Oral History

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Andrew Barta

Andrew Barta was born in Hungary and came to the United States with a dream of working in the music industry. Having been in rock bands in Europe,...
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Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham is the acclaimed drummer who was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame in 2006. Billy was born in Panama but...
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Wesley Schaum

Wesley Schaum’s father wrote and arranged music with the hope of serving school band programs in a meaningful way. He wrote several important...
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Murray Sunshine

Murray Sunshine has become a legend in the New York music retailing business. As an employee of Manny’s Music, hired by Manny himself, Murray...
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Dan Vedda

Dan Vedda grew up playing music. As an arranger and trumpeter he gained a respected reputation in the Westlake area of Ohio. After working for a...
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Allan Ward

Allan Ward has enjoyed nearly 40 years in the print music industry. He has become one of the leaders in promotion and education regarding sheet...
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George Westjohn

George Westjohn was hired by Lowell Samuels to oversee the expansion of Mr. Samuels’ interests in the wholesale music business. Mr. Samuels, a...
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Yoshiharu Abe

 Yoshiharu Abe is known as the father of personal multi-track recording in the audio engineering field.  He was one of the five founders of...
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David Abell

 David L. Abell formed his piano retail store in Beverly Hills back in the late 1950s.  Since that time he has established one of the...
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Ken Achard

 Ken Achard played such an important part of the industry that he was asked to write a book.  The book entitled “The Peavey...

© 2009 NAMM, the International Music Products Association