Claude Thornhill

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 for singing a song, she would continue singing throughout her high school and college years, hitting it big when she auditioned for and was accepted in to the Midwest Territory Band led by Royce Stonner. She eventually worked with big names like Claude Thornhill, Alvino Rey, Charlie Barnett, and Benny Goodman.

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Bob Brookmeyer played trombone for several name big bands during the great swing era including Tex Beneke, Claude Thornhill, and Ray McKinley. Bob began focusing on Cool Jazz and West Coast Jazz, playing with the likes of Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. In the late 1960s, Bob moved to Los Angeles and began a second career as a studio musician.

Bill Crow had a long and successful career as a jazz bassist for such Bebop pioneers as Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. In later years he joined the board for the New York chapter of the Musicians Union, which led to his second career as a writer. He was asked to write a regular column for the union’s newsletter, which he loaded with funny anecdotes he experienced or became aware of over the years.

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Nick Fatool was a popular drummer during the Big Band Era who kept the beat for bandleaders such as Benny Goodman, Alvino Rey, Claude Thornhill, and Les Brown. Nick played with an incredible list of performers ranging from Louis Armstrong and Ella Mae Morse to Tennessee Ernie Ford and Fred Astaire. He was performing with his longtime friend, Eddie Miller, when he was interviewed behind stage during a jazz gig near San Francisco in 1984. Image courtesy of

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Gerry Mulligan helped define the Cool Jazz genre with his rich baritone saxophone style and a series of historic recordings including several with Miles Davis. He played with several big bands and arranged music for the Gene Krupa and Claude Thornhill orchestras during the late 1940s. By 1948, he was playing with Miles Davis with whom he recorded the album Birth of the Cool for Capitol Records. His career also included gigs with Chet Baker and a number of