TOMMY DORSEY
By Mahnuel Muñoz
Tommy Dorsey (Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr.), was born on November 19, 1905 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. His father, a miner by profession, was a part-time musician, first teaching Tommy to play the trumpet, before he decided on the trombone.
His brother Jimmy also started with the trumpet and later specialized in the clarinet and saxophone.
The two brothers led their own bands, the Dorsey Novelty Six and the Dorsey Wild Canaries. In 1928 they joined together to found the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. Their first small hit was “Coquette”, in June 1928, the first of a series of modest hits over the next six years.
At the end of 1934 they signed with Decca and began to really succeed. In 1935 the band released numerous albums and had two number ones, “Lullaby Of Broadway” and “Chasing Shadows.” Dorsey’s innovative sound was an inspiration to many and the way they combined a big sound with an authentic rhythm made them very popular.
FRANK SINATRA RADIO
Tommy, who was very temperamental, one night got into a fight on stage with his brother Jimmy and left the orchestra and formed his own. Tommy’s orchestra included arrangers such as Sy Oliver, Carmen Mastren, Paul Weston and Axel Stordahl, and singers such as Jack Leonard, Jo Stafford, Edythe Wright, Connie Haines, Dick Haymes and our dear Frank, in who had a capital influence on the development of the style that made him the most important vocalist of the 20th century.
In 1942 Dorsey hired Artie Shaw’s string section to give his sound a fresh look, but the truth is that the reign of the Big Bands was beginning a slow decline.
TOMMY DORSEY
In the 1950s things seemed to briefly resurface. The Dorsey brothers even starred in their own television show, which featured Elvis Presley as a guest, on January 28, 1956, singing “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes.” Ironically, it was rock and roll that gave the coup de grâce to the Big Bands. But before Tommy could witness this change in public tastes, he died on November 26, 1956. His brother Jimmy followed on June 12, 1957. The Dorsey legacy is among the best in history. Big Band era.
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