[Dixielandjazz] Bobby Byrne passes

[Steve Barbone]

Perhaps not as well known as some of our heroes, but he should have been.

Cheers,
Steve barbone 

>From a another chat list:

Bobby Byrne, the handsome trombone-playing bandleader of the 1930s and
1940s, who was best remembered for his exceptional mastery of his
instrument, and for the arrangement of his band's signature tune, "Danny
Boy," and who later became an executive with Enoch Light's Command Records
in the 1960s, died on Saturday, November 25, 2006, at Green Hills Care Home
in Irvine, CA. He was 87.

He was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer¹s Disease and died in his sleep
after suffering a stroke on Wednesday.  "Bobby never woke from his sleep,"
according to Marilyn Byrne, his wife of 30 years.

Byrne rose to stardom as a teenager while working in the Jimmy Dorsey
orchestra beginning in 1935. Four years later, he was leading his own band
with Dorsey's blessing. He was considered by many critics to be the
definitive trombonist of his era. The then-21-year-old sensation had been
described as an "excellent trombonist whose cool jazz solos were ahead of
their time." ''Brilliant'' and ''amazing'' were other superlatives often
used to describe his playing.

During his over forty years in the music business, Byrne had played with
many musical luminaries of the day including Benny Goodman, Jimmy and Tommy
Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Ray McKinley, Bobby Hackett, Freddy Slack, Tooti
Camarata, Peanuts Hucko, Roc Hillman, Bob Eberly, Bing Crosby, and the
Andrews Sisters. 

Robert "Bobby" Byrne was born on May 13, 1918, on his grandfather's farm
twelve miles south of Columbus, OH. He grew up in Detroit, where his father,
an accomplished music professor, taught in the Detroit school system and
also taught during the summers at New York University in New York.

Music was so much the life-blood of the Byrne family that Bobby and his
younger brother, Don, who later played tenor saxophone and took on some of
the arranging duties in his brother's band, started taking music lessons at
five years of age. 

"There was nothing else but music," Byrne said once in an interview. "Music
was in our family every day including weekends. We went through various
instruments over the years: piccolo, piano, harp, you name it."

After going through a myriad of musical instruments, Byrne finally settle on
the trombone. 

"I was just handed a trombone by my father and I was required to learn how
to handle it," Byrne said. "My embouchure seemed suitable for a brass
instrument, so my father decided that the trombone would be the instrument
for me." 

Being classically trained, Byrne soon developed a reputation of being a
child prodigy, gaining advanced trombone techniques at an early age.

As a 16-year-old student at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Byrne led
a small dance band. Through contacts made by his father, Byrne was first
introduced to Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey when they visited his school in the
spring of 1935. The Dorsey Brothers had students sit in with their band
during their presentation at school. Byrne played a set with the group and
after it was over, walked away thinking nothing more about it.

The young trombonist's playing so impressed the Dorsey's that Byrne was
invited to sit in with the band during its Detroit theater engagement. About
a month later, after Tommy Dorsey walked out on the band and formed his own
orchestra, Byrne was asked to join Jimmy Dorsey and took over as lead
trombone. For almost two years, the Dorsey orchestra was the house band on
the Bing Crosby "Kraft Music Hall" radio series originating from Hollywood.
Byrne soon began to receive great critical acclaim for his musicianship, and
in 1939, with Jimmy's backing, he formed his own orchestra.

Byrne's outfit showcased not only his fabulous trombone tone, but some good
ensemble sounds, some great arrangements by veteran arranger Don Redman , a
fine bassist in Abe Siegel, an exciting clarinetist in Jerry Yelverton, a
trio of very talented vocalists: Jimmy Palmer, Dorothy Claire, and later,
Stuart Wade, and a kid drummer who later became a big name in the jazz
world, Shelly Manne.

One of the greatest human interest stories of the Big Band Era revolved
around Byrne when he was stricken with acute appendicitis during an
engagement at New York's Paramount Theater in October 1940. The media
coverage was not so much because of his malady, but from the response he
received from members of the musical community. During his hospitalization,
a host of top name leaders such as Benny Goodman, Charlie Barnet, Jan
Savitt, Guy Lombardo and Abe Lyman, to name a few, filled in for him during
their days off to front the band in Byrne's absence so the band would not
lose its position at the Paramount.

Byrne's group struggled at first. His big break finally came in 1941 when
the orchestra landed a spot at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, NY.
Meadowbrook owner Frank Daily, always ready to one up the Casino, heard
about the booking and immediately offered Byrne a spot at his Cedar Grove,
NJ, ballroom prior to the Casino engagement. Suddenly Byrne was hot
property. Regular radio broadcasts on the Raleigh cigarette-sponsored show
opened the door to more bookings as well as an appearance in the 1943 film,
Follies Girl. 

Byrne disbanded his orchestra in early 1943 when he was offered a commission
in the Army Air Corps. He had long expressed an interest in flying and
served as both a bandleader and a P-47 pilot during the war.

After his discharge in 1945, Byrne formed a new orchestra, which lasted only
a few years. The band business was fading and his reorganized band never
experienced the same momentum as his earlier group. In 1946, Byrne and crew
made Bobby Byrne and his Orchestra, a ten-minute movie short filmed in NYC
which utilized radio and stage performers.

Upon giving up his second band, Byrne freelanced around the New York City
area, often working with cornetist Bobby Hackett, and as a solo trombonist
for radio, recordings and television.

Byrne's television work included being a cast member on the series, Club
Seven (1948-1949 season); musical director from 1952-1954 for Tonight!
hosted by Steve Allen and sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer. The show
originated as a local New York City late night program, thus giving late
night television its start; weekly appearances for three years as a musician
on The Lucky Strike Hit Parade; a three-year stint on The Milton Berle Show;
an eleven-year run on The Perry Como Show; and numerous Patti Page specials.

>From the late 1950s to the late 1960s, Byrne worked as a musician, orchestra
leader, producer and promoter for Grand Award Recording Company, a division
of ABC Records, and rose to become the A&R director for Command Records,
which showcased many classical artists as well as top jazz/pop artists such
as trumpeter Doc Severinsen.

In the early 1970s Byrne completely left the music industry for the business
world, though he occasionally continued to perform. He retired permanently
in the late 1980s. 

Byrne is survived by his wife, Marilyn; four daughters from two previous
marriages: Shellye Hayden of Alvarado, TX; Barbara Fuhrmann and her husband,
Joseph, of Poway, CA; Kathleen Kennedy and her husband, Chuck, of Paramus,
NJ; and Eileen Mail of Encinitas, CA; two step-children: Geoffrey Goss of
Lake Arrowhead, CA; and Carolyn Cavecche who was elected mayor of the City
of Orange in 2006, and her husband, Richard, of Orange, CA; twelve
grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service celebrating the life of Bobby Byrne is planned for
Saturday, December 9, 2006, at 3 p.m. at Light of Christ Lutheran Church,
18182 Culver Drive, Irvine, CA.