Stan Keller (' Stanley Keller Grubb, (1907–1990) was an American bandleader, composer, arranger, and woodwind player who led his own orchestra — ''Stan Keller and His Orchestra''. Keller was a member of the original Pennsylvanians, the California Nighthawks, and orchestras led by

Charlie Kerr Charlie Kerr (11 August 1890 Philadelphia – 7 October 1976 Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida) was an American jazz drummer who led a jazz orchestra bearing his name in Philadelphia beginning in the early 1920s. In 1922, Kerr led orchestra in the fi ...

Charles Previn Charles Previn (January 11, 1888 – September 21, 1973) was an American film composer who was active at Universal in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. Before being based in Hollywood, Previn arranged music for over 100 Broadway productions. ...

Josef Pasternack Josef Alexander Pasternack (7 July 1881 – 29 April 1940) was a conductor and composer in the first half of the 20th century. Biography He was born in Częstochowa, Poland in 1881, the eldest son of Sigmund and Dora Pasternack. He had two y ...

, Earl Bernnett, Marshall Van Poole,

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

, and

Carmen Cavallaro Carmen Cavallaro (May 6, 1913 – October 12, 1989) was an American pianist. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation. Music career Carmen Cavallaro was born in New York City, Un ...

. His fellow members in the Charles Kerr Orchestra included

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

Eddie Lang Eddie Lang (born Salvatore Massaro, October 25, 1902 – March 26, 1933) was an American musician who is credited as the father of jazz guitar. During the 1920s, he gave the guitar a prominence it previously lacked as a solo instrument, as p ...

and

Joe Venuti Giuseppe "Joe" Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was an American jazz musician and pioneer jazz violinist. Considered the father of jazz violin, he pioneered the use of string instruments in jazz along with the guitarist Eddie La ...

. Keller was also a member of the Townsmen, a quartet (vibes, guitar, saxophone, bass) which played at the Warwick Hotel. Photos of the Townsmen were often featured on the covers of sheet music that the group performed.

Stan Keller Orchestra

Stan Keller and His Orchestra performed in the 1940s at New York venues that included an 11-month engagement the

Stork Club Stork Club was a nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. During its existence from 1929 to 1965, it was one of the most prestigious clubs in the world. A symbol of café society, the wealthy elite, including movie stars, celebrities, showgirls, ...

(1944–45), the Waldorf, the Essex House, the Copacabana, and the Columbia Room at

Hotel Astor Hotel Astor was a hotel on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1905 and expanded in 1909–1910 for the Astor family, the hotel occupied a site bounded by Broadway, Shubert Alley, and 44th and 45th Stre ...

. While performing at the Stork,

Sherman Billingsley John Sherman Billingsley (March 10, 1896 – October 4, 1966) was an American nightclub owner and former bootlegger who was the founder and owner of New York's Stork Club. Life and career John Sherman Billingsley was the youngest child of ...

, the proprietor, often referred to Keller's group as the "Ork of Stork" ("ork" being colloquial for "orchestra"). Members of his orchestra included

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

(piano),

Bob Hames Robert Earl Hames (January 22, 1920 – September 6, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist from Texas who played with the dance orchestras of Jan Garber, Orrin Tucker, and Stan Keller. In the early 1950s he was a staff guitarist for live producti ...

(guitar) and

(piano).

Sonny Werblin David Abraham "Sonny" Werblin (March 17, 1910 – November 21, 1991) was a prominent entertainment industry executive and sports impresario who was an owner of the New York Jets and chairman of Madison Square Garden, and who built and managed the ...

of MCA booked Stan Keller and His Orchestra at the

with five radio broadcasts a week, coast-to-coast, on the

CBS network CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Selected compositions

All compositions below were originally scored for and performed by The Townsmen, a quartet consisting of a guitar player, a bass player, a saxophonist, and a vibraphonist. * "Pikes Peak Polka", music by Stan Keller * "Hop, Skip and Jump (Honey Hurry to Me)", music by Stan Keller and

Jerry Livingston Jerry Livingston (born Jerry Levinson; March 25, 1909 – July 1, 1987) was an American songwriter and dance orchestra pianist. Life and career Born in Denver, Colorado, Livingston studied music at the University of Arizona. While there he com ...

, words by

Al Hoffman Al Hoffman (September 25, 1902 – July 21, 1960) was an American song composer. He was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number-one hits through each decade, many of wh ...

and Milton Drake (' Druckman; b. 1916, New York City) :: Publishers: :::# Sony Tunes Inc. :::# Al Hoffman Songs, Inc. :::# Hallmark Music Co., Inc. :::# Empire Music Company, 1650 Broadway, New York ::Recorded by

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of "Sing, Sing, S ...

and his Orchestra,

Anita O'Day Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...

