He didn't make that claim on Saturday. (Maybe he's said it elsewhere.) He did recommend his fellow Philly guys to Art, but I assume that Art's the one that hired them.
In fact, it sounded like he recommended Morgan, Timmons, and Merritt in response to Blakey's soliciting his input. Also, in his liner notes to the RVG edition of "Moanin'", Bob Blumenthal states the following:
FWIW.