[ Paul Baron Orch ]
Currently no info available.
b. 1910, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
né: Paul Girlando
This pianist and conductor was the leader of the Paul Baron Orchestra, a well-known studio band of the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a vocal arranger for the singer-actresses Fifi Dorsay, Nanette Fabray, Jane Frohman, Elvira Rios, Mildred Bailey, and Lupe Velez. He was co-writer (under his birthname, Paul Girlando) of the popular song "Rum and Coca Cola" (co-written with Maury Amsterdam, and Jeri Kelli Sullivan).

In 1940, he became the second husband of Wendy Russell (b. May 2, 1916, Marshall, Texas, USA. née: Wyn-Nelle Russell. American philanthropist, socialite, and former fashion model). They divorced ca. 1946-7

In addition, Paul arranged the music for the 1948 film, "Miranda", and composed for the 1956 film "Toward the Unknown"

[ Blue Barron Orch ]
Theme song: "Sometimes I'm Happy" (Bluebird 10826, rec. 1940)
b: Cleveland, Ohio, USA d:
Nee Harry Friedland
Here's a photo of Blue Barron. After attending Ohio State University, where he played violin in campus band, he started his career as a Theatrical Agent, booking bands around the Cleveland, Ohio area. Among the bands he booked were Sammy Kaye; Guy Lombardo; Horace Heidt; Jan Garber; Kay Kyser, and also managed the Sammy Kaye Orchestra.

In 1936 he formed his own band, using the stage name of Blue Barron. Billed as "Music of Yesterday and Today, styled the Blue Barron Way'. A short, pudgy, effervescent person, he never took himself or his band too seriously. (It never was very good.) The original singer was Russ Carlyle followed by Clyde Burke and then Jimmy Brown.

His first success as bandleader came in 1938 when he got a contract at the Green Room in the Taft Hotel (NY) which included three radio broadcasts each week.

Drafted during WWII, he served in an Airborne Division. While in the Army his band continued to work under the leadership of singer Tommy Ryan. His biggest hit, "Cruisin' Down The River" (MGM 10346) came in 1949. It was the country's #1 record for 7 weeks. He disbanded in the 1956 but continued working into the 1960's with bands made up of local musicians.

The band played the 'Sweet' style of the likes of Kay Kyser, Guy Lombardo etc. Landed RCA contract almost immediately, and recorded 94 sides for RCA's Bluebird label. A review in Metronome Mag by George T. Simon described his style as "obnoxious overphrasing, saxes with whining vibratos, trumpets that growl and rat-a-tat into harsh, irritating mutes, a trombone that glisses all over creation..... all similar musical tricks that associate corn with commercialism and commercialism with corn."
Many thanks to Mr. Robin Lenhart for his revision and editing of the above Blue Barron entry.

[ Tony Barron Orch ]
b. Jan. 6, 1943, South Bend, IN, USA. d. Oct. 11, 1998, USA.
Theme Song; "How I Miss You When The Summer Is Gone"
Tony loved the 'dance' music of the 'sweet' bands such as Jan Garber and Guy Lombardo. He started his first band after graduating from high school in South Bend, IN, in 1967. After the usual fashion, the band would play local and weekend gigs. Tony also did the vocalizing, but later Steve Bice came on as a vocalist. Operating from their South Bend homebase, they were eventually able to branch out and to set up tours of one-nighters and weekend dates through the mid-western ballrooms, even playing the famous Colliseum Ballroom in Davenport, Iowa. In time, they have become of the mid-west's most popular and beloved bands with a legion of loyal fans.

Sadly, Tony Barron passed away in 1998. One of our great bandleaders will be missed by all who love the big bands and their great concert and dance music. But, I am happy to report that the band is still operating, -successfully, mostly in the mid-Anerica region - playing the kind of music that we all love. If you would like to hire this band for your special function, civic, corporate or private, please check out the Tony Barron Orch., in the "Working Bands Registry.

