Floyd Freeman Graham (aka 'Fessor) (October 15, 1902 – August 18, 1974 in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

) was a US collegiate bandleader and music educator who founded and directed the

Aces of Collegeland One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009''. ...

in 1927, the university dance band, pit orchestra and stage band of the

University of North Texas College of Music The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school among the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. It developed the first jazz studies ...

. He also was a violinist. The Aces of Collegeland was the forerunner to the

One O'Clock Lab Band One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009''. ...

. Graham laid the groundwork at North Texas for what became the first college degree in jazz studies. Many of the Ace's band members and Saturday night participants became a "who's who" in the performing arts – as members of famous big bands, film, and singers. Notable Saturday Night Performers with the Aces *

Ann Sheridan Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films ''San Quentin'' (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cagne ...

Joan Blondell Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...

Louise Tobin Mary Louise Tobin (November 11, 1918 – November 26, 2022) was an American jazz singer and musician. She appeared with Benny Goodman, Bobby Hackett, Will Bradley, and Jack Jenney. Tobin introduced " I Didn't Know What Time It Was" with Goodman ...

* Nancy Jane Gates *

Linda Darnell Linda Darnell (born Monetta Eloyse Darnell; October 16, 1923 – April 10, 1965) was an American actress. Darnell progressed from modeling as a child to acting in theater and film. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in ...

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

Notable "Aces" Alumni *

Harry Babasin Yervant Harry Babasin, Jr. (19 March 1921 – 21 May 1988) was an American jazz bassist. His nickname was "The Bear". Biography Babasin was born in Dallas, Texas to an American mother and an Armenian father. He attended North Texas State Universit ...

Bob Dorough Robert Lrod Dorough (December 12, 1923 – April 23, 2018) was an American bebop and cool jazz vocalist, pianist, composer, songwriter, arranger, and producer. Dorough became famous as the composer and performer of songs in the TV series ''School ...

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Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

* Charles W. LaRue * William F. Lee III * William Ennis Thomson * JB Floyd In 1971, the University of North Texas Student Government Association designated him as "Honor Professor," and upon retirement May 31, 1973, the regents awarded him the lifetime status of

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. He was the university's first professor emeritus.

Education

Graham earned a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of North Texas 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," ...

. Graham earned a Teachers Certificate from

Chicago Musical College Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. History Founding Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music. The institution h ...

in 1927 and a Bachelor of Music degree in violin from

in August 1931. While attending

, Graham studied violin with Max Ignatz Fischel (1878–1937) (Head of the Normal Department), ear training with Harold Burnham Maryott (born 1878), music history with

Herbert Witherspoon Herbert Witherspoon (July 21, 1873 – May 10, 1935) was an American bass singer and opera manager. Biography He was born on July 21, 1873, in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Yale University in 1895 where he had performed as a member o ...

(1873–1935);

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

with Hans Franklin Madsen (1887–1971), and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

, and solfeggio with

Wesley LaViolette Wallace Wesley LaViolette (4 Jan 1894 Saint James, Minnesota - 29 Jul 1978 Escondido, California) was an American musician who composed, conducted, lectured, and wrote about music. He was also a poet and music theorist. As an educator, he mentor ...

(1894–1978). Graham also earned a Master of Music degree from the

American Conservatory of Music The American Conservatory of Music (ACM) was a major American school of music founded in Chicago in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931). The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It developed the Conservato ...

. At the

, Graham had been a pupil of: * Herbert Dalton Butler (1867–1946) – violin *

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(1895–1968) – composition & counterpoint In Texas, Graham had been a pupil of: *

Carl Venth Carl Venth (February 16, 1860 – January 29, 1938) was a German-American composer, violinist, conductor, music educator, and scholar. He was a leading classical music figure in Texas in the first half of the twentieth century and was one ...

(1860–1938) He also had been a pupil of: *

Fritz Mahler Fritz Mahler (July 16, 1901 in Vienna, Austria – June 18, 1973 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.) was an Austrian conductor. Mahler's father was a cousin of the composer Gustav Mahler. In Europe he became a leading conductor with suc ...

Ferde Grofé Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé, known as Ferde Grofé (March 27, 1892 April 3, 1972) (pronounced FUR-dee GROW-fay) was an American composer, arrangement, arranger, pianist and instrumentalist. He is best known for his 1931 five-movement tone poem, ...

(1892–1972)

Family and growing up

Floyd Graham was the son of Schyler Colfax Graham (1869–1931), a Denton grocer, and Rockie Virginia Graham ' (1879–1954) Freeman. Floyd Graham first exhibited his interest in music by experimenting with a cigar-box violin while in grade school. * Floyd Graham married Doris Patricia Howard on September 2, 1942."Marriages: Graham–Howard," ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'', September 3, 1942 They had a daughter, Patricia (Pati) (Graham) Haworth.

