Joe Goodman began playing gigs around the Los Angeles area since he was very young with his primary instruments being the piano and trumpet. With a Marching Band scholarship for college i...
Larry Dougherty has always been grateful for the vast pool of great musicians who made up the swing bands of the 1940s and 50s. This allows so many to go on the road with a number of band...
Jack Redmond began playing the trombone at the age of nine, thanks largely to his mother’s support, who herself played the C-Melody Horn in movie theaters for Silent Films. Jack played th...
Lanny Aplanalp says he was happily playing football in school at the age of 16 with a focus on sports when he first heard the jazz saxophone. He was hooked and everything changed for him!...
Sam Glenn has had a marvelous career as a saxophonist in big bands and many Los Angeles-based recording studios. He took clarinet lessons at Kitt’s Music in Maryland (now Jordan-Kitt’s Mu...
Chuck Findley can be heard on the beautiful Flugel Horn solo on the Carpenter’s 1970 hit “(They Long to Be) Close To You.” However, that one recording should not define the range and enor...
Gary Hobbs is a third generation professional drummer. His grandfather Harry led several big bands during the Great Depression era and his father, who later became a strong leader within ...
Jim Widner was given a very special opportunity to join his grade school’s orchestra, which provided him an instrument to play. His love of music was fostered years later when he became a...
Will Friedwald is an author and music historian who has the skills and knowledge to write about everything from the Blues to the roots of Rock and Roll. The era in between seems to be his...
Dennis Spragg is a music historian and author who has become an expert on the bandleader Glenn Miller. He is the senior consultant for the Glenn Miller Archives and the American Music Res...
Lew Shaw grew up admiring musicians he heard on the radio or saw in concert and wanted to do all he could to promote their music and tell their stories. He was a journalist and advertisin...
John Altman, the world-renowned composer, grew up in a musically rich family and found his own passion for music at an very young age. His uncles (Woolf and Sid Phillips) were successful ...
Jim Progris attended the Berklee School of Music back in 1956 and witnessed firsthand the development of the school’s courses and programs over the years. He returned to the school to tea...
Victor Quarterman began taking drum lessons as a kid at Leonard’s School of Music, which was established by the father of his longtime friend and mentor, Danny Leonard. Danny introduced V...
Leo Adelman spent much of his life playing the jazz trumpet. In retirement, he spends a great deal of time playing and promoting jazz throughout San Diego County. When the NAMM Oral Histo...
Steve Wilkerson was just a young saxophonist when legendary bandleader, Stan Kenton, hired him to join his orchestra in 1975. It was a great experience for Steve, who went on to play in s...
Betty Bennett was inspired to pursue a career in music when she was brought along to gigs by her mother and was allowed to sing with her. After Betty’s first paying gig, making 50 cents f...
Morris Diamond sat down with us for his NAMM Oral History interview at the age of 97 and recalled his career in music which started when he was 15 years old. He was hired to be the “band ...
Jeff Hamilton is right at home at the drum kit of a big band. While he has had great success and enjoys trios, Jeff considers himself a big band drummer. One key approach to his drumming ...
Gene (Cip) Cipriano began his musical career with the big bands led by such stars as Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, and Tex Beneke. He later moved to Los Angeles where he soon began his incre...
Vaughn Wiester recalls the day he played with the Woody Herman band for the first time. The famed leader called out a tune he knew and Larry was ready to jump right in. "They started pl...
John Tumpak is the author and music historian who has focused most of his writings on the golden age of swing during the Big Band Era of the 1930-40s. As a result, John has interviewed a...
Bob Bain played with a number of the big bands during the golden era of swing before he became the iconic studio session player in Los Angeles. His session playing is well known for a wi...
Dick Nash was a first call trombone player in the Los Angeles studios for several decades. He played for over two thousand movies and TV programs and with a list of artists ranging from ...
Denny Seiwell went along on gigs with his father who was the drummer for the Tommy Dorsey band during the great Swing Era. Denny recalled sitting on the floor and watching his father pla...
Jon Andersen has enjoyed playing music nearly his entire life. A jazz saxophonist, Jon played in a number of small and large bands over the years and found work with several noted musici...
Kevin Maher has countless stories about the music industry, about jazz and about his father and grandfather who ran Down Beat Magazine and the early days at Music Inc. Even more, Kevin c...
Skip Buss played trumpet for several big bands on the road and in local hotel ballrooms during the great Swing Era of the 1940s. He decided to leave the road when his son was born at whi...
Brent Fischer has provided several presentations at the Hot Zone during the NAMM Show, providing his insight regarding the music industry. His career started as a young child listening t...
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...
Bucky Pizzarelli was a jazz guitarist who helped bring the sounds of the electric guitar into jazz and into popular music, beginning in the 1940s. As a stage performer and later a studio...
Sam Ulano was the drum teacher, performer, method book author and drum shop owner whose name became synonymous with the world of drumming. During his long and celebrated career, Sam play...