, vocals, Columbia, New York City, Oct. 24, 1945 (Record Catalog No. 1035342) ::: "Hop, Skip and Jump" has been re-released on the following CDs ::: 1995: ''1946 Live!'' (Jazz Hour) ::: 1999: ''Complete Capitol Recordings of Gene Krupa and Harry James'' (

Mosaic Records Mosaic Records is an American jazz record company and label established in 1982 by Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie. It produces limited-edition box sets. The sets recordings are leased from the major record companies, usually for a three- or f ...

) ::: 2000: ''Gene Krupa: Legendary Big Bands Series'' (Castle Pulse) ::: 2001: ''Big Band Legends'' (Direct Source) ::: 2002: ''1945-1946'' (Classics) ::: 2004: ''Gene Krupa'' (Platinum Disc) ::: 2005: ''Gene Krupa/Stan Kenton'' (Platinum Disc) :: Also recorded by

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 ...

:: Also recorded by

Bud Freeman Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet. Biography In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high sch ...

with

The DeMarco Sisters The DeMarco Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the big-band era who recorded popular music and performed in concerts and on the radio, television, and on film from the 1930s through the 1960s. They first achieved fame as weekly ...

* "Chérie", words and music by

, Stan Keller, and

(©Feb 17, 1946; EU7368) * "Temp'ramental You, Sentimental Me", words and music by Eugene West, Bert Mann, and Stanley Keller :: Publishers: :::# Keller Music Company, 1619 Broadway, New York (©1943) :::# Will Lewis Music Company Inc. (arrangement by

Van Alexander Van Alexander (May 2, 1915 – July 19, 2015) was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer. Early years Van Alexander was born Alexander Van Vliet Feldman in Harlem. His mother was a classical pianist, and she taught him to play the piano. ...

for 16 piece orchestra) * "That Wonderful Moment" * "Don't Say You're Sorry" * "Jo Anne", by

and Stan Keller * "Jukebox Serenade"

Biography

Stanley Keller Grubb's parents were Benjamin Franklin Grubb (b. 1873), a steam shovel operator in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania and Elizabeth (née Keller) Grubb (b. 1872). The family descended from

John Grubb John Grubb (1652–1708) was a two-term member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and was one of the original settlers in a portion of Brandywine Hundred that became Claymont, Delaware. He founded a large tannery that continued in opera ...

, who came to the Delaware Valley from Cornwall in 1677. The youngest of four children, Stan mastered the clarinet, all saxophones, flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, and bassoon. He performed with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

at age 13. About 1925, Stan married Ione Dorothy Renfro, (b. Aug. 1, 1904,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

; d. Mar 1981,

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

). They had two children: Robert Stanley Grubb (b. 1930) and Laura Lou Saxton, ' Grubb (b. 1932; d. 1962

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

). Stan and Ione divorced in about 1933. Stan remarried to Marietta P. Livingston (1913–1963), who also sang with Stan 's Orchestra. 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 ...

, a variety of economic factors led to the decline of big band, according to a ''Denver Post'' interview with Keller — factors that included (i) a rise in living and travel expenses, (ii) the advent of television, (iii) the diminishing power of radio, and (iv) shifting musical tastes.Alan Katz, ''Bandleader for the Stork'', The Denver Post, Sect. E, Aug 30, 1987 Keller couldn't make a living the way he was used to, so he moved to Colorado Springs in 1946, where we remained until 1986. He fell in love with the area after playing at Copper Grove at the old Antlers Hotel in 1945. For the ensuing 40 years in Colorado Springs, Keller played at the Garden of the Gods Club, the Tavern at

The Broadmoor The Broadmoor (stylized as THE BRODMOOR) is a hotel and resort in the Broadmoor neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Broadmoor is a member of Historic Hotels of America of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Its visitors hav ...

resort, and the New Terrace at the old Antlers Hotel. In Colorado Springs, he owned and operated Stan Keller's Dress Wear, Keller's Camera Craft, and the Ute Trading Post. In 1964, Stan Keller married a third time to Cecelia Helen Zika, ' Stumph (b. 1909, Willow Lake, SD; d. 2002,

Lakewood, Colorado The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. Census making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in Col ...

), who used Stan's real surname, Grubb. She was the widow of Robert Francis Zika (b. 1909

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

; d. 1953,

Boulder, CO Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...

), a portrait photographer and band leader. Stan's death records
Social Security Death Index
used his stage surname, Keller. He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery,

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, next to his second wife, Marietta P. Keller Grubb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Stan Big band bandleaders American jazz clarinetists American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz bandleaders 1907 births 1990 deaths Deaths from lung cancer Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Colorado Springs, Colorado) 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians