Gray Gordon

Gray Gordon (born May 4, 1904 in Freeport , Illinois as Jerome Rohkar , † July 18, 1976 in New York City ) was an American saxophonist and orchestra leader in the field of swing and popular music .

Live and act

Gray Gordon began his career as a band leader with a five-man formation called The Pretzel Five when he was in high school; she reportedly played Dixieland Jazz at festivals in his hometown. In the mid-1920s, Gordon moved to Chicago , where he played with the Seattle Harmony Kings and Elmo Macks Purple Derby Orchestra . In 1936 he went to New York City , where he formed his first professional band. After he had initially called himself Gorden , he took on the stage name Gray Gordon during an engagement at the Hotel Chase in St. Louis .

Gordon then performed with his Tic Toc Rhythm orchestra in Chicago, where he and his drummer Frank Adams developed a special tick-to-tack rhythm that became his signature feature for radio listeners. This clock noise, produced on temple blocks, was usually accompanied by an exaggerated trombone sound until the band got into the opening bars of the song. Famous were Gray Gordon and His Tic-Toc Rhythm mainly through her several months-ending commitment to the Green Room of the New York Hotel Edison , where they coincide with the well-known dance bands of Blue Barron occurred and Little Jack Little; their concerts were broadcast every night on the hotel's own radio station. The theme song "One Minute To One" was never recorded. The band singer was Cliff Grass, who also played the alto saxophone. He sang the band's most commercially successful track, "Blue In The Black of Night," which was released on Bluebird Records . Grass then joined Guy Lombardo in late 1940 . Around 1940 Gordon expanded his orchestra, which until then had only had three woodwinds and three brass players in addition to the rhythm section , into a big band formation. 1940/41 Meredith Blake sang in his band.

The last recordings of Gray Gordon and his orchestra were made in 1941 for Victor Records ; That year four soundies were recorded in which the band played in the swing idiom. In 1945 Gordon dissolved his orchestra. He then worked in advertising and press work, working briefly for Les Paul , Mary Ford and King Guion. In later years he was responsible for public relations at various Miami hotels . He died of cancer in 1976; he is buried in Oakland Cemetery in his hometown of Freeport, Illinois.

Discographic notes

• The Uncollected - Gray Gordon and His Tic-Toc Rhythm Orchestra (Hindsight, 1939)

Web links

• Gray Gordon at the Bigband Library
• Gray Gordon in the Bigband Database

swell

• Leo Walker: The Big Band Almanac . Ward Ritchie Press, Pasadena. 1978