Johnathan Zell (born November 24, 1947) is an American
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
, best known as a
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 ...
er from ''
The Lawrence Welk Show'', a musical,
variety-show television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
.
Early life and education
Zell was born at
Fort Benning
Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...
, a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
post located southeast of the city of
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
,
Georgia.
While growing up in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California, he began studying music at an early age, starting first with the
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
and later moving on to the trumpet.
His first attempt to
audition for
Lawrence Welk came when Zell was thirteen years old. Welk's
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
was playing at the
Hollywood Palladium and when he asked if he could play a trumpet solo for him, Welk, although impressed with his talent and moxie, thought that he was too young but told him to see him again when he was a bit older and had more experience.
Career
After completing
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, Zell played for the
Freddy Martin and
Russ Morgan
Russell Morgan (April 29, 1904 – August 7, 1969) was an American big band leader and arranger during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known for being the one of the composers of the song "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", with Larry Stock ...
bands before he got his
draft notice. He served in the army from 1965 to 1968.
During his time in the army, he played for the
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) band known as The Commanders along with
Dave Edwards and
Richard Maloof, future Welk musicians.
In early 1968, while with the NORAD band, Zell had a second chance to audition for Welk. Zell was asked to do a
television commercial
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
for U.S. Army
recruiting and part of the job was to do an
interview
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
for the Welk show and to play trumpet for the band. After his performance on that show, Welk hired him into the band upon his completion of his military service which was nine months away.
From 1968 until the television series ended in 1982, Zell was one of ''The Lawrence Welk Show''
's most popular musicians and was often featured in trumpet solos, including "At the Cross", "
Hot Lips
"Hot Lips" ("When He Plays Jazz He's Got - Hot Lips") or "He's Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz" is a popular song written by jazz trumpeter Henry Busse, Henry Lange, and Lou Davis. The song was a number one hit for Paul Whiteman and His Orches ...
" and "
A String of Pearls".
Zell was the protégé of Welk trumpet great
Norman Bailey, who gave Zell one of his trumpets, made of gold.
As a
born-again Christian
Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...
, he was also involved in
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
ministry
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian ...
, pursuing both
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and
secular music, doing many
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...
dates and making albums. Later in life, Johnny became pastor of The Church of New Beginnings in Pacific City, Oregon, a position he held for over 17 years.
Personal life
Zell and his wife, Laura, lived in
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. He is the father of two children.
See also
*''
The Lawrence Welk Show''
References
External links
jazell.com Zell's site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zell, Johnny
1947 births
Living people
American trumpeters
American male trumpeters
Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Musicians from Los Angeles
Musicians from Oregon
Lawrence Welk
American performers of Christian music
United States Army soldiers
20th-century trumpeters
United States Army Band musicians