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List Of American Big Band Bandleaders
{{compact ToC, side=yes, top=yes, num=yes A *Irving Aaronson (1895–1963) * Louis Armstrong (1901–1971) (Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra, 1928–1947) *Toshiko Akiyoshi (born 1929) (Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band) *Ray Anthony (born 1922) *Lil Hardin Armstrong (1898-1971) *Georgie Auld (1919-1990) (Georgie Auld and His Orchestra, Georgie Auld and His Hollywood All Stars) B *Charlie Barnet (1913-1991) *Count Basie (1904–1984) (Count Basie Orchestra, 1934–1984) * Louie Bellson (1924-2009) *Bunny Berigan (1908-1942) * Carla Bley (born 1936) *Will Bradley (1912-1989) * Les Brown (1912-2001) (Les Brown and His Band of Renown) (1938–2001) C * Joe Cabot (1921-2016) * Cab Calloway (1907–1994) (Cab Calloway Orchestra) *Frankie Carle (1903-2001) *Benny Carter (1907-2003) *Larry Clinton (1909-1985) *Harry Connick, Jr. (born 1967) * Hank Crawford (1934-2009) *Bob Crosby (1913-1993) D *Tommy Dorsey (1905–1956) ( Dorsey Brothers Orchestra) (1928–1956), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irving Aaronson
Irving A. Aaronson (February 7, 1895 – March 10, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and big band leader. Aaronson's most popular song, "The Loveliest Night of the Year", was not recorded with his band but was adapted by Aaronson in 1950 for the Mario Lanza film ''The Great Caruso''. Early life and education Aaronson was born in New York, United States. He learned the piano from Alfred Sendry at the David Mannes School for music. Career By age 11, he played accompaniment in silent movie theaters (called nickelodeons).Lewis, Dave. ''Irving Aaronson'', redhotjazz.com He co-wrote a hit song, "Boo-Hoo-Hoo", in 1921. Aaronson's first band was called the Crusaders and recorded several sides for Edison Records. His band signed with the Victor label in 1926 and the band's name was changed to Irving Aaronson and his Commanders. While signed to Victor from 1926 to 1929, the band had a notable success with "Let's Misbehave" in 1927. The band appeared in Cole Porter's Broadway mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankie Carle
Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard". "Sunrise Serenade" was Carle's best-known composition, rising to No. 1 in the US in 1938 and selling more than one million copies. Early life Carle was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 25, 1903. Born the son of a factory worker who could not afford a piano, he practiced on a dummy keyboard devised by his uncle, pianist Nicholas Colangelo, until he found a broken-down instrument in a dance hall. In 1916, a teenage Carle began working with his uncle's band as well as a number of local bands in the Rhode Island area. To gain further popularity in an America which still held prejudices against many Italian Americans, Carle did what many singers, such as Dean Martin and Jerry Vale, did during this time period; he changed his name from Carlone to Carle. Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercer Ellington
Mercer Kennedy Ellington (March 11, 1919 – February 8, 1996) was an American musician, composer, and arranger. His father was Duke Ellington, whose band Mercer led for 20 years after his father's death. Biography Early life and education Ellington was born in Washington, D.C., United States. He was the only child of the composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington and his high school sweetheart Edna Thompson (d. 1967). Ellington grew up primarily in Harlem from the age of eight. By the age of eighteen, Ellington had written his first piece to be recorded by his father ("Pigeons and Peppers"). Ellington attended New College for the Education of Teachers at Columbia University, New York University and the Juilliard School. Career In 1939, 1959, and 1946 through 1949, Ellington led his own bands, many of whose members later performed with his father, or achieved a successful career in their own right (including Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Dorham, Idrees Sulieman, Chico Hamilton, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's " Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion. With Strayhorn, he composed multipl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Elgart
Lester Elliott Elgart (August 3, 1917 – July 29, 1995) was an American swing jazz bandleader and trumpeter. Early Years Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Elgart grew up in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey with his brother Larry. They were exposed to musical influences early in their lives. Their mother, Bessie (Aisman) Elgart, was a concert pianist before her marriage to Arthur Elgart, a manufacturer's representative. She is said to have given a piano recital at Carnegie Hall, and at one time had her own music conservatory. At age 10, Les was attracted to bugling after joining the Cub Scouts. Later, he turned to the cornet, and then the trumpet. Both brothers attended Pompton Lakes High School, where Les was elected president of the school orchestra. He was playing professionally by the age of twenty. Career The First Band During the 1940s Les was a member of bands led by Raymond Scott, Charlie Spivak, and Harry James, occasionally finding himself alongside brother Larry. They f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award "for performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording." His recording of " I Apologize" (MGM, 1948) was given the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. ''The New York Times'' described him as an "influential band leader" whose "suave bass-baritone" and "full-throated, sugary approach to popular songs inspired singers like Earl Coleman, Johnny Hartman, Joe Williams, Arthur Prysock, and Lou Rawls." Early life and education Eckstine was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of William Eckstein, a chauffeur, and Charlotte Eckstein, a seamstress. Eckstine's paternal grandparents were William F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddy Duchin
