This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Eddie Miller was asked to take a break from his road travel...
Jackie Mills as a drummer put down the beat for jazz and big band stars such as Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday. As a record producer, he played a critica...
Lou Mitchell was a product of the big band era and cut his teeth on swinging trumpet solos, such as those of his musical heroes of the 1930s. After meeting Rafael Mendez (his life-long fr...
Fred Morgan was one of the few GI’s, returning home from World War II, who were accepted to the Conn School of Musical Instrument Repair the first year it started. The year was 1946 and F...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Ella Mae Morse was a vocalist for Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra ...
Dick Nash was a first call trombone player in the Los Angeles studios for several decades. He played for over two thousand movies and TV programs and with a list of artists ranging from ...
Frank Nelson played trumpet and cornet during the swing era, touring with Alvino Rey’s Orchestra among others. He arranged music for the bands, both small groups and the larger outfits an...
Sammy Nestico has revolutionized the band and orchestra repertoire by composing and arranging top jazz charts for all levels of bands. As a result, this arranger of Count Basie’s band in ...
Lee O’Connor was a noted trombone player in the golden era of the big bands. His experience on the radio, traveling from town to town for name and territory bands, reflected the struggles...
Dave Pell had a long and remarkable life in music. As a saxophonist he played with many of the top dance bands in the later years of the Big Band Era, including Les Brown and his band of ...
Robert Petteruti sat in the showroom of Twin City Music in Providence, RI, for his NAMM Oral History interview. The showroom is in the store his father opened in the 1930s and within the ...
Bucky Pizzarelli was a jazz guitarist who helped bring the sounds of the electric guitar into jazz and into popular music, beginning in the 1940s. As a stage performer and later a studio...
Jim Progris attended the Berklee College of Music back in 1956 and witnessed firsthand the development of the school’s courses and programs over the years. He returned to the school to te...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Hal Pruden was a noted pianist (sometimes billed as the wor...
Victor Quarterman began taking drum lessons as a kid at Leonard’s School of Music, which was established by the father of his longtime friend and mentor, Danny Leonard. Danny introduced V...
Jack Redmond began playing the trombone at the age of nine, thanks largely to his mother’s support, who herself played the C-Melody Horn in movie theaters for Silent Films. Jack played th...
Alvino Rey tinkered with putting a phonograph pickup in his banjo to increase the volume in 1927. His inventive mind also led to early guitar pickups and the design of a pedal-steel guita...
George Roberts is known in the jazz world for his recording of “Stella By Starlight” with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, which featured George on bass trombone. He is known among music instru...
Del Roper performed the xylophone for several society big bands, playing on radio with Xavier Cugat in the early 1930s. Del was later a powerful force in studio orchestras and developed a...
Andy Rowley is a member of the iconic swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Since its inception in 1993, the band has achieved tremendous success with hit records and memorable concert appeara...
Howard Rumsey may have played the first electric bass to be recorded on a jazz recording. While performing with Stan Kenton’s first orchestra in the early fall of 1941, Howard was asked ...
Jim Rupp has had a passion for drumming as far back as he can remember. As a percussionist for several traveling groups in the 1970s such as those led by Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Harry Sargent was a jazz drummer based out of Memphis, Tenn...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Raymond Scott was a noted bandleader and songwriter during ...
Denny Seiwell went along on gigs with his father who was the drummer for the Tommy Dorsey band during the great Swing Era. Denny recalled sitting on the floor and watching his father pla...
Jack Shallat was a professional violin player who landed several gigs with traveling bands in the 1930s and 40s. During that time he met Buddy Rogers and both men opened separate music s...
Artie Shapiro played the double bass during the golden era of the big bands. His approach to the bass was steeped in the tradition of his classical background. Studio orchestras soon hire...
Lew Shaw grew up admiring musicians he heard on the radio or saw in concert and wanted to do all he could to promote their music and tell their stories. He was a journalist and advertisin...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Arvell Shaw was the swift handed bass player who set the gr...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Artie Shaw was among the most popular band leaders during t...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: George T. Simon was a journalist and historian who document...
Jack Simpson worked for RCA for nearly 40 years beginning at the time when the electronics and recording company was a regular exhibitor at the NAMM Trade Shows. Jack also became a jazz ...
