Tom Talbert

He was born on August 4, 1924, in Crystal Bay, Minnesota, and grew up listening to big band music on the radio. He got started as a band leader when he was drafted in the Army in 1943, becoming composer for a military band at Fort Ord, California, performing for War Bond drives throughout California. In the late 1940s, he led his own big band on the West Coast, much of his work foreshadowing what became known as West Coast jazz before moving to New York in the early 1950s after being denied a recording contract in LA In 1956, he recorded two records that would become his best known works, Wednesday's Child and Bix Duke Fats, gaining him fleeting fame. When rock and roll eclipsed jazz in popularity, he moved to his parents' home in Minnesota in 1960, tried his hand at cattle ranching in Wisconsin, before eventually moving back to Los Angeles and a musical career in 1975. In addition to composing for TV and movie studios, he became involved in music education, and set up a foundation to help talented young musicians, with one of the first recipients (in 1996) being Maria Schneider. He died July 2, 2005.

Talbert has worked together with many other famous musicians. Some include: Los Angeles in the 40s: • Johnny Richards • Lucky Thompson • Dodo Marmarosa • Hal McKusick • Al Killian • Art Pepper • Steve White • Claude Williamson New York in the 50s: • Marian McPartland • Kai Winding • Don Elliott • Johnny Smith • Oscar Pettiford • Herb Geller • Joe Wilder • Eddie Bert • Barry Galbraith • Aaron Sachs • Claude Thornhill