World War II
Bill Crow had a long and successful career as a jazz bassist for such Bebop pioneers as Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. In later years he joined the board for the New York chapter of the Musicians Union, which led to his second career as a writer. He was asked to write a regular column for the union’...
Ron Whittaker was just eleven years old when his father started a music retail store in Long Beach, California. Whittaker Music opened in 1946, just after World War II and Ron still remembers the struggles his father had in gaining instruments as manufacturers were still short on raw materials that...
Philip Springer utilized his classical piano training to pen hit songs during a long and celebrated career making music. As a result his tunes often incorporated elements of sophistication as well as whimsy. Both of his parents were musical and encouraged young Philip to play the piano. By the age...
Will Friedwald is an author and music historian who has the skills and knowledge to write about everything from the Blues to the roots of Rock and Roll. The era in between seems to be his specialty, with works on jazz singers, the big bands, radio pioneers and even Warner Brother cartoons. During...
Dennis Spragg is a music historian and author who has become an expert on the bandleader Glenn Miller. He is the senior consultant for the Glenn Miller Archives and the American Music Research Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, as well as the historian for the Glenn Miller Birthplace...
Lew Shaw grew up admiring musicians he heard on the radio or saw in concert and wanted to do all he could to promote their music and tell their stories. He was a journalist and advertising manager by day and an avid music lover by night. He has interviewed over a hundred musicians and even wrote...
Peter Goodrich grew up playing piano and got into the music business when he began a job at Lyon & Healy as an assistant to the manager. He got a chance to go to the harp factory and learned all about harps and the mechanisms inside of them. It turns out that Lyon & Healy was located in...
Roberto Giannini is part of the third generation running Giannini Musical Instruments alongside his brother, Flavio. Their company has thrived on being innovative and working around issues. During WWII when supplies were cut off, they began making their own strings and then between the 1960-1990s...
Flavio Giannini is part of the third generation running Giannini Musical Instruments alongside his brother, Roberto. One of their most well-known designs is the Craviola, which is designed to be a smaller and therefor more comfortable instrument to play. As they introduce new products, they strive...
Dusti Dryer was just one year old when she was dubbed the world’s youngest musician. A photograph of her playing the harmonica, or rather holding it, was featured in a magazine and launched her career as a musician. Dusti took a liking to the drums and formed many small groups during her career,...