Bob Cary
Bob Cary, born in Providence, Rhode Island 1940, is a professional trumpet player and graduate of the Berklee School of Music. In the early 1960s he hosted his own radio show, Dimensions in Jazz, on WLOV FM in Providence.
Bob spent many hours listening to the radio while growing up. “I knew all the disc-jockeys theme songs and, in those days, there picked their own selection of records to play on the air. Each had his theme song and format of style of music they wanted to air.”
With his brother Ray, they built two small, four watt AM radio stations while living in their home in Warwick, Rhode Island. “The stations only could broadcast as far as our next door neighbors. We sat there hour after hour doing radio show after show while, most likely, nobody ever listened. We were radio pirates but didn’t know it was illegal”.
Bob’s interest grew when he started to play records by Benny Goodman on his station. While listening to Goodman's Band, he heard the great trumpet sounds of Harry James. From then on, radio took a second place. From 1948 on, Bob picked-up the trumpet and started practicing, even to this very day.
His only trumpet instructor was Edward Denish, who studied with the great ‘Turn-of-the-Century’ world champion cornetest, Bowen R. Church from Providence. Another former student of Ed Denish was Art Tancredi. Art Tancredi had been playing with Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra during the 1950s and was with the band when Tommy died in 1956 and stayed on until Jimmy died in 1957.
Art was a big influence on Bob. “I was at every Art Tancredi Band dance or performance. Art was a wonderful person and I admired his ballad playing style. Tommy Dorsey never used him to his great loss.” Bob says, “I use to drop in at Arts house and we would talk and drink coffee until the wee hours of the morning. Eventually his wife would put and end to that.”
Randy Brooks had also captured Bob’s interest, but, Randy was a mystery to most. His records were few and rare. Harry James, because of the wealth of recordings, became Bob’s biggest and major influence.
After the basics, Bob entered Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1957. At Berklee he learned how to arrange for big bands. “I’ve always found myself wanting to improve on the arrangements of others and I want my own band to sound the way I hear it and want it to sound. So I had to learn to do this.”
At completion of his studies at Berklee School of Music, Bob started performing with many bands and doing shows in both Boston and New York City. “This was quite an experience in travel.” Bob Says. “At one time I was doing a recording session in Boston during the day. Then I would drive to New York City for a show at night. I sometimes would sleep at a toll booth along the Connecticut Turnpike on my way back to Providence.”
“I attended a Stan Kenton Clinic held at Indian University in 1961 where I studied briefly with Russ Garcia who showed me a lot about motion picture writing.”
Bob entered the US Army National Guard in 1960 and played with the 88th Army Band.
Although it was difficult to perform away from the Monday night rehearsals and two week summer camp, Bob did manage to play, either as a steady sideman or substitute for many of the name bands such as; Les Elgart, Buddy Morrow, Claude Thornhill, Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra and Chorus performing at Carnegie Hall. Ray Conniff, Percy Faiths’ Orchestra, Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra
One night or six months, Bob played with many of the biggest stars such as, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Sonny and Cher, Jose Feliciano, Patti Page, Al Martino, Vic Domone, [...] Haymes, Connie Hanies, Johnny Mathais, Johnny Ray, Ray Bolger, Jerry Vale, The Platters, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Jimmy Rosselli, Vaughn Monroe, Helen Forrest, Phil Silvers, Al Albert of the Four Aces, The Four Tops, Maxine Brown, Jackie Vernon comedy show, Rich Little, George Jessell, Frankie Laine, June Valli, Kay Starr, J.P. Morgan, The Ink Spots, Connie Francis, Eddie Fisher, The Ames Brothers, Georgia Gibbs, Shirley Jones, The Mills Brothers, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., and many others. From Providence, Bob also started the first Bob Cary Orchestra during the late 1950s and periodically worked throughout the New England area. “We would play at Mountain Park near Springfield Massachusetts, and then go to New London, Connecticut to play at Ocean Beach, up to Pees Air Force Base in New Hampshire, across to Old Orchid Beach near Portland, Maine, a firemens' ball at Burlington, Vermont, Weirs Beach on Lake Winnapasockie. All in all, we covered New England pretty well.”
Added to his busy schedule were some recording dates in New York City along with substituting on a few Broadway Shows. “On one occasion, I got a call to play a matinee at the Winter Garden. I showed up with my tux on, entered the orchestra pit, got out my trumpet, warmed up, opened the book and started playing. Then I look up from the pit and low and behold….Barbara Streisand was on stage.”
