Dan Terry was an
American big band leader, arranger, and trumpet and
flugelhorn player, who appeared in
Birdland with
Dinah Washington,
Sarah Vaughan,
Chris Connor,
Johnny Smith, and other jazz luminaries died he was 87.. He also made half a dozen LP recordings, including 20 sides on
Columbia Records in 1954, and wrote music for and performed in the films
The Hustler and
The Manchurian Candidate.
(December 22, 1924 – December 27, 2011)
Biography
The son of a choirmaster, he was born
Daniel Kostraba in
Kingston, Pennsylvania,
United States. After working with George Summerson's
territory band in high school, he went to
New York City and worked with
Muggsy Spanier before entering the
United States Marine Corps. After leaving the service, he moved to
Los Angeles to lead the Hollywood Teenagers Band before returning to New York in 1948 to play with
Sonny Dunham for eight months. Terry then studied theory at the College of the Pacific on the GI Bill from 1948-49.
[1]
Terry then formed his own band and went out on the road. Engagements
included the Totem Pole Ballroom in Boston, the Aragon and Trianon
Ballrooms in Chicago, Glen Island Casino,
[2] Tahoe Village, Chase Hotel in St. Louis,
[3]
Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, and the
Statler Hotel in New York, as well as appearing at college proms and
concerts from coast to coast. He also recorded four sides arranged by
Marty Paich[4] for Vita Records in 1952, including "
Autumn in New York" and "Terry Cloth."
Terry's band went into Birdland in 1954, playing there with
Sarah Vaughan,
Dinah Washington, and others. Also in 1954, Terry was signed by
Columbia Records along with
Pete Rugolo and
Les Elgart,
[5] and recorded 20 sides included on the records
Teen Age Dance Session (Columbia) and
Teen Age Dance Party (Harmony). That same year, he was also featured in the Universal film short,
Birth of a Band, with
Connie Haines and
Don Gordon.
[6]
Terry appeared in Carnegie Hall with his band for the Charlie Parker
Memorial Concert along with Dinah Washington and a host of other jazz
celebrities. He also toured with the “Birdland All Stars” in concerts at
Boston Arena and Carnegie Hall as a featured artist with the Count
Basie Band. The September 25, 1954, Carnegie Hall performance was
featured in a
live album called
Birdland All-Stars at Carnegie Hall with
Count Basie and
Lester Young on
Roulette Records.
[7]
In 1958, he and his “Band with the Hi-Fi Sound” recorded “Coca-Cola
Rock” and “Bull Fiddle Walk” on Devere Records with the Freddie Martel
Singers.
[8]
In the 1960s, Terry wrote music for and performed in the films
The Hustler[9] and
The Manchurian Candidate. He also served on the music staff for Dean Martin and Hollywood Palace shows, six television specials with
Jackie Gleason, Gleason’s recordings on Capitol Records, and twelve albums with
George “The Fox” Williams
for CBS. Terry owned and operated Big Daddy’s Nightclub at the Travel
and Transportation Building at the 1965 New York World’s Fair, and
served as Musical Director at Basin Street East from 1962 to 1965. He
also served as Musical Conductor for Sammy Davis with the Will Mastin
Trio,
Frances Langford,
Noonan and Marshall, and
Yma Sumac.
After returning to the West Coast, Terry recorded the album
Lonely Place, which was released as HT-1005 on
Happy Tiger Records in 1969.
[10]
He then moved to Las Vegas, where he was prominent in the city's music
community in the 1970s and early 1980s. He played trumpet and led his
big band in performances at the Pussycat A-Go-Go Club,
[11] the Tropicana, Mint, Thunderbird, and Sahara Hotels, and in 1979, a four-week engagement at the
Dunes Hotel with weekly radio broadcasts on
KDWN-AM.
While there, he served as president of Copyrite Music, Inc., a complete
music service which included composing, conducting, arranging, and
music preparation.
From 1976-1977, Terry lived in
Toronto,
where he formed the Horns of Toronto. He and the band appeared at
various venues, including the Savarin Nightclub, The Forum at Ontario
Place,
[12] the Canadian National Exhibition Bandshell, Sheraton Grand Hotel, and the Leisure Lodge in
Cambridge, Ontario.
In the 1990s, Terry settled in
San Diego, where he formed the Horns of San Diego and an offshoot, the San Diego Youth Swing Band,
[13]
a group designed to give high school musicians an opportunity to
perform his library of big band arrangements. Musicians in the band
included trumpeter Igmar Thomas and drummer Mikey Cannon. He produced
the band's album
Bein' Green on the Metronome label in 1999.
[14]
In addition to his recordings and touring, Terry worked as a jazz radio announcer for 40 years at radio stations in
Stockton, California,
Las Vegas,
Middletown, Orange County, New York, and
Phoenix, Arizona.
Dan Terry died in
Danville, Illinois in December 2011, aged 87.
Discography
- Vita Records: Hollywood, CA - 1952 – Produced and recorded "Autumn in New York" and the minor hit "Terry Cloth"
- Teenage Dance Session (Columbia Records: New York, 1954)
- Teenage Dance Party (Harmony Records: New York, 1957)
- "Coca-Cola Rock" and "Bull Fiddle Walk" (Devere Records: New York,
1958) - 45 rpm single featuring Dan Terry and His Band with the Hi-Fi
Sound
- Good Feeling Blues (Cinema Records: New York, 1962) – A&R
Director. Produced and recorded live album in concert at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute
- Reedtime (Metromome Records: New York, 1962) – Produced and recorded experimental orchestra featuring soprano saxophones
- Lonely Place (Metronome Records: Hollywood, 1969) – Produced and recorded album, released by Happy Tiger Records
- Dan Terry Big Big Band (Metronome Records: Las Vegas, 1981) – Produced and recorded album
- Bein' Green (Metronome Records: San Diego, 1999) – Produced and recorded San Diego Youth Swing Band album
Films
- Birth of a Band, Universal Pictures & Will Cowan Productions, Inc. Starred in the musical short with his band and Connie Haines.
- The Manchurian Candidate, Composed and arranged the music for the rally sequence of the film and appeared directing the marching band he contracted.
- The Hustler, 20th Century Fox, Robert Rossen, director. Appeared in the picture with his Dixieland Band. Composed and arranged the music for the party sequence with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, receiving screen credits.
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