When I joined the Guy Lombardo Band, in 1955, my mother and father
said, "At last you joined a really good band!' This was
after I had played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra,
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Radio City Orchestra, and
I had recorded a dozen albums with the Les and Larry Eigart Band;
also recorded The Jazz Concero with the Sauter-Finnegan Band,
with the Chicago Orchestra, Fritz Reiner conducting.
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- My first night working with the Guy Lombardo Band at the
Roosevelt Hotel in New York City was a panic! None of the music
was numbered - just titles - so I made a huge fan out of about
twenty or thirty tunes, with the tides showing. . Guy called
out each tune. He didn’t wait before tapping off - so I
scrambled all night long, grabbing the music just in time; while
my parents were having great fun watching me.
-
- Also, with the Lombardo Band, some nights when things didn't
go well." I was shocked to see Carmen hit his brother Liebert
(trumpet) over the head with his flute for playing a wrong note.
The flute, worth several thousand dollars, was bent in half.
Another night, when youngest brother Victor (baritone sax and
soprano sax) played something wrong. Guy casually walked in front
of him and punched him in the jaw while he was playing.
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