Dan Terry
Encyclopedia
Dan Terry is a 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. 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
.
Dan 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, Tahoe Village, Chase Hotel in St. Louis, 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 for Vita Records in 1952, including Autumn in New York
and “Terry Cloth.”
Dan’s band went into Birdland in 1954, playing there with Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and others. Also in 1954, Dan was signed by Columbia Records along with Pete Rugolo
and Les Elgart
, 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.
Dan 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 recorded album called “Birdland All-Stars at Carnegie Hall” with Count Basie and Lester Young on Roulette Records. 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.
In the 1960s, Dan wrote music for and performed in the films The Hustler
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. Dan 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, Dan recorded the album Lonely Place, which was released as HT-1005 on Happy Tiger Records
in 1969. 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, 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, Dan 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, the Canadian National Exhibition Bandshell, Sheraton Grand Hotel, and the Leisure Lodge in Cambridge, ON.
In the 1990s, Dan settled in San Diego, where he formed the Horns of San Diego and an offshoot, the San Diego Youth Swing Band, 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 CD “Bein’ Green” on the Metronome label in 1999.
In addition to his recordings and touring, Dan worked as a jazz radio announcer for 40 years at stations in Stockton, CA, Las Vegas, Middletown, NY, and Phoenix.
Produced and recorded Autumn in New York
and minor hit “Terry Cloth”
Teenage Dance Session (Columbia Records: New York, NY, 1954)
Teenage Dance Party (Harmony Records: New York, NY, 1957)
Good Feeling Blues (Cinema Records: New York, NY, 1957)
A&R Director. Produced and recorded live album in concert at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, CA,
Reedtime (Metromome Records: New York, NY, 1962)
Produced and recorded experimental orchestra featuring soprano saxophones.
Lonely Place (Metronome Records: Hollywood, CA, 1969)
Produced and recorded album, released by Happy Tiger Records
Dan Terry Big Big Band (Metronome Records: Las Vegas, NV, 1981)
Produced and recorded album
Bein’ Green (Metronome Records: San Diego, CA, 1999)
Produced and recorded San Diego Youth Swing Band album
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
player who appeared in Birdland
Birdland (jazz club)
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
with Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
, Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, Chris Connor
Chris Connor
Chris Connor was an American jazz singer.-Biography:She was born as Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri to Clyde and Mabel Loutsenhizer. She studied and became proficient on the clarinet, having studied for 8 years throughout junior high and high school...
, Johnny Smith
Johnny Smith
Johnny Smith is an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist.-Early years:...
, and other jazz luminaries. He also made half a dozen LP recordings, including 20 sides on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1954, and wrote music for and performed in the films The Hustler
The Hustler (film)
The Hustler is a 1961 American drama film directed by Robert Rossen from the 1959 novel of the same name he and Sidney Carroll adapted for the screen...
and The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)
The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 American Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver...
.
Biography
The son of a choirmaster, Dan Terry was born Daniel Kostraba on December 22, 1924, in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He went to New York City when he was 14, and worked with Muggsy Spanier before entering the 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. Dan then studied theory at the College of the Pacific on the GI Bill from 1948-49.Dan 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, Tahoe Village, Chase Hotel in St. Louis, 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 for Vita Records in 1952, including Autumn in New York
Autumn in New York (song)
"Autumn in New York" is a jazz standard composed by Vernon Duke in 1934 for the Broadway musical Thumbs Up! which opened on December 27, 1934, performed by J. Harold Murray...
and “Terry Cloth.”
Dan’s band went into Birdland in 1954, playing there with Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and others. Also in 1954, Dan was signed by Columbia Records along with Pete Rugolo
Pete Rugolo
Pietro "Pete" Rugolo was an Italian-born jazz composer and arranger.-Life and career:Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California...
and Les Elgart
Les Elgart
Les Elgart was an American swing jazz bandleader and trumpeter.Lester E. Elgart began playing trumpet as a teenager, and by age 20 had landed professional gigs. In the 1940s he played in bands led by Raymond Scott, Charlie Spivak, and Harry James, and occasionally found himself in bands alongside...
, 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.
