Richard Carlson spoke in a soft and sincere tone when he described the family feeling working at Wurlitzer in DeKalb, Illinois. Dick joined the company that proclaimed “Wurlitzer Means Mu...
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...
Brian Charette, a passionate musician based in New York City, is a prominent Hammond organ player in modern jazz. He's garnered such recognition as the Downbeat Critic’s Poll for Organ an...
Frank Charles is perhaps best known for playing the organ during most hockey, baseball, and basketball games during the 1980s in Milwaukee. His riffs for the Brewers influenced many other...
Kenny Chilton was deeply passionate about the electric organ. While working at a piano and organ retail store in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, Kenny was approached by a research...
Dick Christian has spent his entire career in the piano and organ business and has made many friends along the way. His support for the industry led him to the role as president of the Na...
Denny Coiro spent over 40 years of his career in the piano industry. As a salesman, Denny worked for several stores over the years and had some wonderful experiences bringing a new instru...
Joy Collins had a very successful career selling pianos and organs! In fact she may very well be the person who sold the most Allen Organs ever. Joy was hired by Glenn Davis, who owned a ...
Jim Connors joined Norlin Corp. originally as the head of the Lowery Organ factories. With his strong background in manufacturing and process control, Jim was able to keep up with the 25%...
Jack Cookerly was an accordionist who was among the first to connect the instrument to the technology behind the electronic keyboard. He was chief engineer at Lowrey Organs and designed a...
Normalu Cooper was inspired by her piano teachers as a young girl so she eventually began providing lessons in her father’s piano store when she was a teenager. Like her father, Normalu w...
David Cooper recalled, with a warm smile, when his father took him to his first NAMM Show. The Cooper Piano and Organ Store in Georgia began in 1905; therefore, David did not just grow up...
Dave "Baby" Cortez recorded an instrumental hit playing the Hammond B-3 entitled "The Happy Organ." He followed that with another top ten hit "The Whispering Organ" and continued to play ...
Hal Cowan studied business administration while playing music all through school. He loved playing organ and found himself in the company of fellow organ buffs as well as employees of org...
Brian Crewe fully embraced the benefits of having an organ in the home. As an industry veteran who played a vital role in the boom of the home organ, Brian has outlined several plans that...
Karen Cuneo-Ramirez played piano since she was a girl and as she grew up, she began to teach piano. She was hired by Sherman Clay in Stockton, California, to teach piano after buying an o...
Chuck Dadisman grew up on a farm and went to school to become a school music teacher, which he did for five years before moving to Omaha, NE, where he worked in piano and organ retail. I...
Peggy Dahl-Bartunek grew up with four siblings who all took piano lessons – they even had two pianos in their house! Since the fifth grade, Peggy knew that she wanted to be a teacher and ...
Fred Davis began playing saxophone as a boy and started his own band, the Freddy Davis Orchestra, which played around Ohio during World War II. He was well equipped with reeds for his gig...
Joe De Fio has had a long and exciting career in the music industry, especially in the area of piano sales! His career began in 1968 when he was hired as a salesman for Clark Music in New...
Joey DeFrancesco
Joey DeFrancesco single-handedly brought back the popularity of the Hammond B-3, beginning in the 1990s. Joey’s soulful approach echoes his heroes of the past such as Jim...
Rick DePiro fell in love with music when he first decided to play the organ at the young age of 10, getting his first official gig just a few years later playing the electric piano in his...
Glenn Derringer is one of the icons of the music products industry. As a small child, Glenn gained national fame as a whiz on the piano and organ. In fact, Elvis Presley opened for Glenn ...
Les Deutsch is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientist in the aerospace industry who holds several patents for electronic musical instruments. His father, Ralph Deutsch, invited the s...
William Dollarhide was the president and co-owner, along with his wife Margaret, of Dollarhide’s Music Center in Pensacola, Florida. He grew up in a very musical family, with his mother a...
Lee Donais may be the only industry member who played piano (as part of the Navy Band) for three United States Presidents: Johnson, Nixon and Ford. After his career with the Navy Band, L...
Tom Dorn studied jazz trumpet at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin. The experience cemented his passion for music and soon Tom found himself working for the Wurlitzer retail stores...
George Duke built his musical career on innovative styles and sounds. His reputation for creative and influential performances cross over jazz, pop and rock music and have since his early...
Steven Eaklor is a walking encyclopedia of the history of the electronic organ –especially the Hammond Organ. Since he was a child he has loved the Hammond and ironically enough grew up t...
Ken Edgington has many friends in the music industry, several of whom suggested he be included in the NAMM Oral History program, but when approached Ken was rather humble about his role i...
