Biography
Harry James was one of the most famous and most dedicated musicians in the world--yet, he'd trade his trumpet for a baseball glove or a golf club any day of the week! People who met Harry James for the first time were amazed to find a fluent, knowledgeable, athletic-type man who was well versed on many subjects. When Harry spoke, he had something to say---and everybody listened. When he raised his trumpet and displayed a rare virtuosity---everybody listened---all over the world.
Harry was eight years old when he first learned how to play the trumpet while sitting in with a circus band. His father, Everette James was Concertmaster for the Mighty Haag Circus, and Haag was Harry's middle name. His mother, Maybelle, was an aerialist with the circus. Harry's dad taught him to play the trumpet, and by the time he was ten, he was doing trumpet solos, and on the side a contortionist act with a 65 year old partner. The billing read: "The Youngest and Oldest Contortionists in the World."
At 15, Harry began to play with a local orchestra in Beaumont, Texas, where his family settled upon retiring from the grueling life of the circus. After winning a state-wide contest, Harry decided to pursue a career as a musician. He soon obtained engagements in Dallas and Galveston, playing with local bands, including, Joe Gill, Ligon Smith, Herman Waldman, and Hogan Hancock. It was here that Ben Pollack spotted him and signed Harry to play with his orchestra.
Benny Goodman, an ardent record fan, happened to catch Harry's sweet horn one night on a Ben Pollack recording. Goodman immediately investigated, discovered that the trumpet was being tooted by a young man named Harry James, and before Harry knew what had happened, he was playing with the great Goodman band. The record that Goodman liked so much was "Deep Elm."
Harry stayed with Goodman for three years and steadily built up a reputation as a man to be watched. In 1939, Harry decided to go out on his own, and Goodman thought enough of his chances to back James with the money to get started. It was at the age of 23 that Harry James came to lead his own band, and Harry James and His Music Makers came into being.
At first the sledding was tough. The band took any kind of engagements just so they could stay together and eat....but the Harry James style was slowly being perfected. In 1941 their big break came. Harry had already started to make recordings, and one was a new tune called, " A Sinner Kissed An Angel," with Dick Haymes on the vocal. For the "B" side, Harry picked an old number which had been written back in 1913 called, "You Made Me Love You." The first tune attracted a fair share of attention, but the James' rendition of "You Made Me Love You" swept the country. Soon every juke box throughout the land was carrying James' records. The band was on it's way.
Once Harry caught on with the public, his popularity knew no bounds.. From 1941 to 1943 he was catapulted to fame to such an extent, that when in the spring of 1942 he made an appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York, the resultant traffic jams and riots brought front-page stories to Harry James and his Music Makers in all the newspapers...even the conservative New York Times.. The Crowds started to appear every day at the Paramount at 1:00 am, and by 8 o'clock, special policemen had to be called in to handle the thousands of jiving youngsters swarming the sidewalks and holding up traffic in Times Square.
On July 5, 1943, Harry James, the Number One trumpeter-Bandleader, married Betty Grable, the Number One pin-up girl in the movies. Betty later relinquished her title to their two blonde, blue-eyed daughters, Victoria Elizabeth and Jessica.
While under contract to MGM, Harry James appeared in "Best Foot Forward", "Bathing Beauty", and "Two Girls and a Sailor." With 20th Century Fox, he appeared in "Springtime in the Rockies", "Do You Love Me", "I'll Get By", and "If I'm Lucky". Other screen credits include "Carnegie Hall", "A Miracle Can Happen" and "Outlaw Queen" in which he played a straight dramatic role without his trumpet. He was technical advisor and played all the trumpet parts in "Young Man With A Horn".
During his career, Harry James helped to launch the careers of several vocalists, including Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Helen Forrest, Kitty Kallen and many others.
Harry James guested on network musicals with his band and appeared in straight dramatic roles on several television series including Danny Thomas and I Love Lucy.
In the later years of his life, Harry James played several months a year in Las Vegas, which was his home, and spent the rest of the year fulfilling engagements in all parts of the world, where just as in the USA, Harry James was a legend...as American as baseball, and the hot dog and ..."You Made Me Love You."
Harry never dwelt on the past, and it is fitting that he will retain the world-wide recognition for his innovations in music in the future. On July 5, 1983, Harry James passed away in Las Vegas after a lengthy illness.
Harry James and his Big Band can be heard on the following labels:
ART DEPEW
Biography
Art Depew, son of a minister and African missionary, finds his own song of life in the world of jazz and big band swing. Born is West Palm Beach, Florida he played in his high school band, sang in the glee club and at 13 was working professionally with the local big band. His tolerant father said it was OK to play with dance bands on Saturday night as long as he was playing in the church orchestra at 9:30 A.M. Sunday morning--no exceptions! Art learned how to transpose playing from hymnbooks before he knew it was hard to do. He was often late coming home from school because he liked to stop by the train station to hear the black musicians who played jazz there.
Art fell in love with the styles of some of the great trumpeters of the day like Ziggy Elman, Bunny Berigan, Cootie Williams and Charlie Shavers but the style of Harry James was the one that intrigued him the most. He dreamed of standing in front of a band and playing with the lyrical and driving jazz style of his personal idol, Harry James. In 1943 he formed a 12-piece dance band and worked the Virginia and North Carolina beach resorts. World War II forced him to disband and migrate to New York where he joined his first name band--Bob Chester. The band went to Hollywood where they made a movie. While in California, Art was offered a job in radio with Horace Heidt on the Tum's Treasure Chest Show. Enlisting in the army he spent his war years in the 304th ASF band at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.--a wonderful assignment. After mustering out he enrolled at Juilliard School of Music where he studied symphonic trumpet for 3 1/2 years. During this period in New York City he worked as a free-lance trumpet player with most of the major orchestras of the time playing the big theatres--the Paramount, Capitol and Strand. He worked everything from casuals to record dates. In 1950 Art joined Tommy Dorsey on tour and later Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. In 1952 he rejoined Tommy Dorsey for a trip to California where he left the band and began to put down his roots, even working for a brief time at Lockheed while waiting to become a full member of the musician's union in Hollywood.
After 6 months he joined Harry James on lead trumpet where he stayed for 4 years and loved every minute of it! He played everything from music to baseball with Harry though he confesses that Harry "traded him" after the first game. Art left the band to go into the Moulin Rouge in Hollywood--a Vegas-type showroom--where he stayed for a year, after which he joined Ray Anthony and did the Plymouth show on ABC-TV. When the show went off the air Art began freelancing in Hollywood playing theatres and working with Jerry Gray and Charlie Barnet. A call came to audition with Lawrence Welk and he wound up playing first trumpet and oft times featured soloist for 8 years on the Welk ABC-TV show. After leaving the band he resumed free-lancing in the Hollywood area--playing everything from Dixieland to record dates as well as leading his own big band and various small combos. In light of this background you can only imagine Art's thrill when the phone rang one day and PeeWee Monte and brother Sal, managers of the Harry James Orchestra, asked if he would like to front the Harry James Orchestra. It took him one second to make up his mind. His childhood dream had come true. It seemed as if he had spent his entire life preparing for this opportunity.
Art lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife Linda and two sons, Lance and Kris, daughter Lynn lives nearby. He pursues his musical career which is also his hobby for, in addition to being a successful trumpeter, he is a student of the clarinet, saxophone, flute and trombone as well as being a competent arranger. Art says, "You see, dreams can come true!"
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