Nat King Cole
Gayle Levant is the award-winning harpist who became the first woman to serve as President of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) which was formed in 1938! In the 1960s she followed in her father’s footsteps and began working as a studio musician in Los Angeles. Her...
Greg Walker was inspired by musical masters and song stylists such as Nat "King" Cole, Johnny Hartman, Sarah Vaughn, and Sam Cooke, and started singing at the age of nine. These legendary musicians made an indelible impression on Greg's artistry and style, setting high performance standards in...
Gerald “Wig” Wiggins was a world renowned composer, arranger and jazz keyboardist. As an early pioneer in playing jazz on the Hammond B-3 organ, Wig had a strong interest in new and inventive sounds. His creatively can be heard in hundreds of recordings and motion pictures beginning in the 1930s....
Ray Johnson can be heard playing the rhythmic piano parts on such classics as "Traveling Man" by Ricky Nelson and "Rambling Rose" by Nat "King" Cole. After several sessions with his brother, sax man Plas Johnson, Ray recorded several sides with soul singer Sam Cooke. Ray provided great insight on...
Milton DeLugg wrote many remarkable and popular songs such as "Orange Blossom Sky," recorded by Nat King Cole. He wrote TV theme songs and stacks of movie music. All the while, he was working with and becoming friends with the great American tunesmiths, being one of them himself. Luckily for our...
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”...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Frank De Vol was a noted arranger who took jazz to television and the movies and incorporated top musicians within Hollywood studio work whenever he could. Frank began...
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...