“I also on occasion, worked with a few show bands. One of them went as far as Las Vegas. We also played the Americana Hotel in Miami. It was a learning experience for me in how to handle myself on stage.”
“One night in Boston, we were playing a club in Nantasket Beach called the Blue Bunny when Judy Garland walked in and performed a few songs with us. An impromptu jam session. This also happened with Gene Krupa later on in White Plains, New York.”
In the early 1970s brought Bob into the Lee Castle Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. The New York Times gave the band a great review at Madison Square Gardens for a big band revival festival, which featured the bands of Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Guy Lombardo. Bob Eberly and Helen O’Connell were featured at times with the Dorsey Band.
Murray McEachren had commissioned Bob as lead trumpet for The New Tommy Dorsey Orchestra reformed in the mid 1970s. “We traveled to Japan for a months tour, then Disneyland’s' Carnation Plaza and across the country to Canada’s Prince Edward Island. Half way around the world in one week.”
“While in California, we played a little place named A Thousand Oaks where I met Ina Ray Hutton, Les Brown and Pee Wee Monti, the manager for Harry James. I was invited to join The Harry James Orchestra but declined the offer because I was really tired of all the road trips and wanted to return home. Buddy Morrow soon took over the reins of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Again, Bob was employed as lead trumpet. They were featured on N.B.C. TVs “Today Show” in 1978. The band also played at Roseland Ballroom and the Playboy Club in New York, Glen Island Casino, Disney World in Florida, The National Arts Center in Ottawa Canada, The Palais D’ Arts in Montreal, a cruise on the Rotterdam in the Bahamas and Bermuda, a TV show in Toronto called, “Live at the Forum”. “We also backed The Mills Brothers on their Canadian Tour.”
Bob recalls many memorable experiences during his long career. Being called as a last minute replacement for The Newport Jazz Festival. Working in the 1940s during the summer at The Theater-By-The-Sea and meeting many famous performers like Marlon Brando, May West, acting with James Dunn in the play version of “Harvey”. Ushering at The Majestic Theater in Providence seeing all the great movies, for free. “The only drawback to that was, I had to see them 50 or 60 times. But I did get to listen to many Vaudeville stories from Dan Valadon, which I have written about.”
“I remember playing by a stop watch at The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York for The National Ballroom Dancers Competitions”. A hot summer in Atlantic City at The Steel Pier with The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. Sight-reading a first trumpet part to a Broadway Show with my knees knocking from fright. Being call to play Ziggy Elman's solo on “And The Angels Sings” at sight before a live TV audience. “Surprise to me.”
“In 1972, I worked all summer in The Catskills playing a different show every night, seven nights a week. A good friend of my, Gerry LaFurn had written some vocal arrangements for a singer who was to perform on the program at Robin Hill Dell in Philadelphia in August. He wanted me to play the lead parts to four arrangements with the featured band that night. It was Count Basie. What a thrill that was.”
The 1990s through to 2006 Bob worked on major cruise ships such as Celebrity Cruises, Orient Line, Holland-American Line and Princess Cruises, The Mississippi Queen riverboat and NCL, Norwegian Cruise Lines, often as MusicAL director.
“The most enjoyment I get now, is to lead my own band and listening to the sounds of the dancers on the floor. It’s music to my ears. Hearing their feet shuffle across the floor, watching their faces shine, enjoying every moment, and just drinking in the sound of the band.”
Bob is a member of the International Trumpet Guide and the New York Brass Conference. He has written composed a Trumpet Workbook for professionals and is the author of, “The Man with the Golden Trumpet”, a biography on the life and time of the legendary Randy Brooks. He is also a member of the Titanic Historical Society, nothing to do with music. “Wouldn’t have wanted that gig.”
When not cruising the world, Bob still works with his own 21 piece orchestra in and around Toronto. An excellent dance band which he calls a memorial orchestra dedicated to Randy Brooks. Bob did form a Randy Brooks Orchestra but, most of the people recognize Bob Cary but not Randy Brooks, so Bob continued with his own name.
Bob became a star performer in London, England as part of “The Unforgettables” show, portraying the world famous trumpeter Eddie Calvert.
Bob moved to Toronto, Canada in 1972 and resides there still.