Profile
Jimmy Dorsey
Clarinetist + Bandleader + Saxophonist
Male
Born
Feb 29, 1904
Hometown
Shenandoah, Penns...
Died
Jun 12, 1957
Death Place
New York City, Ne...
Genres
Big band music + ...
Instruments
Saxophone + Clari...
Performed With
The Charleston Ch...
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD". He composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" and "It's The… Read More
Romance
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Denise ParkerFling
Family
Discover the family history of Jimmy Dorsey.
Jimmy Dorsey
d.1957
siblings
News + Updates
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Frankovelgia To Dazzle Residents Morris Daily HeraldGoogle News - Aug 25, 2011
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Leb Laze – Rasheed's Dream (Review) M Is For MusicGoogle News - Aug 24, 2011
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Miami Jazz Cooperative Monthly Rent Party Miami New TimesGoogle News - Aug 22, 2011
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Heath Brothers Take A Gentle Approach To The Art Of Bebop Chicago TribuneGoogle News - Aug 19, 2011
Timeline
Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Jimmy Dorsey.
CHILDHOOD
1904
Birth
Born on February 29, 1904.
1913
9 Years Old
Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a music teacher and older brother of Tommy Dorsey who also became a prominent musician. He played trumpet in his youth, appearing on stage with J. Carson McGee's King Trumpeters in 1913.
TEENAGE
1915
11 Years Old
He switched to alto saxophone in 1915, and then learned to double on clarinet.
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TWENTIES
1924
20 Years Old
With his brother Tommy playing trombone, he formed Dorsey’s Novelty Six, one of the first jazz bands to broadcast. In 1924 he joined the California Ramblers (who were based in New York City).
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1930
26 Years Old
He joined Ted Lewis's band in 1930, with whom he toured Europe.
1932
28 Years Old
After returning to the United States, he worked briefly with Rudy Vallee and several other bandleaders, in addition to the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra with Tommy. He appeared on at least seventy-five radio broadcasts (many with his brother), as a member of Nathaniel Shilkret's orchestra on programs such as the 1932 program, "The Music That Satisfies," also known as the Chesterfield Quarter Hour.
THIRTIES
Tommy broke off to form his own band in 1935 after a musical dispute with Jimmy.
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1938
34 Years Old
In 1938, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra also appeared in a movie short performing many of his hits including "It's the Dreamer in Me", "I Love You in Technicolor", and "Parade of the Milk Bottle Caps".
1939
35 Years Old
Jimmy Dorsey composed "Mood Hollywood", "Shim Sham Shimmy", "So Many Times", which reached no. 20 in 1939 on Billboard, staying on the charts for one week, also recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra and Jack Teagarden and his Orchestra, "Beebe", "Oodles of Noodles", "John Silver" with Ray Krise, which reached no. 13 on Billboard in 1938, staying on the charts for 2 weeks, "Parade of the Milk Bottle Caps", "Dusk in Upper Sandusky" with Larry Clinton, "Shoot the Meatballs to Me Dominick Boy" with Toots Camarata, "A Man and his Drums", "Mutiny in the Brass Section", "Praying the Blues", "Contrasts", his theme song, "Major and Minor Stomp", "Hep-Tee Hootie (Juke Box Jive)" with Fud Livingston and Jack Palmer, "I Bought A Wooden Whistle", "Tailspin" with Frankie Trumbauer, the classic jazz standard "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)", "Clarinet Polka", "I Love You in Technicolor", "All The Things You Ain't" with Babe Russin, "JD's Boogie Woogie", "Jumpin' Jehosaphat", "I'll Do Anything For You", "Dorsey Stomp", "Grand Central Getaway" with Dizzy Gillespie, "Sunset Strip" and "The Champ" with Sonny Burke, "Town Hall Tonight", "Outer Drive" with Herb Ellis, the jazz standard "It's the Dreamer in Me" with Jimmy Van Heusen, recorded by Duke Ellington and others.
Jimmy Dorsey co-wrote the jazz and pop standard "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" with Paul Madeira, who is also known as Paul Madeira Mertz, in 1941.
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Kitty Kallen sang with the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra following Helen O'Connell's departure in 1942.
FORTIES
1946
42 Years Old
Jimmy Dorsey also released the song as Decca 18799A with Dee Parker on vocals in 1946.
1947
43 Years Old
Jimmy Dorsey appeared in a number of Hollywood motion pictures, including That Girl From Paris, Shall We Dance, The Fleet's In, Lost in a Harem with Abbot and Costello, I Dood It, and the bio-pic with his brother Tommy, The Fabulous Dorseys in 1947.
In 1953 he joined Tommy's Orchestra, renamed "Tommy Dorsey and his Orch. featuring Jimmy Dorsey".
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FIFTIES
Shortly before his death, he was awarded a gold record for "So Rare" which was recorded on November 11, 1956.
It is thought that Dorsey's last appearance was in Joplin, Missouri, on March 12, 1957.
Original Authors of this text are noted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Dorsey.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.