[ Edgar Hayes Orch ]
b. May 23, 1904 Lexington, KY, d. June 28, 1979 San Bernadino, CA, USA.
Pianist.
Theme Song: "Star Dust"
Overview
Edgar Hayes will be forever associated with his one big 1938 hit record: his cocktail lounge, tinkling piano style rendition of Carmichael's "Stardust". The flip-side was his version of Glenn Miller's hit tune "In The Mood".

After his studies at Fisk and Wilberforce Universities, he joined the Fess Williams group. In 1924, he formed his own group, in Ohio, called the 'Blue Grass Buddies', and the Hayes Orchestra was booked into the "Ritz Cafe" in Cleveland Ohio.

In 1931, after having worked with a number of different bands all through the 1920's, he wound up as the pianist-arranger with the Mills Blue Ribbon Band. Three years later, Lucky Millinder took over leadership of the band, and three years after that, Hayes left to form his own fine 14 piece orchestra.

From 1937 to 1941, Hayes fronted this band, which was originally formed using many of Lucky Millinder's ex-members. Among these could be found Joe Garland on tenor sax; Shelton Hemphill on trumpet, Elmer James on bass, and Crawford Wetherington on alto sax. All these men had been with Hayes in the Mills Blue Rhythm Band. A young drummer named Kenny Clarke, later to become a 'bebop' musician, was sparking the band's rhythm section. In time, a young Dizzy Gillespie was to be heard blowing his trumpet with the band.

In 1938, his recording of "Stardust" became a national hit, and during March and April of 1938, Edgar's band toured Belgium and Scandinavia, and cut some tracks for the Swedish label Odeon, and for Decca. However, none of his later records would equal the success of "Stardust".

In 1941, he disbanded and moved to California. There, he formed a quartet called "The Stardusters," which gigged regularly from 1942 until the early 1950's. From 1954 until 1959 played his piano in solo residency at "Diamonds Lounge" in San Bernadino, CA. During the 60's he was playing in Newport Beach, CA.

The band never achieved great fame, but it did achieve a certain following due to it's commercial success with the recording of Carmichael's "Stardust". Hayes' orchestra is often considered to be one of the eight "H's" - Edgar Hayes; Claude Hopkins; Earl Hines; Fletcher and Horace Henderson; Teddy Hill; Les Hite; and Woody Herman.

   [ Sherman Hayes & His Orch. ]
Theme: "Cuddle Up A Little Closer"
The very first recordings for Chicago's Aristocrat label were made by Sherman Hayes, a Californian who had recorded with Del Courtney's "sweet" band in 1939 and 1940. Here's a advertisement that appeared in the magazine Billboard promoting the Hayes and vocalist Wyoma Hayes led a "White" hotel band in which he played tenor sax and vocalized. The band then featured "sweet" arrangements, a steel guitar, a Lombardo-style sax section, and somewhat dated vocals by the leader and a femme singer who was simply billed as 'Wyoma'. (Note: On Dec. 13, 1961, a "Rock" group, called 'The Dynamics', were booked into a dance hall at Little Moon Lake, Nebraska. The hall was operated by Wyoma and Gene Hager, and this may be the same 'Wyoma' that had previously recorded with Sherman Hayes. There also was a Gene Hager C&W singer. ??) The Hayes band enjoyed some local popularity; and, during 1947, found bookings at various well known Chicago-area rooms such as the Martinique and the Blackhawk.

The first four Aristocrat Label releases, by Sherman Hayes, came out in April 1947.
     "Chi Baba Chi Baba", (vocal: Sherman Hayes) - the flip side was
     "Better to Love You", (vocal: Wyoma)

     "You Didn't Learn That in School", - the flip side was
     "Say No", (vocal: Wyoma)

     "Cuddle", (vocal: Sherman Hayes), - the flip side was
     "12th Street Rag"

     "No Greater Love", (Vocal by Sherman Hayes), - the flip side was
     "Get on the Ball Paul", (Vocal by Sherman Hayes)

In the early 1950s, the band was heard on remote broadcast from the Hotel Roosevelt in New Orleans, LA. In 1973, Sherman was still recording with his version of "Catman" released on Barnaby Records BR-15009.

   [ Joe Haymes Orch ]
Theme Song: Midnight
Joe's bands were never commercial successes. He was a great musician who could recognize other good musicians and good music. But, he didn't have the right kind of 'business' sense needed to market his 'product' - the band.

Joe organized his first band in the early 30's, he managed it and did the arrangements. The band had some good men including "Toots" Mondello; "Pee Wee" Erwin and Bud Freeman on tenor sax.

  "Oh Leo", (454 kb):

  "One Note Trumpet Player", (624 kb):

  "That's A Plenty", (550 kb):

  "The White Star Of Sigma Nu", (555 kb):

  "You Can't Pull The Wool Over My Eyes", (545 kb):

  "You Stayed Away Too Long", (545 kb):

  "The Bathtub Ran Over Again", (562 kb):

When that group disbanded, Joe formed another 14 piece orchestra. This group toured successfully for 2 years. Part of Joe's fate was to form bands that were so good others wanted to take them over. For example, in 1936, when Tommy Dorsey walked off the stage and left the Dorsey Brothers Orch, he contacted Joe Haymes. Joe let him talk to the sidemen, and Tommy took 12 of the 14 sidemen. This included the trombonist, the entire sax section, the entire trumpet section, the pianist, the guitarist and the Bassist/arranger Paul Weston, a young Dartmouth graduate.

