Dan Gregory was an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

, mainly working in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, from the 1920s through the 1940s. However, his band also appeared in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

during the early 1920s.

Career

According to Ken Frew, the son of Kenneth "Kenny" Frew (1902–1986), a later member of Gregory's orchestra, the band's New York residence was the Crystal Palace at 66th and Broadway.Michael Barton editor: "To A Harmony With Our Souls, A History of Jazz in Central Pennsylvania" (Benchmark Group Media, 2005), page 15 article written by Ken Frew During its New York years Gregory's band made a handful of records, first for lesser labels such as

Oriole Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

Grey Gull The grey gull, also known as garuma gull (''Leucophaeus modestus'') is a medium-sized gull native to South America. Unusual among gulls, it breeds inland in the extremely dry Atacama Desert in northern Chile, although it is present as a non-bree ...

and Cameo but also two sides for the major label

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

(''Me And The Boy Friend'' and ''Then You'll Know That You’re In Love'' issued on Victor 19519 and 19554 respectively). One of the members of Gregory's orchestra during its New York tenure was multi-instrumentalist

Andy Sannella Anthony George "Andy" Sannella (March 11, 1900 – December 10, 1962) was an American musician and bandleader. Andy Sannella was born in Brooklyn, NY. His father Anthony and mother Lucia were both Italian immigrants. Sannella was a multi-instru ...

, though it is not known whether he appeared on any of the band's recordings. Gregory finally (according to Frew) decided to get "rid of his high-priced men" and move back to Harrisburg and organize a new band which went on working through the following two decades. The band also traveled to venues outside its home town and among other places it played at the

Bertrand Island Bertrand Island, New Jersey, is a small peninsula in Lake Hopatcong, part of the community of Mount Arlington. It is best known as the former site of the Bertrand Island Amusement Park which existed from prior to World War I as a picnic ground to ...

amusement park, where it appeared (as "Dan Gregory’s Famous Dance Orchestra") with comedian Clem "Fat" Gority in 1934.Martin Kane: "Greetings from Bertrand Island Amusement Park" (Arcadia Publishing, 2000), page 60.
/ref> According to Ken Frew, Gregory's outfit toured 29 states and Canada, ports that included Richmond, Chicago, St Louis, Miami, Detroit, Boston, Toronto, New York and Gregory later, apart from leading his own band, "went on to manage Tony Pastor’s Orchestra and helped discover

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...

References

External links

dangregory.com Blog

Dan Gregory's orchestra plays ''Me And The Boy Friend'' (YouTube)

Dan Gregory's orchestra plays ''Are You Sorry?'' (YouTube)

Dan Gregory's orchestra plays ''Foolish Child'' (YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Dan American bandleaders American pianists Year of birth missing Year of death missing American male pianists Musicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Musicians from Pennsylvania