Dick Contino had a series of hit recordings and popular television appearances in the 1950s playing his trusty accordion. By the end of that decade, he was hired by M. H. Berlin at Chicag...
Toyomasa Namikawa was the founder and chairman of the board for the Japan music publisher Teine Corp., which was named after his initials. He dedicated his life to providing students and ...
Allan Holdsworth was the influential electric guitarist who played a vital role within the music products industry as both an endorser and instrument designer. Allan recorded 12 well-rece...
Dave Luce grew up in a musical home and in fact wrote his doctoral thesis on the analysis of musical instruments back in 1959. As an interesting side note, that thesis was sponsored in p...
Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Roland Corporation, created more than a successful business with a host of important innovations in electronic musical instruments; he has also paid trib...
Cam Miller established himself as a respected music critic and journalist who was a long-time supporter of countless jazz festivals and concerts for over five decades. Cam began his prof...
Katinka Lathrop was married for over 60 years to a guitar player with a passion. After he retired from the ceramics industry, the couple moved to Modesto, California, where they opened a ...
Jesse Flores was the founder of Flores Music stores located in Peoria and Pekin, Illinois. He had the idea of surrounding himself with music when he was a young boy and when the chance ca...
James Cotton learned the blues from many of the greatest artists in recorded history! As a result his style of playing is our link to the early development of the music form, especially t...
Lyle Ritz worked for a Los Angeles music store in the 1950s when his career as a studio musician began to take off. Lyle’s studio years were filled with numerous ground-breaking hits, man...
Wally Pikal may have been the only music retailers who played on the Johnny Carson Show! Wally opened his store, Wally Pikal Music, in Hutchinson, Minnesota in 1964. Up to that time he ...
Les Ray was a well spoken advocate for music education. As the founder of ASM Music Schools in Florida, he created a respected educational program that includes some 2,500 students each w...
Larry Coryell enjoyed a long career as a jazz guitarist. In addition to touring and recording on his own, Larry worked with some of the greatest names in jazz. Over the years he developed...
Josef Lausman proudly followed in his family’s footsteps. In the small German village of Nauheim (near Frankfurt) he made mouthpieces, primarily for trumpets and trombones for many years ...
Willi Zildjian has made many lasting contributions to the SABIAN Cymbal Company, which she formed along with her husband Bob back in 1981. However, her most noted is the naming of the com...
Curt Carter was in the right place at the right time. As a piano dealer, he watched the boom of the home market explode during the late 1960s and 70s. He pooled his resources, teamed with...
Elliott Rubinson fell in love with the bass at the age of 12 and played it every waking moment as he grew up in Queens, New York, in the rock era of the 1960s. He toured with a number of ...
David “Bud” Morgan opened his music retail store in 1957 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Since that time Morgan’s Music has become a critical part of the community and the local school music pr...
Abbott Buegeleisen and his late brother ran the music wholesaling business that his father formed in New York City. Abbott’s father and a friend, who soon after passed away, combined thei...
Haruhiko Ikebe developed a novel way of approaching music retailing, creating Super Pro Shops that stock vintage and new instruments along with accessories and knowledgeable sales staff f...
Ernie Kenaga was hired by Charlie Bickel at the Selmer Company following the end of his military service during World War II. At the time, 1946, Selmer had 80 employees including factory ...
Ernie Borr was a band director from Mandan, North Dakota who was an early supporter of the Eckroth Music store. Ernie was on hand for the Eckroth Music Center's 40th anniversary party in...
Dale Probst and his wife, Elizabeth Ward, formed Ward & Probst Piano & Organ Service Piano Tuning Service in Wichita Falls, Texas. They both have followed their life's dream to pr...
Richard Myrland was a wizard, just as his name suggested! As a product designer for Wurlitzer, Dick created the famed 1050 juke box. With his devotion to the “Wurlitzer Way” credo, he, as...
Ivan Mogull had a special connection with the Brill Building in New York City, the long time hub of music publishing for decades. Ivan was born the same year the famed building was built...
Buddy Greco was classically trained on the piano and found himself arranging for Benny Goodman as a teenager. With his love of singing and the encouragement of mentors such as Nat “King” ...
John Edmondson and Anne McGinty worked together at Charles Hansen Publishing, where they met. Together they freelanced as composers and arrangers until they decided to form their own fir...
Sam Eisenman grew up in New York during the heyday of the Big Bands and BeBop. As an ardent music fan he saw many of the great Big Bands, including Benny Goodman's Orchestra in 1938 at C...
Francois Leduc was the President of the French music publishing company Editions Alphonse Leduc, which has been in his family since it was first established in 1841. The family musical or...
Larry Seaver spent decades designing, engineering and producing parts, instruments and tools for band and orchestras. The key to his success was simple, Larry was an engineer’s engineer! ...
Victor Tibaldeo Sr. loved to talk about the accordion boom of the 1950s, an element that helped establish his music store. The Miami-based store also was one of the country’s most success...
Pauline Oliveros pioneered composing music using electronic instruments. She recorded both with the Moog and Buchla synthesizers as well as the Expanded Instrument System, an electronic s...