[ Alex Bartha Orch ]
No further info at present time.
Here's a photograph of Alex Bartha, and the Hotel Traymore Orch. In the mid-30's Alex fronted the "house band" at Atlantic City's Steel Pier. They did also tour the area under the name of Alex Bartha and his Atlantic City Orch. The Band also played as Alex Bartha and the Hotel Traymore Orch. (Ziggy Elman was his trumpeter.) In addition, the band may also have played under the name of 'Roane's Pennsylvanians' - still with Ziggy Elman in the band.

[ Count Basie Orch ]
Tag: "The Red Bank Flash"
B: August 21, 1904 Red Bank, NJ, USA. D: April 26, 1984, USA.
Theme Song: "One O'Clock Jump"

  Video: Count Basie Sextet - "One O'Clock Jump"  His theme song.

  Video: Count Basie Sextet " - I Cried For You"   With Helen Humes vocal

Here's a photograph of Count Basie, at the piano, and here's an interesting photo of the Basie Touring Bus, unloading in the winter of 1939, at Toronto's famed Palais Royale.
William Basie (born in Red Bank, NJ) started playing piano with the Benny Moten band in Kansas City. After Moten's death, Basie became the new leader.

In 1935 after starting a small group he signed up for a broadcast from the Reno Club's experimental radio station, W9XBY. It was on one of those broadcasts that 'Bill' Basie was transformed into 'Count' Basie.

Basie once recalled, "One night the announcer called me over to the microphone for those usual few words of introduction. He commented that Bill Basie was a rather ordinary name and that there were a couple of well known band leaders named Earl and Duke. Then he said, 'Bill, I think I'll call you Count Basie from now on. Is that all right with you?' I thought he was kidding, shrugged my shoulders and replied, 'OK.' Well that was the last time I was ever introduced as Bill Basie. From then on, it was Count Basie."

Basie takes the prize for the hardest swinging band of the '30s and '40s. A lot of the bands coming up during this period were moving toward flashy effects--using tough arrangements and mile-a-minute soloists--but Basie's outfit was made up of a bunch of guys that just seemed content to swing out, sometimes for hours on end, in the Kansas City tradition. They didn't write much down; most of the early sides are "head arrangements," basically extended variations that turned into songs.

On its first trip to NYC, Basie's homespun band was considered rough, - playing "too loud" and "too long" for big-city tastes, but by the late-30s it had gained a nearly fanatic audience. It was tough for the groove to go wrong with a rhythm section featuring Walter Page on bass, Freddie Green on the archtop guitar, and Jo Jones, master of the 'hi-hat', on skins (Collectively called "The All-American Rhythm Section" by both the public, and other musicians). The band had an incredible brass punch, plus the solid trumpet skills of Buck Clayton and the twin tenors of Herschel Evans and Lester Young, the latter a soloist that was a major influence on later bebop masters. At the end of WWII, Paul Gansalves joined the Basie band, and then, when Ben Webster left Ellington, Gansalves joined Ellington, staying with the Duke for 24 continuous years.

Benny Goodman was once asked who had the best band (after his own). Goodman thought for a moment and replied - Count Basie. Benny may have been thinking of Basie's innate musicality. As a young man, the Count would play the piano using the usual number of notes for any given tune. But in later years, his musical acumen became so keen, that he could actually capture the very essence of a tune in just a single fistful of notes. He became a true "poet" of the piano.

The basic style of the count's band (when playing commercially) usually consisted of a "riff" that could be played either thematically, or behind the soloists. Outstanding examples of this riff style can be heard in the Count's "One O'Clock Jump"; Glenn Miller's "In the Mood and also in Woody Herman's "Woodchopper's Ball", and this 'Riff" style is the basis of what we today call "Swing".

Basie performed less in the early 1970's and after suffering a heart attack in 1976 only made special appearances. The Count was 79 years old when he died on April 26, 1984.
The BigBand Database thanks Mr Charles Mohnike, and also Mr Dan DelFiorentino for their kind contributions to the Count Basie entry.