[Dixielandjazz] (Dixielandjazz) Bio

[Bill Munoz]

Hi gang...I'm another lurker on DJML who hung up his horn several years ago
when the pickers took most of the gigs. Became interested in OKOM about 20
years ago when High Sierra  started coming to Santa Maria and PismoBeach
once a month. From then on, I was hooked.

Took up alto sax in the fourth grade and played the usual school bands, etc.
In HS I began playing in local big bands. After joining the Navy in 1942, I
attended radio school in San Diego; then going to sea for several months. In
1944 I transferred to the Navy electronics school that was located in the
State-Lake building in the loop. It was in this school that I met Alvino
Rey. He also was in the Navy and was forming a band using military people.
We played gigs at the Orpheum Theater and also a few clubs. Of course he had
the King Sisters do their bit also.Was fortunate to be able to see some of
the great musicians that were playing in Chicago at the time: Red Allen, Ben
Webster, J.C. Higginbotham, etc.

After the War, I returned home and played several gigs with small local
bands, including several months with Jerry Fuller before he went on the
road. His future father-in-law, Les Hayes, tutored both of us on reeds. When
the jobs slowed down, I  laid my horns down and took up the piano. In
retrospect, I should have kept the chops up, even with arthritic fingers!

Back to lurking,

Bill Munoz
Amateur Radio Station W6HYA
Santa Maria, CA