Edwin Frank Duchin (April 1, 1909 – February 9, 1951), commonly known as Eddy Duchin or alternatively Eddie Duchin, was an American jazz pianist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. Early career Duchin was born on April 1, 1909 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, to Bessarabian Jewish immigrants Tillie (née Baron; 1885 – March 21, 1962) and Frank Duchin (June 2, 1885 – May 15, 1957). After graduating from Beverly High School, he attended the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and was originally a pharmacist before turning full-time to music and beginning his new career with Leo Reisman's orchestra at the Central Park Casino in New York, an elegant nightclub where he became popular in his own right, causing strife between him and Reisman. By 1932, Reisman's contract with the Central Park Casino was being terminated, leaving violinist Leo Kahn as the interim leader of the orchestra. After 6 weeks, Duchin had assumed Kahn's place as the orchestra's leader. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Dorsey
James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" and " It's The Dreamer In Me". His other major recordings were " Tailspin", " John Silver", " So Many Times", " Amapola", "Brazil (Aquarela do Brasil)", " Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Frances Langford, "Grand Central Getaway", and "So Rare". He played clarinet on the seminal jazz standards " Singin' the Blues" in 1927 and the original 1930 recording of " Georgia on My Mind", which were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Early life Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, United States, the first son of Theresa Langton Dorsey and Thomas Francis Dorsey. His father, Thomas, was initially a coal miner, but would later become a music teacher and marching-band director. Both Jimmy and his younge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
The Dorsey Brothers were an American studio dance band, led by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording in 1928 for OKeh Records. History The Dorsey Brothers recorded songs for the dime store labels (Banner, Cameo, Domino, Jewel, Oriole, Perfect). A handful of sides during their Brunswick period were issued by Vocalion. They signed to Decca in 1934, formed a touring band, with Tommy as front man, and a rather unusual lineup of one trumpet, three trombones, three saxes and four rhythm. The band performed live mainly in the New England area, with acrimony between the brothers steadily building up, until a definitive falling out between Tommy and Jimmy over the tempo of "I'll Never Say Never Again Again" in May 1935, after which Tommy walked off the stage. Glenn Miller composed four songs for the Dorsey Brothers when he was a member in 1934 and 1935, " Annie's Cousin Fannie", on which both Tommy and Glenn share the rather racy vocal, "Dese Dem Dose", "Harlem Chapel Chimes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. His theme song was " I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as " Opus One", " Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, " I'll Never Smile Again". Early life Born in Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. was the second of four children born to Thomas Francis Dorsey Sr., a bandleader, and Theresa (née Langton) Dorsey. He and Jimmy, his older brother by slightly less than two years, became k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Crosby
George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younger brother of famed singer and actor Bing Crosby. On TV, Bob Crosby guest-starred in ''The Gisele MacKenzie Show''. He was also a regular cast member of ''The Jack Benny Program,'' on both radio and television, taking over the role of bandleader after Phil Harris' departure. Crosby hosted his own afternoon TV variety show on CBS, '' The Bob Crosby Show'' (1953–1957). Crosby received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for television and radio. Early years Crosby was born in Spokane, Washington, to bookkeeper Harry Lowe Crosby and Catherine "Kate" Harrigan, the daughter of a builder from County Mayo in Ireland. The couple had seven children: Larry, Everett, Ted, Harry (popularly known as Bing Crosby), Catherine, Mary Rose, and G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hank Crawford
Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (December 21, 1934 – January 29, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter whose genres ranged from R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, and soul jazz. Crawford was musical director for Ray Charles before embarking on a solo career releasing many well-regarded albums for labels such as Atlantic, CTI and Milestone. Biography Crawford was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. He began formal piano studies at the age of nine and was soon playing for his church choir. His father had brought an alto saxophone home from the service and when Hank entered Manassas High School, he took it up in order to join the band. He credits Charlie Parker, Louis Jordan, Earl Bostic and Johnny Hodges as early influences. Crawford appears on an early 1952 Memphis recording for B.B. King, with a band including Ben Branch and Ike Turner. In 1958, Crawford went to college at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. While at TSU, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
