Tommy Dorsey, born November 19, 1905, died November 26, 1956. He was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist and bandleader during the Big Band era. He was Jimmy Dorsey’s younger brother. His lyrical trombone sound became a signature sound of his band and the Swing Era. Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr., was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. He started his career in Allentown, Pennsylvania, 16 years later, as a member of big band leader Russ Morgan’s pick-up group “The Scranton Sirens”. Tommy and Jimmy were both in various bands including Rudy Vallee and Vincent Lopez. They also worked with Paul Whiteman before forming the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. The brothers’ ongoing squabbling led to Tommy Dorsey leaving to start his own band, just as the Orchestra was enjoying a hit single with “Every Little Moment.” Tommy Dorsey formed his first band from the Joe Haymes remnants. His smooth, lyrical trombone sound – whether playing ballads, or no-holds barred swingers – became a signature sound of both his band as well as the Swing Era. The band was a hit almost from the day it signed with RCA Victor. “On Treasure Island” was the first of four hits that the band had that year. This led to a string of 137 Billboard chart hits, including the theme song, “I’m getting Sentimental over You”, which showcases his incredible range and masterful use of the mute. ‘s Boogie Woogie”, ‘Well, Git ‘It”, ‘Opus One”, ‘Manhattan Serenade”, u0026 “There Are Such Things”, among others. The band featured a number of the best instrumentalists in jazz at the time, including trumpeters Bunny Berigan, Ziggy Elman, George Seaberg, Carl “Doc” Severinsen, and Charlie Shavers, pianist Jess Stacy, trumpeter/arranger/composer Sy Oliver (who wrote “Well, Git ‘It” and “Opus One”), clarinetists Buddy DeFranco, Johnny Mince and Peanuts Hucko drummers Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Gene Krupa and Dave Tough and singers Jack Leonard, Edythe Wright, Jo Stafford, Dick Haymes and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was a singer in the Dorsey group and achieved his first major success. He claimed that he learned how to control his breath from Dorsey’s trombone playing. Jack Teagarden was heavily influenced Dorsey’s trombone playing style, according to Dorsey. Nelson Riddle, the trombonist and Sinatra’s principal arranger and conductor, was another member of the Dorsey group that spent considerable time listening to Sy Oliver’s arrangements. Dorsey may have disbanded his own band after World War II. This was common for many big bands due to changes in music economics. However, he did end the orchestra at the close of 1946. However, All-Time Hits was a top-ten-selling album that allowed Dorsey to reorganize a large band in the early days of 1947. The 1947 biographical film “The Fabulous Dorseys” reveals a few details about how the brothers started in jazz. It also explains the beginnings of radio and how they met Paul Whiteman. This was before the split of The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra into two. Later, the Dorsey brothers reconciled. Jimmy Dorsey had to disband his highly successful big band in 1953. Tommy invited Tommy to join him as a feature attraction. But Tommy changed the name of the band to the Dorsey Brother Orchestra. The brothers and their orchestra appeared on Jackie Gleason’s CBS television program on December 26, 1953. This show was preserved on Kinescope and later made available on home video by Gleason. From 1954 to 1956, the brothers took the unit out on tour, and they also had their own television program, Stage Show. This was where Elvis Presley was introduced to national television viewers. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
