Van Alexander co-wrote “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” with Ella Fitzgerald while both worked in the Chick Webb Orchestra back in 1938. The success of that song led to a job as arranger for Webb as ...
Frank Alkyer has asked a lot of questions. As a writer and editor of Music Inc., he has interviewed music retailers and suppliers alike. In addition as a writer and editor for DownBeat Ma...
Muriel Anderson sure puts her heart and soul into her music as both a performer and songwriter. Over the years the music products industry has been lucky to be closely associated with Mur...
Mike Anderson remembers hanging out with his best friend in the 8th grade and hearing him play an original song. Mike was hooked and wanted to focus on music and worked on it every day. ...
Ray Anthony has only endorsed two products during his long and successful career-- only two because he doesn't give use of his name lightly. As a teenager he played trumpet for the famed ...
Jerry Ash recalls his father, Sam Ash, giving him a pocketful of change and sending him off on the subway to New York City to pick up the sheet music orders from the publishers. With nick...
Chip Averwater took over the music retail business in Memphis, just as his father did and his son would one day, keeping the tradition in the family. Chip’s passion for the music business...
Kyle Barker's journey in the piano retail industry began in 1969, when the esteemed Sherman & Clay Piano Company in Northern California welcomed him aboard. Steeped in a rich musical ...
Bryan Bell was given the task of engineering a working synthesizer using all of Herbie Hancock’s favorite keyboards back in the early 1970s, well before MIDI. Herbie’s single instruction ...
Remo Belli revolutionized the music products industry by introducing the Weather King, the single most popular drumhead in the world! As a jazz drummer, Remo was looking for ways to impro...
Louie Bellson was one of the World's premier drummers and listed in every jazz encyclopedia. Even with great success, he remained humble and was one of the true gentlemen of American popu...
George Benson recalls befriending Bob Cavanagh at the EU Wurlitzer Music store in Boston long before his noted career as an entertainer took off. George often visited the store and spent ...
Lyle Bird grew up in a musical family with his mother playing the piano daily. As a teenager he played trumpet in several swing bands during the big band era including with such leaders a...
Hal Blaine was perhaps the most recorded drummer from the California recording studios of the 1950s-'70s. His influential style can be heard on more than 170 number one hit songs and 450...
Fred Bramante formed the music retail store Daddy’s Junky Music on the East Coast and went on to play a vital role on the NAMM Board during a dynamic period in the association’s history. ...
David Briggs was learning his skills as a studio musician in both Muscle Shoals and Nashville when he received a call to replace Floyd Cramer in a recording session. That session just hap...
Evan Brooks became interested in electronic musical instruments during the early days of synthesizer development. He worked on MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controllers for ...
Junior Brown is a performer/inventor who dreamed of a sound to offset his rockabilly and blues styles. He designed a slide guitar and an electric guitar into one unit that did not require...
Whitney Brown Grisaffi proudly serves as the president of Ted Brown Music, a revered Tacoma, Washington-based retail establishment founded by her grandfather. Her unwavering dedication an...
Karl Bruhn was the Bob Hope of the music industry, having received so many awards and accolades – an award should have been given for the most awards received. Karl gained his reputation ...
Clora Bryant was billed as the female Louie Armstrong in the era of the Ed Sullivan variety show. Her raspy-voiced imitations were a big favorite among viewers but the gimmick often over-...
Peter Bunetta’s first passion was the drums and it was that instrument that brought him into the music industry. After forming local bands and playing clubs, Peter found himself in the r...
Richard Burke worked for the Rickenbacker Guitar Company in Southern California nearly his entire career before retiring in 2004. Over the years he worked in nearly all of the factory pos...
Thomas Burzycki served as President of Selmer Band Instruments while at the same time being on the NAMM Board as one of the first four commercial members to do so. He followed that term ...
Mark Cabaniss always wanted to be in the music business. As a music student graduate and composer he was given that chance while teaching college, when Brentwood Music had an opening. The...
Brendan Callinan likes to say that everything he owns he obtained because of music. As a rock performer in the highly successful Australian group the Radiators, Brendan played and wrote s...
Bernie Capicchiano was coached from the Accounting world to manage a new music retail store for the Brash Group in Australia in 1973.His long career in the industry includes a strong rela...
Walter Carter along with his wife, Christie, formed Nashville's "friendliest guitar store" when they opened Carter Vintage Guitars. With a last name so well known in country music, you c...
Del Casher has an impressive scrapbook full of photographs from his career as a professional guitarist and inventor of music products, such as the early guitar effects called the Echo-Pho...
Jim Catalano loved playing drums as a small boy but never imagined a life in music. Jim jumped at the chance to work for the Ludwig Drum Company in the early 1980s. There he became known ...
Peter Chaikin was still in high school when he knew in his heart what he wanted to be when he grew up: a recording engineer. With the Billboard Directory of Studios under his arm, and enc...
Willie Chambers and his brothers fell in love with gospel music while growing up singing in church. Even though they received some strong criticism, they expanded the places where church ...