Dan 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 recorded album called “Birdland All-Stars at Carnegie Hall” with Count Basie and Lester Young on Roulette Records. 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.
In the 1960s, Dan wrote music for and performed in the films The Hustler
The Hustler (film)
The Hustler is a 1961 American drama film directed by Robert Rossen from the 1959 novel of the same name he and Sidney Carroll adapted for the screen...
and The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)
The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 American Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver...
. He also served on the music staff for Dean Martin and Hollywood Palace shows, six television specials with Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
, Gleason’s recordings on Capitol Records, and twelve albums with George “The Fox” Williams for CBS. Dan 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
Frances Langford
Julia Frances Langford was an American singer and entertainer who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and also made film appearances over two decades.-Birth:...
, Noonan and Marshall
Tommy Noonan
Tommy Noonan was a comedy genre film performer, screenwriter and producer. He acted in a number of 'A' and 'B' pictures from the 1940s through the 1960s, and he is best known for his supporting performances as Gus Esmond, Marilyn Monroe's wealthy boyfriend, in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , and as the...
, and Yma Sumac
Yma Súmac
Yma Sumac was a noted Peruvian soprano. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music. She became an international success based on her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak.Yma...
.
After returning to the West Coast, Dan recorded the album Lonely Place, which was released as HT-1005 on Happy Tiger Records
Happy Tiger Records
Happy Tiger Records was an independent American record label that was owned by the Flying Tiger Line air freight company. Happy Tiger only operated from 1969 to 1971, but during this time managed to produce more than two dozen albums by such notable artists as Count Basie, Mason Proffit, Red...
in 1969. 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, 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, Dan 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, the Canadian National Exhibition Bandshell, Sheraton Grand Hotel, and the Leisure Lodge in Cambridge, ON.
In the 1990s, Dan settled in San Diego, where he formed the Horns of San Diego and an offshoot, the San Diego Youth Swing Band, 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 CD “Bein’ Green” on the Metronome label in 1999.
In addition to his recordings and touring, Dan worked as a jazz radio announcer for 40 years at stations in Stockton, CA, Las Vegas, Middletown, NY, and Phoenix.
Discography
Vita Records: Hollywood, CA - 1952Produced and recorded Autumn in New York
Autumn in New York (song)
"Autumn in New York" is a jazz standard composed by Vernon Duke in 1934 for the Broadway musical Thumbs Up! which opened on December 27, 1934, performed by J. Harold Murray...
and minor hit “Terry Cloth”
Teenage Dance Session (Columbia Records: New York, NY, 1954)
Teenage Dance Party (Harmony Records: New York, NY, 1957)
Good Feeling Blues (Cinema Records: New York, NY, 1957)
A&R Director. Produced and recorded live album in concert at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, CA,
Reedtime (Metromome Records: New York, NY, 1962)
Produced and recorded experimental orchestra featuring soprano saxophones.
Lonely Place (Metronome Records: Hollywood, CA, 1969)
Produced and recorded album, released by Happy Tiger Records
Dan Terry Big Big Band (Metronome Records: Las Vegas, NV, 1981)
Produced and recorded album
Bein’ Green (Metronome Records: San Diego, CA, 1999)
Produced and recorded San Diego Youth Swing Band album
Motion Pictures
- Birth of a Band, Universal Pictures & Will Cowan Productions, Inc. Starred in the musical short with his band and Connie Haines.
- The Manchurian CandidateThe Manchurian CandidateThe Manchurian Candidate , by Richard Condon, is a political thriller novel about the son of a prominent US political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party....
, Composed and arranged the music for the rally sequence of the film and appeared directing the marching band he contracted. - The HustlerThe Hustler (film)The Hustler is a 1961 American drama film directed by Robert Rossen from the 1959 novel of the same name he and Sidney Carroll adapted for the screen...
, 20th Century Fox, Robert Rossen, director. - Appeared in the picture with his DixielandDixielandDixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
Band. Composed and arranged the music for the party sequence with Paul NewmanPaul NewmanPaul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
and Jackie GleasonJackie GleasonJackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
. Received screen credits.