Ella Fitzgerald
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...
Abraham Laboriel has often been called the most recorded bass player of all time. Bass Player Magazine placed him on their top 50 bass players list and listed Abraham as having performed on over 4,000 records and soundtracks. Among the projects he spoke about during his NAMM interview were those...
Dick Nash was a first call trombone player in the Los Angeles studios for several decades. He played for over two thousand movies and TV programs and with a list of artists ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to Art Pepper. Henry Mancini often used Dick on his movie projects including Peter Gunn and Mr...
DJ GrandMixer DXT brought the turntable front and center as a musical instrument! DXT is a proud member of the "first generation" of DJs in the dawn of Hip-Hop. When he recorded a session that was played for Herbie Hancock, the result was the breakthrough hit instrumental "Rockit." The success...
Mike Lang was a well-respected keyboardist who can be heard on over 2,000 movie scores and countless studio recordings over his long and successful career. He worked with composers such as John Williams, Henry Mancini and Jerry Goldsmith to jazz and pop performers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Frank...
Allen Blasco began to smile during his NAMM Oral History interview when he spoke about how his mother and father met at Jenkins Music in Kansas City. His father was in charge of the music publishing department of Jenkins and his mother worked in the retail part of the company. Soon after they met,...
Ron Escheté grew up in and around Houma, Louisiana and, during his NAMM Oral History interview, said, “I was never taught the blues, it was just something all around all the time. Playing the blues to me is like walking or breathing air.” As a musician, Ron has created a unique style on the seven-...
Mike Wofford has enjoyed a long and acclaimed career in music. As a jazz pianist, Mike has performed with many legends including Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Quincy Jones, Shelly Manne, Zoot Sims and Sassy Sarah Vaughan. He pays remarkable attention to details and understands the role as an...
Harold Jones has toured with Tony Bennett for over three decades, topping off a solid career as a jazz drummer with a flare for singers. Harold worked with Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald as well as Carman McCrae. His association with the music industry goes back to the 1940s when he endorsed the...
Jim Hughart was born into a family of professional musicians and is proud of the many musical experiences he had growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Right after graduation from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Theory, Jim was drafted into the Army. For two years, he...