Bruce Swedien was working with Quincy Jones when Michael Jackson asked the two if they would work on his upcoming album, entitled “Thriller.” It became the biggest selling album on the pl...
Joe Swenson played trumpet in grade school and was influenced by his mother who played the piano and gave lessons. While earning his degree in trumpet performance in college, Joe worked ...
Wilton Syckes was thought to have sold more pianos than any other salesman. A veteran of the industry, Wilton was also a former president of the National Piano Traveler’s Association. The...
Tetsuya Takagi served as Executive Vice President of Yamaha International Corporation (currently Yamaha Corporation of America) and worked for Yamaha Corporation in Japan holding several ...
Wolfe Taninbaum was a leader in the development of synthetic reeds, although he is best known for his mouthpiece designs. The Taninbaum mouthpiece company was established in 1952 to provi...
Paul Tanner joined Glenn Miller's newly formed band in 1938 and recorded all of the band's hits including "In the Mood" and "String of Pearls." He often said "Everything the Glenn Miller...
William Tapia stood up in front of United States solders playing his ukulele and singing at the tender age of eight years old. He was entertaining the troops for World War I and did not s...
Bill Tarpley remembered the stories his father used to tell him about the early days of the family music retail store in west Texas. Times were hard during the era of the dust bowls and d...
Buzz Tarpley grew up in the music business. His grandmother was selling pianos as early as 1917 in West Texas. The Tarpley family officially opened a music store in 1927 in Pampa, Texas. ...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Grady Tate was a prolific jazz drummer who laid the beat fo...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Buddy Tate was a leading saxophonist during the Big Band Er...
Elaine Taylor began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart in 1975, where she covered cases. Over the years she has worked in the cork and padding department for saxophones, also in t...
Larry Taylor joined the rock/blues band Canned Heat in 1967 just before the band’s string of hit recordings. The gig came after nearly 6 years as a recording artist playing both guitar an...
Billy Taylor was first and foremost a jazz pianist. This fact might surprise some people who knew Billy best for one of a number of other careers he enjoyed in music, including teaching, ...
Bryce Taylor was one of the best known and respected bandmasters in the state of Texas. His school bands performed at the Midwest Band Clinic, TMEA, and the Texas Bandmaster’s Association...
Tut Taylor was a world renowned Dobro player, but did you know he partnered with George Gruhn and the two hired Randy Wood to form a music store in Nashville? Gruhn Guitars began as GTR,...
Horst Teller was the son of Oskar Teller, who formed a small workshop in 1929 in Schonbach to make musical instruments. After World War II, the company was rebuilt in Bubenreuth in 1949 a...
Artur Teller created a successful career by producing highly regarded violin bridges and supplying them to luthiers in and around his hometown of Bubenreuth, Germany. Like many of the ins...
Clark Terry enjoyed a long and celebrated career as a trumpeter playing with nearly ever iconic jazz musician of the twentieth century. His tone and style of playing was an influence on s...
Vinny Testa was the founder of Testa Communications, which he established in 1984 to provide the music products industry with such trade magazines as The Music & Sound Retailer and DJ...
Toots Thielemans enjoyed an incredible career as both a jazz guitarist and a jazz harmonica player. In fact, it is Toots who is credited for bringing the harmonica to jazz. He has perform...
Ed Thigpen, known as Mr. Taste for his remarkable touch and feel as an innovative drummer, had a few (hundred) tricks up his musical sleeves when it came to brush work on the snare drums ...
Russell Thomas was a band director for over 34 years. During his teaching years he often felt frustrated that simple repairs would take weeks and often delay concerts or rehearsals. A l...
Mark Thomas was a noted flute player who toured the world and recorded several albums during his long career. As a product endorser, Mark appeared in several printed ads over the years a...
Morley Thompson’s financial background was a key element in the expansion of the Baldwin Piano Company during the 1980s. Morley created a credit company and finance programs under the Bal...
Johnny Thompson had the distinction of being the very first music student of a young steel guitar player named Ernie ball. Back in the early 1950s, before he established a string company,...
Terence James Thompson played the clarinet just as his father and grandfather did. Terence played clarinet in the British Army after World War II and in 1948 attended the Birmingham Schoo...
Phil Thompson enjoyed working in the leather company his grandfather formed in Nashville. As a teenager Phil made himself a leather guitar strap in the shop, although the business at the ...
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...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Martha Tilton was a famous singer during the Big Band Era b...
Fred Tinker and Rodgers Jenkins formed the Rodger Instrument Company in 1958. The partnership began when their church asked if they would join the team to help purchase an organ. Fred and...
Jerry Tishkoff and his brother Eddie owned the famous Hollywood Piano Company and Hollywood Piano Rental Company located in Southern California. The stores gained fame for providing instr...
