley attended a historically black school, Armstrong High School, until he was transferred to McKinley High School in 1954, following the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

Musician and trupmet player Joseph "Wingy" Manone was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1900. He got his nickname at the age of ten when he lost his right arm when it as crushed between two streetcars. He began his musical career by playing kazoo in spasm bands on the streets of Storyville, Louisiana.