Bob Lanese (born August 2, 1941) is an American

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

player who has spent most of his career as a professional musician in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Life and career

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Lanese was one of a group of local trumpet players who would eventually play in the

James Last Orchestra The James Last Orchestra was a German/multinational big-band orchestra. The orchestra was established in 1964 as a studio orchestra, led by jazz musician Hans Last. The orchestra started touring in 1968 and has been very popular worldwide. From 1 ...

in Germany, the others being

Rick Kiefer Rick Kiefer (born 1939) is an American trumpet player who has spent most of his career as a professional musician in Germany. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, he first attracted notice in the early 1960s as a member of the Maynard Ferguson big ...

, Bob Findley and

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abilities ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in Science and Music Education at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1962, and then became a member of the house band for the Alpine Village, a popular nightclub in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. During the Vietnam War, he played with the Norad Commanders, a renowned American air defense big band. After his discharge, he became a graduate assistant in jazz at

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

. In 1971, he toured Europe with the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and com ...

under the direction of

Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and ...

and became particularly enamored with the German port city of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Soon after, he landed a job with the NDR (Norddeutsche Rundfunk, or North German Radio) big band in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. During his tenure at NDR, he began to work occasional sessions for the

and eventually joined the band in 1972. For the next 30 years, he became primarily known as the lead trumpeter for the Last band, but also played many session for other German bandleaders like

Kai Warner Kai Warner was the stage name of Werner Last (27 October 1926 – 9 July 1982), a German bandleader and musician, and the brother of James Last and Robert Last. Biography Born in Bremen, Warner took piano lessons from Ernst Weelen and rece ...

, Jo Ment,

Frank Valdor Frank Valdor (27 May 1937 – 5 August 2013) was one of the great German bandleaders having sold over 2.5 million records during the 1960s and 1970s. In particular, Valdor was popular for his instrumental arrangements intended to be played non ...

Max Greger Max Greger (April 2, 1926, Munich – August 15, 2015, Munich) was a German jazz musician, saxophonist, big band bandleader and conductor. He recorded over 150 records in jazz and pop music. In 1948 he founded his first sextet with acclaimed mu ...

and

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the musi ...

. Lanese made solo recordings for the Europa record label and also directed his own group, the Downtown Big Band. In addition, he worked as a music educator and clinician throughout Germany. He retired from the

in 2002, but continues to play and teach.Bob Willox, "James Last", 1975; James Last Appreciation Society magazine, November 1986

References

1941 births Living people Musicians from Cleveland American trumpeters American male trumpeters Ohio State University alumni University of North Texas College of Music faculty 21st-century trumpeters 21st-century American male musicians James Last Orchestra members {{US-trumpeter-stub