Charles Hale had an idea to hire a monkey to show how an easy-play organ could be operated by anyone. The hysterically funny ads were one of a million clever ideas Hale used in selling ke...
Jon Hammond's career is a testament to his musical prowess and unwavering passion for the industry. With more than 40 years of experience, Jon has not only graced the stage alongside lege...
Bob Hazard was a very familiar face in the Memphis music retail market for over sixty years. His piano and organ business played an important role during the boom of home organs during th...
Jim Hearn brings a great deal of experience to his position as Vice President at Piano Craft in Springfield, Missouri. Jim owned and operated his own music store in a local mall for over ...
Peter Heid enjoyed his career playing with many of the dance bands of the 1930s and 1940s in his hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin. After the war, he used his love of music to open a small ...
Bob Heller’s grandfather began working in the music industry as a piano manufacturer in New York. Along with two partners, his grandfather formed the Winter Piano Company, which under the...
Bill Hesterman has always been fascinated by the pipe organ. He studied piano and organ as a child, and with the good fortune that one of his teachers was an organist for the Mormon Taber...
Robert Hill became the president of the Organ Exchange shortly after it was established by Curt Carter. Together the two men worked long and hard at creating a business model that helped ...
Tim Hinkley has been an active studio musician in both Los Angeles and Nashville for most of his career. As first-call keyboardist, Tim has recorded with George Harrison, Pete Townshend,...
Akio Hiyoshi was on the engineering team at Yamaha in 1959 that designed the Electone Organ, which brought the small piano manufacturer into the electronic musical instrument market, wher...
Don Holcombe owned and operated several music stores during his long career. Among the most noted stores were those he opened with fellow salesman Russell Lindquist in and around Houston ...
Dennis Houlihan played many important roles within the music products industry, all of which have been driven by his passion and love of music and music making. After years as a demonstra...
Jerry Hovey grew up in a musical home as his father was a professional drummer. Jerry’s own love for music began at an early age but it wasn’t until he saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan...
Garth Hudson sat down at the piano and played several classical works as the NAMM Oral History crew set up the camera and lights. He began by playing, stopping every once in a while, to r...
Frank Huffman was the quintessential traveling music salesman! With charm and always a few good jokes, Frank has made his way across the United States, first for Wurlitzer and then for Ba...
Dick Hyman has always been an innovative musician and as a result has performed on many of the latest developments in musical instruments over his long career. Known mostly for his jazz s...
Kazuo Ishibashi spent over 25 years in the Special Equipment Division of JVC (Japan Victor Corporation) and headed their musical instrument engineering section. JVC marketed electronic o...
Rodgers Jenkins was the founder of the Rodgers Instrument Corp., based outside of Portland Oregon. Under Rodgers leadership, the company developed a strong engineering team that created ...
Al Jensen began his musical career at the age of 13 playing clarinet in a Vaudeville show. That is, he played until his parents found out where he was playing. His band director convinced...
Marie Jensen was born in Rosebud, Texas as the daughter of a Texas Ranger. She graduated college in Houston with a business degree before meeting Al Jensen on a blind date. The two were m...
Bill Jones is the founder of Bill Jones Music in Knoxville Tennessee. The retailer started in 1973 with a focus on piano and organs, which was during the height of the organ boom. Over t...
Booker T. Jones grew up in Memphis and began recording as a session player while still in high school at the age of 17. While waiting for a session to begin, Booker and the other musicia...
Robert J. Jones traveled on a tour bus with his father and sang gospel music together for many years as the Song Fellows. They recorded for Homeland Records in Nashville and performed aro...
Carol Jones-Zadel introduced new organs and keyboard products to music dealers around the world for over 50 years. Her sharp technical abilities made her a favorite with manufacturers and...
Keith Jorgensen opened a piano-focused retail store in the Salt Lake City area that would grow to 13 stores in three states! Keith Jorgensen's Music stores were all run by Keith until hi...
Mitsuo Kasahara served as the first president of Yamaha Corporation of America after setting up the branch office in Southern California in 1961. Three years earlier he established the f...
Sam Keeney loved playing music! He had a road organ he hauled to performances nights and on weekends. Starting in the late 1950s, his day job was music retailing. In 1970 he bought a stor...
Gordon Keller owned and operated a string of piano stores in and around northern Virginia and became a much-celebrated figure in the area due to his work at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Tr...
George Kirkwood joined the Rodgers Instrument Corp. in the engineering department just five years after the company was formed by Rodgers Jenkins and Fred Tinker. Beyond his fourth year ...
Alberto Kniepkamp engineered many of the electronic organs produced by the Lowrey Organ Company in the 1970s and 80s. Alberto took an active role in the development of the MX1 Lowrey Orga...
Susan Kniepkamp fondly recalls the job opportunity she eagerly pursued at Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI), perhaps mostly because it eventually led to meeting her future husband, Albert...
Craig Knudsen cut his teeth on the industry as many people who have come to service in leadership positions. He started working for the Wurlitzer Company during college. After graduating ...
