Deceased
John Connolly established the Connolly Music Company (originally Connolly & Co., Inc.) back in 1970. Best known for distributing such brands as Thomastik-Infeld and König & Meyer, the company remains a family owned enterprise, with John's son, Jake, now at the helm. In 1954 John was hired...
Richard O’Donnell was vice president of Yamaha Corporation of America at a very historic time in the company’s growth and development, the 1970s. Richard worked on several projects including managing the operations for the Everett Piano Plant in Michigan, which Yamaha purchased to expand its piano...
Leona Yousling was married to one of the most beloved members of the Wurlitzer Company team of the 1960s and 70s, John Yousling. John created many of the sales training classes, which he provided in several countries over 2 decades, becoming an influential teacher to many who have later became...
James Glanville was part of the team that relocated the Conn instrument manufacturing operations from Elkhart, IN to Nogales, Mexico, back in 1972. The result was a heavy blow to Elkhart, which had once been the Band Instrument Capital of the World. However, it was a needed move in order to keep...
Bud Isaacs designed a line of pedal steel guitars, teaming with fellow country music performer Shot Jackson to form the Sho-Bud Company. In his pursuit to create and develop new sounds for the instrument, Bud went to Paul A Bigsby to request a custom pedal steel guitar. The Bigsby became Bud’s main...
Larry Taylor joined the rock/blues band Canned Heat in 1967 just before the band’s string of hit recordings. The gig came after nearly 6 years as a recording artist playing both guitar and bass. As a member of Canned Heat, Larry played Woodstock and Monterey, performing the band’s hits including “...
George Roberts is known in the jazz world for his recording of “Stella By Starlight” with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, which featured George on bass trombone. He is known among music instrument makers as Mr. Bass Trombone, who helped make a market for the instrument beginning in the late 1940s....
Gladys Krenek was married to the world-renowned composer Ernst Krenek from 1950 until his passing in 1991. Like many women married to noted artists of that era, Gladys’ own remarkable life in music has been largely overlooked. In addition to being a composer in her own right, she played trumpet in...
Russ Turner opened his own organ repair company in the early 1960s in the early days of the home organ boom. He worked with all of the organ dealers in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly four decades. During this time he also repaired other electronic products with a focus on radios,...
Ed Rizzuto was surrounded by music his entire life. As a young boy he started playing trombone, which he continued throughout high school and into his military service in the early 1950s. After teaching orchestra as a school band director for several years, Ed joined the music industry as a...