Music Publishing
Sammy Nestico revolutionized the band and orchestra repertoire by composing and arranging top jazz charts for all levels of bands. As a result, this arranger of Count Basie’s band in the 1950s is as well known to music fans as he is to beginning music students in school bands. Along the way Sammy...
Ed Cramer was the long time music attorney who played a vital role in ensuring the performance and composing rights of musicians and songwriters. His list of clients reads like a who’s who of American Popular Music and his dedication to ASCAP and other organizations has helped many performers...
Donald Kahn recalled the moment he first realized he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a songwriter. It was as a five-year old child playing under his father’s piano as he composed. His father, Gus Kahn, became a legendary tunesmith producing classics such as “Making Whoopee”...
Harold Winkler was raised in the music publishing industry. His father, Max Winkler, worked his way up from stock boy at Carl Fischer to be president of famed Belwin Music Publishing Company in New York. As a strong supporter of the emerging school music market following World War II, Harold...
Luella Derwin was one of the first women owners of a music store in America. In 1937, when her bandleader husband Hal Derwin went on the road, Luella was left behind, “So one day I was thinking of all the fun we had with musicians who would come to town and look for a local place to have their...
Tom Pedrini and his sister Vicki were third generation music retail owners. Their store, Pedrini’s Music, was located in Southern California and had a long and successful influence on the music community it served for so long. Due to changing times and strong competition, Tom and Vicki made the...
Vicki Pedrini grew up in the family’s music retail store in Southern California. She worked in the store on weekends and summer vacations as well as the holiday season, which brought fun times when the family all worked together. The store had a strong band and orchestra department, as it was...
Vic Mizzy wrote a number of hit songs for popular music, movies and television beginning in the 1940s. He wrote “The Jones Boy” for the Mills Brothers and is perhaps best known for writing TV theme songs for Green Acres and The Addams Family (for which he also sang on the original recording). As he...
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: Burton Lane studied classical music in New York and had the opportunity to listen to George Gershwin playing the piano at his family home while still a teenager. The...