Hal Derwin or Hal Derwyn (July 14, 1914 – February 9, 1998) was an American dance bandleader, principally active in the 1940s. Early in his career, Derwin was a member of a vocal trio with

Lee Gillette Leland James Gillette (October 30, 1912 – August 20, 1981), known professionally as Lee Gillette, was an American A&R director, record producer and musician. Biography Born in Indianapolis, Gillette was raised in Peoria, Illinois and t ...

(later a talent scout for Capitol Records).Leo Walker, The Big Band Almanac. Ward Ritchie Press, 1978, p. 96. In the 1930s he worked with musicians such as

Boyd Raeburn Boyd Albert Raeburn (October 27, 1913 – August 2, 1966) was an American jazz bandleader and bass saxophonist. Career He was born in Faith, South Dakota, United States. Raeburn attended the University of Chicago, where he led a campus band. H ...

Louis Panico Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

Shep Fields Shep may refer to: People Given name *Shep Fields, American band leader *Shep Goodman, American music producer and songwriter *Shep Gordon, American talent manager, Hollywood film agent, and producer * Shep Mayer, Canadian ice hockey player *Shep ...

, and Les Brown, and formed his own band in Chicago in 1940 that included Freddy Large (of

Jan Garber Jan Garber (born Jacob Charles Garber, November 5, 1894 – October 5, 1977) was an American violinist and jazz bandleader. Biography Garber was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had his own band by the time he was 21. He became known as "The ...

's band) as a sideman. He toured the Midwest for much of the 1940s, and had several 10-inch singles released on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, including the hit song "

The Old Lamp-Lighter "The Old Lamp-Lighter" is a popular song. The music was written by Nat Simon, the lyrics by Charles Tobias. The song was published in 1946. Background The lyrics sentimentalize and memorialize the profession of lamplighters, who walked city s ...

", which reached number six on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

chart. In the early 1950s his band took up a residency at the

Biltmore Bowl The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, originally the Los Angeles Biltmore of the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels group, is a luxury hotel located opposite Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Upon its grand opening in 1923, the Los Angeles Biltmo ...

in Los Angeles for six years and was broadcast on

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

.Hal Derwin
at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Derwin continued to record and perform on the side, including with

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

and in a duet with

Martha Tilton Martha Tilton (November 14, 1915 – December 8, 2006) was an American popular singer during America's swing era and traditional pop period. She is best known for her 1939 recording of "And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman. Tilton was born ...

. Later in his career he worked in

artist and repertory Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

for Capitol.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derwin, Hal American bandleaders 1914 births 1998 deaths