Ramsey Lewis had a monster hit record with his jazz version of "The In Crowd." The song, which is considered to be the quintessential instrumental jazz hit of the 60s, led to a series of ...
George Lewis was the founder of George L’s in Madison, Tennessee, one of the industry’s leading innovators of cable and electronic components. George played a large role in the developme...
Vic Lillo Sr. and his wife Doreen started a business in 1963, opening Lillo’s School Of Modern Music Ltd, a music school and retail music store in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Lillo’s Music...
Stan Lindenbaum grew up in Brooklyn and developed many thoughts and ideas about selling. While working for several different industries during his career, Stan studied the idea of incenti...
David Lindley grew up close to the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California, where he was exposed to stringed instruments from around the world. He also worked for Berry Grassmuek Music...
Russell Lindquist joined his uncle’s piano store in Iowa in his early 20s, and soon discovered his love of the business. He especially loved selling. Russell opened a Hammond Organ dealer...
Arthur Linter had many stories to share, like the one about his real birthday. “My mother told me, ‘Your birthday is March 14, 1913, but it says April 5 on your birth certificate because ...
Jack Linton followed in the footsteps of his father who formed the famed Linton oboes brand of musical instruments. The instruments have been handcrafted in Elkhart, Indiana, since the 19...
Dr. Ruth Lion’s late husband, Alfred Lion, was the founder of Blue Note Records. Together they played a colossal role in the documentation of jazz throughout most of the 20th century. The...
Michael Lipe turned his passion for guitars into his own, successful business. Founder and owner of Lipe Guitars in California, Michael gained experience for his trade by building a serie...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Jay Livingston happily wrote the music to accompany the lyr...
Jim Lo Duca's father and uncle founded Lo Duca Brothers, a small music store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just before America entered World War II. With his uncle drafted, Jim's father, Tom, ...
Richard Loberg worked for the Schmitt Music store for nearly his entire working career. The company was formed in 1896 in Minneapolis, largely as a piano store. Over the years the company...
William Locke worked for the Canadian division of the C.F. Martin & Company going back to the early 1970s. During that same time period, several suppliers came together to form the Mu...
R. Thomas Lockie’s grandfather started a small music store in downtown Los Angeles in the 1920s. The store was later owned and operated by Tom’s father who played “keep the store in busin...
Don Loeffler combined his love of music with his engineering skills to make several modifications to the percussion instruments he used throughout his career. He made his own vibraphones ...
Scott Lombardo worked in the music products industry since he was fourteen years old! His passion quickly developed after hearing The Beatles three years earlier. He would drill holes and...
Jack Long co-founded the Long & McQuade music stores in Canada beginning in 1956. At the time, there were few supplier/dealer relations between Canada and the United States. Establish...
Manny Lopez was known around the world as the King of the Cha Cha Cha for his 1950s band and hit records dedicated to the dance craze, but Manny’s musical career was far more than just th...
Trini Lopez became an early Latin-American pop singer with a string of recordings in the late 1950s and 60s including "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree." Frank Sinatra took him under hi...
Dave Lopez grew up in East Los Angeles and witnessed the explosive evolution of the mobile DJ, beginning in the late 1970s. During high school, Dave was asked to provide the music for a d...
John D. Loudermilk wrote several songs that became the biggest hit recording for the artist who performed the songs. This includes artists Sue Thompson (Sad Movies Make Me Cry) and Geor...
Tony Lovello began playing accordion when he was five years old, thanks to the fact that his father was a professional musician. Tony performed on stage, television, radio and in the mov...
Mundell Lowe is deservedly listed in just about every jazz encyclopedia. With a powerful, yet relaxed, approach to his playing, Mundell helped revolutionize the jazz guitar sound in bebop...
Bob Lozier began working at Freeman Companies with Howard Bailey in the 1960s to support the NAMM shows. Over the years, Bob has been instrumental in forming the infrastructure to support...
Carlo Lucarelli graduated with an electronics engineering degree in 1963, marking the beginning of a distinguished career. After three years with GTE in Milano, he joined the music produc...
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...
William F. Ludwig II was proud of the company his father started, largely based on the 1909 patented bass drum pedal, which allowed the drummer to sit down for the first time. Bill follow...
Elizabeth Ludwig-Fennell was always surrounded by music. As a child, she played piano. As a young adult, she helped develop the Ludwig Music Publishing Company. She later married the foun...
George Lukas recalled, in great detail, when he was aboard a navy ship at the end of World War II and sitting down to play a blue-painted Steinway upright piano (also known as the Steinwa...
Bob Luly built the first sound system for the Rolling Stones that they used in the United States. The system was created for the Orange Show in the 1960s and led Bill to build systems for...
Frank Luppino Jr. wrote for Billboard Magazine in the 1940s when the noted publication dedicated a segment to the music products industry and an annual NAMM issue. He oversaw the NAMM iss...
