Vicki Pedrini grew up in the family’s music retail store in Southern California. She worked in the store on weekends and summer vacations as well as the holiday season, which brought fun ...
Dave Pell had a long and remarkable life in music. As a saxophonist he played with many of the top dance bands in the later years of the Big Band Era, including Les Brown and his band of ...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Walter Perkins was an energetic jazz drummer who provided s...
Houston Person, after a 3-year old musical partnership with the great vocalist Etta Jones, is only now receiving the recognition he deserves as one of today’s leading instrumentalists in ...
Robert Petteruti sat in the showroom of Twin City Music in Providence, RI, for his NAMM Oral History interview. The showroom is in the store his father opened in the 1930s and within the ...
Dave Pike made an indelible mark on jazz vibraphones! As a percussive based player, Dave wanted to play with both rhythm and pitch and to explore melodies within Bebop riffs. He played wi...
John Pisano is the jazz guitarist heard on thousands of recordings, covering artists from Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole to Chico Hamilton and Diana Krall. His lush sound and rhythmic ide...
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...
Jim Plank grew up in San Diego, California and can tell you all about the music stores in and around the area, especially since he began playing drums in the 1950s. Jim became a professio...
Ed Polcer grew up in a world filled with music and the older people around him were supportive and encouraging. As a result, all throughout his career, Ed sought to do the same for younge...
Vernon Porter can be heard playing bass on many Kenny Loggins recordings from 1981-1984, which is one of many crowning achievements of his career. It started when young Vernon was in the ...
Specs Powell played jazz drums during the hey-day of 52nd Street in New York City. He worked hard -- sometimes four gigs a night -- playing behind such legends as Billie Holiday, John Kir...
Ron Pritchett began playing the guitar when he was young, with a focus on Jazz. He played in supper clubs and local events until he was drafted into the army in 1957, after which he conti...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Tito Puente helped revolutionize Latin music, in particular...
Bernard Purdie became a studio drummer in the early 1960s. In fact his first recording was when he provided the influential drum beat heard in the beginning of “Just One Look” with singer...
Chuck Rainey picked up a violin as a boy and knew very early on that he wanted to make music! His legendary career as a studio musician and band leader included some iconic projects such ...
Don Randi is among the most noted studio musicians that came out of Los Angeles during the famous Wall of Sound era. Don was a member of the Wrecking Crew and played keyboards on countle...
Boots Randolph was the capable saxophonist who proved the instrument could serve a vital role in both rock and roll and country music. His sax can be heard on a range of recordings in whi...
Phil Ranelin stood in line at school to pick an instrument for band. He really wanted the saxophone but when he got to the head of the line all the saxophones were gone and he was given a...
Kevin Ray Clark grew up with music in his home and played in a family band at church. He was inspired by the musicians playing at Disney World and pursued the trumpet in his school band p...
Larry Redhouse grew up in a house with six siblings who were all, like their mother, very musical. The family formed a musical act, the Redhouse Band, in the late 60s. The band played a l...
Vernon Reid was among the founding members of the cutting edge and influential rock band Living Colour. The band helped break the color line in hard rock music by showcasing an all-black...
Rufus Reid spoke eloquently of his musical mentor and friend, Eddie Harris. He recalled the passion for musical innovation that was so much apart of Eddie’s life. Rufus himself is constan...
Alvino Rey tinkered with putting a phonograph pickup in his banjo to increase the volume in 1927. His inventive mind also led to early guitar pickups and the design of a pedal-steel guita...
Herlin Riley is a native of New Orleans and a continuing link in the chain of great jazz drummers. Herlin was raised in a musical household by his grandparents and originally played the t...
Lee Ritenour was exposed to jazz music in Los Angeles as a youth thanks to his parents. He developed a great knowledge of guitar techniques having watched and or worked with many of his ...
Lyle Ritz worked for a Los Angeles music store in the 1950s when his career as a studio musician began to take off. Lyle’s studio years were filled with numerous ground-breaking hits, man...
George Roberts is known in the jazz world for his recording of “Stella By Starlight” with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, which featured George on bass trombone. He is known among music instru...
Wallace Roney attended the Anaheim NAMM Show in 2018, playing his Kanstul trumpet and taking time to sit down for an Oral History interview. He spoke of his love of the trumpet and some o...
Chaim Rubinov played the piano in his home as a child and when school age he began playing the trumpet , thanks to the encouragement of his band director. He grew up in Montreal, where t...
Howard Rumsey may have played the first electric bass to be recorded on a jazz recording. While performing with Stan Kenton’s first orchestra in the early fall of 1941, Howard was asked ...
Jim Rupp has had a passion for drumming as far back as he can remember. As a percussionist for several traveling groups in the 1970s such as those led by Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman...