Jazz
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Harry Sargent was a jazz drummer based out of Memphis, Tennessee. His father, Kenny Sargent (1906-1969), was a famous singer during the Big Band Era. Kenny scored several...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Gerry Mulligan helped define the Cool Jazz genre with his rich baritone saxophone style and a series of historic recordings including several with Miles Davis. He played...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Herb Jeffries was a singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra who scored a top hit recording with "Flamingo" in 1941. Other songs would follow but none matched the success...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Jay Livingston happily wrote the music to accompany the lyrics of his lifelong friend, Ray Evans. They wrote three Oscar winning songs along with the Christmas classic "...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Ray Evans was an Oscar winning songwriter who penned tunes for jazz and pop artists as well as for television and film. Teamed often with his lifelong friend Jay...
Buddy Greco was classically trained on the piano and found himself arranging for Benny Goodman as a teenager. With his love of singing and the encouragement of mentors such as Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra, Buddy launched into his own singing career. Over the years he recorded a string of hit...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Grady Tate was a prolific jazz drummer who laid the beat for such performers as Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, and Ray Charles. He gained a...
Van Alexander co-wrote “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” with Ella Fitzgerald while both worked in the Chick Webb Orchestra back in 1938. The success of that song led to a job as arranger for Webb as well as Benny Goodman and Paul Whiteman and super stardom for Ella. Van formed his own band during the wonderful...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Margaret Whiting was a popular singer who had a number of hit recordings in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Her father was the noted songwriter Richard Whiting who penned...
Louie Bellson was one of the World's premier drummers and listed in every jazz encyclopedia. Even with great success, he remained humble and was one of the true gentlemen of American popular music. With his noted double bass drum kit, a series of method books, and respected clinics, Louie made a...