[Dixielandjazz] Buddy Morrow obituary--NYTimes 10-2

[Norman Vickers]

To:  DJML and Musicians & Jazzfans list

From: Norman Vickers, Jazz Society of Pensacola

 

Here, finally, is the obituary of Buddy Morrow from NYTimes Saturday October
2.  It was printed in our NYTimes today 10-4.

 

 




  _____  

October 2, 2010


Buddy Morrow , Trombonist and Bandleader, Dies at 91


By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK


At 91, Buddy Morrow <http://www.buddymorrowproductions.com/html/buddy.htm>
had to be helped onstage to lead the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
<http://www.buddymorrowproductions.com/>  in Ormond Beach, Fla., on Sept.
24, but once the music started, his energy never wavered. He even played the
trombone solo on
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcs7FAH63Fg&feature=related> "Night Train,"
which had sold more than a million copies for him in 1952. 

But when Mr. Morrow left the stage to tumultuous applause, it ended the
final performance of a career that spanned more than seven decades. Mr.
Morrow died Monday at his home in Maitland, Fla., his daughter Sara Morrow
said. 

Mr. Morrow was born Muni Zudekoff on Feb. 8, 1919, in New Haven to Sophie
and David Zudekoff. He was the fifth of six siblings, all musicians, and
played trombone because trumpet was taken. 

At 15, he toured with the jazz ensemble the Yale Collegians. He soon moved
to New York to play full time with established musicians like Harry James,
Buddy Rich and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. He won a scholarship to the Juilliard
School
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/j/juillia
rd_school/index.html?inline=nyt-org> , but left before graduating to
continue playing professionally. 

He played lead trombone for the Navy Band while serving in the Navy on
Staten Island from 1941 to 1944. 

Mr. Morrow got his first job as a bandleader in 1945, when he covered for
Jimmy Dorsey one night when Mr. Dorsey was sick. He formed the Buddy Morrow
Orchestra in 1947. He played intermittently with the "Tonight Show" band in
the 1960s. His band broke up in 1968, but he continued performing, recording
and leading different bands until he became the conductor of the Tommy
Dorsey Orchestra in 1977. (Tommy Dorsey had died in 1956, Jimmy Dorsey in
1957.) 

Mr. Morrow recorded the albums "Big Band Guitar" and "The Golden Trombone"
and the hits  <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1vcBnxW7vc> "One Mint Julep"
and "Hey Mrs. Jones," among many others. In 2008 he received a lifetime
achievement award from the International Trombone Association. 

Mr. Morrow is survived by his third wife, Carol Morrow; their daughter Sara,
of Los Angeles; a son, Peter, of Hillsdale, N.J., from his first marriage,
to Lucille Ross; a daughter, Catherine, of Marietta, Ga., from his second
marriage, to Clare Eggleston; and three grandchildren. 

 

 

I'm about half-way through reading the biography of Artie Shaw, Three Chords
for Beauty's Sake by Tom Nolan.  The author stated that Artie Shaw had
suggested the name of Buddy Morrow for  "Moe" Zudekoff.

It's an easy read but, like several of the reviewers on the Amazon Book
site, they felt, as I did, that Nolan didn't do exhaustive research,
depending heavily on interviews over many years, with Artie Shaw, so there
wasn't "balance" which would have made an extremely important book.  So,
budding authors, here's your chance to do an in-depth, exhaustive study of
Artie Shaw, his life and music.

 

fnv