In the summer of 1938, Les Brown returned to Budd Lake, NJ, and fronted a band that was really Joy Haymes' road orchestra. Little known is the fact that Ray Noble's first American orchestra was a Joe Haymes band.

Undaunted by Tommy Dorsey's take over of his orchestra, Joe formed still another band. The pianist was Bill Miller, who later was to be Frank Sinatra's accompanist. There were two trumpeters also who later went on to bigger things. Chris Griffin later led Benny Goodman's trumpet section. Zeke Zarchy, the other trumpet, would later lead the trumpet sections in the Glenn Miller; T.Dorsey and Bob Crosby orchestras.

It's really a shame that Joe didn't achieve greater public recognition. He truly deserved fame.

   [ Lennie Hayton Orch ]
Lennie began playing piano when he was just six years old, and was destined to become a big part of the "Classic" Jazz scene of the 1920s. In 1926, he and Spencer Clark were working in the Little Ramblers. In 1927, he was working in the Cass Hagen Orchestra. From Sept. 1928 to May 1930, he was not only working in Paul Whiteman's great band, but all during this time, Hayton was playing and recording with such other Jazzmen as Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, Red Nichols and Miff Mole.

By the 1930's Lennie's musical comprehension and skills had much matured and he turned more and more to musical direction. He very briefly lead a big band in 1928 (one record), and again, in 1939, he lead his own big band in New York City, - this time recording eight selections. His arrangers included Fulton (Fidgey) McGrath; Bill Challis; Deane Kincaide, and Lennie himself, wrote some fine scores for the band. When that band broke up, Hayton went to Hollywood where he worked as musical director for Bing Crosby. During 1941-'53, Hayton worked on soundtracks for some of MGM's best Pictures. He also served as musical director for his very talented wife, -vocalist Lena Horne. Lennie died in 1970, but his lovely wife is still with us in 2000.

   [ Ted Heath Orch. ]
Theme song: "Listen to my Music"
This great English Orch. was - due to it's successful London Palladium concerts - to become the first English orchestra to have a truly successful American tour. ('50's). The musicians were trained, well drilled, and could really 'swing'. A real treat both for listening and dancing.
Click on this [ Extended Ted Heath InfoLink ]. . For complete information on the Ted Heath Orch.

   [ Ray Heatherton Orch. ]
Here's a photograph of Ray Heatherton, whose career started when he became the star of The Garrick Gaities, a small Broadway show that also catapulted the composing team of Rodgers and Hart to worldwide fame. In 1931, he worked with Paul Whiteman's orchestra on the Columbia Broadcasting System's 'Old Gold Cigarettes Program'. Later, he appeared on radio shows sponsored by Pepsodent Toothpaste, Hinds Cold Cream, and Ipana Toothpaste. He next appeared on NBC radio, leading his own orchestra (singer Lee Wiley recorded with him), on a 'lover's thriller' program called 'The Romance Exchange'. In 1936, he appeared in the Rodgers and Hart show "Babes in Arms", directed by Robert Sinclair with choreoghraphy by George Balanchine. The show starred Mitzi Green, Ray Heatherton and Wynn Murray, and ran for 289 performances. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Ray hosted radio and TV shows. Prior to that he had been one of the vocalists with the Paul Whiteman and Eddie Duchin bands. He is best recalled now not as an orchestra leader, but rather as a show host as well as a singer. His greatest fame came as an actor on TV's 'The Merry Mailman". Ray's daughter, Joey Heatherton was a stage performer since childhood. She studied ballet with George Balanchine, than studied Jazz dancing and acting. She was later seen in the Broadway show 'Sound of Music' and still later in several films (does anyone recall her performance in 1977s The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington). She is a tireless performer who is perhaps best remembered for her work with famed comedian Bob Hope's Vietnam tours, during the Viet Nam - USA struggles.

   [ Ernie Hecksher Orch ]
Hecksher was born in England, but his family moved to San Francisco when Ernie was still a young child.

Ernie studied the banjo at a very early age. When he was fifteen, he was already a professional on the RKO vaudeville circuit. By the time he entered Stanford University, Hecksher had switched to piano.

Ernie formed a band while still a student at Stanford. The band proved to be popular and played many campus events.

In the late '30's, after graduation, Hecksher formed his first band. Surprisingly, the band was booked into the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. which until then had a policy of only booking well known orchestras. A surprised and pleased management found the hotel doing a capacity business due to the band's success.

Hecksher toured the Midwest and the South in the early 1940's, with the band playing hotels in St. Louis, Memphis, and San Antonio.

During WW2, Hecksher was drafted into the U.S.Army, where he served from 1943 until his discharge in 1945. He then formed another band which was booked into Chicago's famed Blackstone Hotel. The engagement lasted a year. Ernie then returned to his home base of San Francisco, where he was booked into the Mark Hopkins Hotel. In 1948, the band went to the Fairmont Hotel for a long run. Regretfully, the big band era was coming to a close.