Big Bands
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Louise Tobin was a popular singer during the golden years of the Big Band Swing era. She performed with such bands as those led by Jack Jenney, Will Bradley, Benny Goodman...
Jay McShann was one of the last great original stride pianists, one of the last Big Band Era leaders and one of the few musicians to work with such an amazing list of jazz icons. During our interview with him he told some of the most memorable McShann classic stories such as when he was the first...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Kay Starr enjoyed a long and successful career as a pop singer bringing in the Big Band Era and continuing into the Sing Era of the 1950s. Among the big bands she recorded...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Artie Shaw was among the most popular band leaders during the great Big Band Era of the 1930s and 40s! His fine musicianship earned him the nickname the "King of the...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Peggy Lee was an elegant jazz vocalist who started singing with Benny Goodman's Orchestra and went on to record standard jazz albums and hit songs in the 1950s and 60s....
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Helen Forrest was often called the Sweetheart of the Big Band Era and may be the only vocalist to have recorded a million seller with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Harry...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Bea Wain was a singer with the big bands during the great swing era of the 1940s. She began singing with Artie Shaw's orchestra in 1937. Her greatest success came as she...
Alvino Rey tinkered with putting a phonograph pickup in his banjo to increase the volume in 1927. His inventive mind also led to early guitar pickups and the design of a pedal-steel guitar. A life-long performer, he is also known to generations for his work during the swing era including his own...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Benny Carter was among the most creative jazz composers and arrangers in a career that spanned the 1930s through the 1990s. He first recorded with Charlie Johnson's...
Artie Shapiro played the double bass during the golden era of the big bands. His approach to the bass was steeped in the tradition of his classical background. Studio orchestras soon hired him, where he worked extensively for live radio programs. Artie gained a fine reputation for sight-reading,...