Big Bands
Joe Wilder endorsed many musical products during his long career as a trumpeter. In the later part of his life he was very satisfied with the Buescher horns, but had a collection of other instruments, such as Holton and Conn, which he played during the swing era. Along with his long and successful...
Jake Hanna was the epitome of what a big band drummer is all about. Jake started playing drums at five in a drum corps in the Boston area. He continued to play drums in the bands of Harry James, Maynard Ferguson, and Woody Herman, among others. He was widely known and respected in the recording...
Dave Pell had a long and remarkable life in music. As a saxophonist he played with many of the top dance bands in the later years of the Big Band Era, including Les Brown and his band of renown. As a photographer, he covered the long-playing albums for most of TOPS records during the 1950s,...
Del Courtney was among the most popular Big Band leaders of the golden age of swing. Getting his start in the Al Hill Orchestra, Del soon found fame when he formed his own band at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, Calif., in 1939. He established himself as "The Old Smoothie" and created a band ideal...
Ted Herbert was a well known bandleader during the great big band era who opened a store on Manchester, NH to help him get the repair service he needed for his own road band. Although his band worked steady long after swings golden days, Ted found the store a nice place to come home to. NAMM's...
William Tapia stood up in front of United States solders playing his ukulele and singing at the tender age of eight years old. He was entertaining the troops for World War I and did not stop playing until the year of his passing at the age of 103! His life in music was almost as fasinating as his...
Gerald Wilson was among the great arrangers of jazz, beginning back in the swing era when he worked for the famed Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. He established a distinctive style rich in melodic phrases and tasty rhythms, which stood out among the most stylish jazz arrangements. The impressive list...
Wolfe Taninbaum was a leader in the development of synthetic reeds, although he is best known for his mouthpiece designs. The Taninbaum mouthpiece company was established in 1952 to provide a range of tones he was unable to find as a musician. He performed and recorded jazz and dance band music...
Frank Nelson played trumpet and cornet during the swing era, touring with Alvino Rey’s Orchestra among others. He arranged music for the bands, both small groups and the larger outfits and worked on a wide range of materials during his long career. In later years he worked in recording studios,...
H. C. McMurtry sure knew a lot about the Wurlitzer Company! Not only did he work for the company for nearly 20 years, he traveled throughout the country, selling the company’s product line to hundreds of music dealers. H. C., known by his nickname, Harmon, served as the national sales rep for the...