Bud Roberds was two months shy of his 103rd birthday when he was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program about his life in music. His father was an avid musician, always bringing in...

Vera May was the matriarch figure of the iconic Australian acoustic instrument maker Maton Guitars. Wife of the founder, Bill May, Vera worked in the business from 1954 until her retireme...

Bill Pitman was a first call studio musician in Los Angles who played on a string of hit records and award winning motion pictures. As a member of the Wrecking Crew he played on the Beach...

Steno Giulini served as the editor of the International Association magazine "Euro Piano" for well over 60 years.  He was by far the oldest employee of the specialist publishing PPV Medie...

Viola Smith Viola played drums in a number of big bands and small combos during her career in music. She joined Phil Spitalny's all-female orchestra as the drummer and later appeared in s...

Jack Shallat was a professional violin player who landed several gigs with traveling bands in the 1930s and 40s.  During that time he met Buddy Rogers and both men opened separate music s...

Tom Lee is one of the most famous names in the Asian market of music retail.  With Tom Lee Music stores all around Hong Kong and parts of China, his name has been synonymous with music si...

Dr. Leo Beranek is considered by many to be the father of concert hall acoustics. His amazing career has not only traced the growth of acoustic measurement but has documented it in a seri...

Abbott Buegeleisen and his late brother ran the music wholesaling business that his father formed in New York City. Abbott’s father and a friend, who soon after passed away, combined thei...

Evelyn Brue-Roeder opened her music store in 1940! Her main focus in the early days was music lessons, however she soon added sheet music, accessories and musical instruments. She develop...

Alfredo Flores was born in Mexico in 1908 and moved to San Antonio, Texas with his mother and grandmother when he was a small boy. He took several jobs as a young man including a position...

Larry Peyser spent most of his career in the music wholesale business. Larry’s sister married Abbott Buegelesien after World War II and over the years Larry did not just work for the comp...

 Shep Shepherd co-wrote the now classic instrumental “Honky Tonk Part 2” while playing in the Bill Doggett band.  The recording became a hit in the late 1950s and helped build a stronger ...

Hideo Nonaka was the chairman of Nonaka Boeki Company, a music instrument distributor located in Yokohama, Japan. His father began importing musical recordings in a business that was burn...

Janet Faulhaber always had a special interest in the sheet music department of the Ward-Brodt Music Company in Wisconsin. Janet and her husband purchased the store and expanded the produc...

Joe Calato was the inventor of the nylon-tipped drumstick, who turned the small idea of preserving his favorite sticks into an industry success story. He formed Regal Tip to produce his u...

Robert C. Cosgrove was hired by the Baldwin Piano Company following World War II and later worked his way up to vice president. He witnessed the re-building of the production line, which ...

William Tapia stood up in front of United States solders playing his ukulele and singing at the tender age of eight years old. He was entertaining the troops for World War I and did not s...

Kline Locher was one of the good old veteran piano salesmen who travelled the great one-lane highways of America before the advent of the blessed two lane interstates. Kline worked for a ...

Leif Juhl has had quite a life in music! As a boy, he picked up a trumpet – the instrument he still played in his early 90s when his oral history interview was completed at his Arizona ho...

Dave Bartholomew was a noted bandleader, trumpeter, and songwriter who captured a pioneering sound known as the “big beat” of rock and roll. His uncanny ability to provide the perfect mus...

Leita Jolly was celebrating her 100th birthday the week she was interviewed in 2003. On the occasion, she played the piano for her friends with her ragtime flare. In 1917, while World War...

Orrin Tucker’s Orchestra recorded one of the greatest successes of the big band era, “Oh Johnny Oh.” This novelty number featured the shy voice of Wee Bonnie Baker and has come to symboli...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Herb Jeffries was a singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestr...

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 ...

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 ...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Louise Tobin was a popular singer during the golden years o...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Bea Wain was a singer with the big bands during the great s...