The Tillamook, Oregon metal band featuring: Mike - Vox/guitar, Nick - Guitar/backvox, Will - Drums, Scott - Bass/backvox and some lead vox. The foursome are ready for you to check out what they bring to the table. With brutal attacks from their songs Lost, Whiskeyfist and From Ashes We Rise you'll be glad to know that they... [+] Read More

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The last of the great arrangers who wrote regularly for Frank Sinatra, Billy May had several varied careers in and out of jazz. His first notable gig was as an arranger/trumpeter with Charlie Barnet (1938-1940), for whom he wrote the wah-wah-ing hit arrangement of Ray Noble's "Cherokee." Later, he worked in the same capacities for Glenn Miller... [+] Read More

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It would probably be stretching the definition considerably to put Fred Waring in the jazz category, though he was very popular utilizing some concepts from the improvisational school. Waring led a dance-based banjo band at 18; he attended Penn State, then formed Fred Waring's Collegians, who ultimately became the Pennsylvanians, although they... [+] Read More

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Harry James was one of the most outstanding instrumentalists of the swing era, employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work instantly identifiable. He was also one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later. James was the child of... [+] Read More

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Kay Kyser couldn't read a note of music, and spent nearly as much time doing comedy as music on radio. But for over 15 years, from 1933 until the end of the 1940s, he was one of the most popular bandleaders and music personalities in America, and delighted tens of millions of listeners. Born into a family of academics, Kyser was supposed to... [+] Read More

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The leader of a first-class jazz-oriented dance band for over 60 years, Les Brown's music was never innovative but was generally quite pleasing. While attending Duke University in 1935, he put together his first big band, the Duke Blue Devils. After the group broke up in 1936, Brown worked as an arranger before forming a permanent orchestra in... [+] Read More

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Conductor, composer, violinist, and pianist Mantovani was one of the most popular and prolific easy listening artists of all time. His trademark "cascading strings" (or "tumbling strings") effect gave him an instantly recognizable sound, and his heavy reliance on the string section in general helped map out the blueprint for much of the light... [+] Read More

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Naming the group after their main repertoire ("music for mom and dad"), the Moms & Dads polka band were most famous in Canada and Australia, though they originally hailed from Spokane, Washington. After forming in the early '50s around saxophonist Quentin Ratliff, accordion player Leslie Welch, drummer Harold Hendren and matriarchal pianist... [+] Read More

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Nelson Riddle was quite possibly the greatest arranger in the history of American popular music. Over the course of his long and distinguished career, he was also a popular soundtrack composer, a conductor, a trombonist, and an occasional hitmaker in his own right. He worked with many of the major pop vocalists of his day, but it was his... [+] Read More

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Because press agents dubbed him "The King of Jazz" in the 1920s, Paul Whiteman has always been considered a controversial figure in jazz history. Actually, his orchestra was the most popular during the era and at times (despite its size) it did play very good jazz; perhaps "King of the Jazz Age" would have been a better title.
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Ray Anthony played two years with Glenn Miller and ten with Jimmy Dorsey before forming his own band. Anthony led a group in the Pacific during World War II, then had a highly popular dance band. He probably has as much fame, if not more, as the writer of the theme for Dragnet, the novelty tune "The Bunny Hop," and the hit single "Dancing in the... [+] Read More

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