Elgart's diverse musical talent emerged at an early age.  By the time he was 17, he was on the road playing in the bands of Tommy Dorsey, Woody Hermans' first Herd, Bobby Byrne, Jack Jenney, Joe Marsala, Charlie Spivak and Red Norvo.  In 1952, Larry and his brother farmed their own orchestra and with their first Columbia recording, SOPHISTICATED SWING, they were an overnight sensation.  The band began touring universities and ballrooms and soon became known as Americas 81 College Prom Favorite.  The unique style of the band was then, as it is today, built around Larry's graceful sound and stylistic phrasing, known as the ELGART TOUCH.  He shapes the contours of an arrangement to fit his alto sax, making it his own distinctive interpretation.  There is no mistaking Larry's musical stamp on whatever the orchestra plays.  Further addition to its identity is the pianoless rhythm section, to the orchestra' the unmuted rich brass, emphasized by the bass trombone and the use of a percussionist augmenting the drummer.

The ELGERT TOUCH has distinguished itself through the years.  An album by that name was one of the five best selling albums in the first ten years of the long playing record.  In 1959, NEW SOUND AT THE ROOSEVELT won the coveted Grammy in the first year of the NARAS awards.  The band has received wide acclaim from disc jockeys, music programmers, and top spots in popularity polls conducted by Billboard, Cashbox, Downbeat, Playboy and Metronome magazines.  The phenomenal success of the HOOKED ON SWING series, [3 volumes),not only enables Larry to continue to  satisfy his dancing fans, but he now delights listening audiences at the major concert halls in the United States and Canada with his Hooked On Swing Show.  His saxophone virtuosity can also be heard in guest appearances with major symphony orchestras, the Philly Pops and the Tulsa Pops with Peter Nero and most recently the West Virginia Pops with maestro Rachel Worby.

As 1990 approached, Larry Elgart, at age 68, expanded his horizons to Australia.  His 53rd album, LATIN OBSESSION, was premiered at the Sydney Opera House and the Victoria Arts Centre in Melbourne.  In 1992Larry Elgart returned to Melbourne to perform for the Prime Minister's Olympic Ball which raised over one million dollars to send the Australian athletes to the Barcelona games.  As Larry explains his lifelong passion-"I've always been hooked on swing.  It is a valid musical form and as such it endures, always taking on new shapes and colors, whereby new generations can relate to it.  It is the kind of music people react to -actively and positively.  It is a happy form of music.  The music of the swing era was fun than, and still is now!". Larry Elgart feels his crowning achievement has been to reach so many generations with his music.  It has earned him the title AMBASSADOR OF SWING.