'Fessor Graham Award for Faculty

In 1958, the North Texas student body established the 'Fessor Graham Award, the highest honor bestowed by the students to a faculty member. The award recognizes one faculty member each year for outstanding and unselfish service beyond the call of duty to students. * Floyd Graham, Music, 1958 * Beulah Harriss, PE & Intercollegiate Women's Athletics, 1959 * Samuel B. McAlister, Government, 1960 * Arthur M. Sampley, Library Service, 1961 * William B. DeMougeot, Speech & Debate, 1962 * A. Witt Blair, Education, 1963 * Chester A. Newland, Government, 1964 *

Leon Breeden Harold Leon Breeden (3 October 1921 – 11 August 2010) was a jazz educator and musician. Biography When he was three his parents moved to Wichita Falls, Texas, where he grew up and graduated from high school. He attended Texas Wesleyan College i ...

, Music, 1965 * William R. Garner, Government, 1966 * Clovis Morrisson, Political Science, 1967 * Kendall Pinney Cochran (1924–2007), Economics, 1968 * Don E. Beck, Speech and Drama, 1969 ''Student government in transition, no recipients, 1970-71'' * James Riddlesperger, Political Science, 1972 * Charles Foster, Business, 1973 * Leo Estrada, Sociology, 1974 * Ben Chappell, Speech Communications, 1975 * Milan J. Reban, Political Science, 1976 * T. Bullock Hyder, Economics, 1977 *

Anshel Brusilow Anshel Brusilow (August 14, 1928 – January 15, 2018) was an American violinist, conductor, and music educator at the collegiate level. Early life and education Brusilow was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1928, the son of Ukrainian Jewish ...

, Music, 1978 * Umesh C. Banerjee, Biology, 1979 * Tommie Collins Lawhon, Education, 1980 * Douglas P. Starr, Journalism, 1981 * David R. Fitch, Business, 1982 * Jerry Lee Yeric, Political Science, 1983 * John James Haynie, Music, 1984 * Lee Knox, Geography, 1985 * J. B. Spalding, Business, 1986 * John S. Gossett, Communication and Public Address, 1987 * Richard H. Wells, Journalism, 1988 * Ernest F. Crystle, Foreign Languages and Literatures, 1989 *

Dan Haerle Dan Haerle (born July 23, 1937) is a jazz pianist, composer, author and teacher, based in Denton, Texas. He is professor emeritus of Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas.UNT Counterpoint, Spring 2002 Early life and education Dan Haerl ...

, Music, 1990 * Valerie D. Martinez, Political Science, 1991 * Fred Hamilton, Music, 1992 * Kenneth Godwin, Political Science, 1993 * Robert S. LaForte, History, 1994 * Norris D. Fox, Education, 1995 * Ann S. Windle, Education, 1996 * Donald E. Chipman, History, 1997 * P.R. Chandrasekaran, Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law, 1998 * Juliet Getty, Merchandising and Hospitality Management, 1999 * William T. Waller, Biological Sciences, 2000 * Gladys H. Crawford, Biological Sciences, 2001 * Thomas P. Sovik, Music, 2002 * Richard Tas, Merchandising and Hospitality Management, 2003 * Brian L. Bowman, Music, 2004 * David W. Hill, Kinesiology, Health Promotion and Recreation, 2005 * Kimi King, Political Science, 2006 * Dee C. Ray, Counseling and Higher Education, 2007 * Donna Ledgerwood, Human Resources Management, 2008 * Lyndal M. Bullock, Education, 2009 * Gloria Cox, Political Science & Dean of the Honors College, 2010 * Armin R. Mikler, Computer Science and Engineering, 2011 * Shahla Ala'i-Rosales, Behavior Analysis, 2012 * Andrew Enterline, Political Science, 2013 * Brian Lain, Communications Studies, 2014 * Bethany Blackstone, Political Science, 2015 * Michael Thompson, Philosophy and Religion, 2016 *

Floyd Graham Memorial Scholarship

The College of Music offers a scholarship as a memorial to Floyd Graham, sponsored by the Floyd Graham Society. Recipients * 2007 — Sam Reid, Saxophone

North Texas Jazz Festival's Floyd 'Fessor Graham Award

The''
North Texas Jazz Festival
established the Floyd 'Fessor Graham Award for the outstanding high school or middle school vocal group. The winner performs during one of the evening's "pro" concerts.

Publications

* Floyd Freeman Graham, ''Public relations in music education, a study'', Exposition Press, New York (1954) * Floyd Freeman Graham, ''For Music Literature'', (Unknown Binding) (1965) * Floyd Freeman Graham, ''For music appreciation; a course outline to supplement the teaching of music appreciation'', Denton, Tex., Howard Pub. Co.,

Denton, TX Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

(1960)

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Floyd American music educators 1902 births 1974 deaths American Conservatory of Music alumni Chicago Musical College alumni University of North Texas College of Music faculty American jazz educators 20th-century American musicians