![]() ![]() He joked with Johnny Carson, the show's host, and developed an amusing habit of wearing gaudy clothing. ![]() He led the band during commercials and while guests were introduced. Severinsen became one of the most popular bandleaders, appearing almost every night on television. Under Severinsen's direction, The Tonight Show Band, styled the NBC Orchestra, became perhaps the best known big band in America. The leader of The Tonight Show Band, Skitch Henderson, asked him to return as first-chair trumpeter in 1962 for what had become The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and five years later Severinsen was leading the band. In 1949, Severinsen landed a job as a studio musician for NBC, where he accompanied Steve Allen, Eddie Fisher, Dinah Shore, and Kate Smith, and was a member of the original band for Tonight Starring Steve Allen, and was the soloist playing the closing theme. The Tonight Show and other television appearances In 1946, he played trumpet on radio station KODL. Severinsen was a member of Sam Donahue's band between 1946-1951. He served in the Army during World War II. After graduation, he went on tour with Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. īefore graduating from high school, he was hired to go on the road with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra. He started a quartet called the Blue Notes that performed at local dances. At 9, he won a state trumpet contest, at 13, he joined a multi-state all-star band and, at 14, he auditioned for Tommy Dorsey but wasn't hired. Severinsen proved to have a knack for the instrument, and was in a high school band when he was seven. ![]() His mother threatened to spank him if he didn't practice. A neighbor gave him some help on how to play, while his father, tobacco in mouth, instructed him to spit out the notes like spitting tobacco. Because his arms were not long enough for trombone, and the small Arlington music store had none available, he settled for the cornet. Severinsen's father played violin and wanted him to play it as well, but Severinsen wanted to play trombone. He was nicknamed Doc after his father, the only dentist in Arlington, who was born in Germany to a Danish father and a Swiss mother. Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) and Carl Severinsen (1898–1972). He joined the Jimmie Lunceford band as lead and solo trumpeter in 1939.Carl Hilding " Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He began playing trumpet at the age of 6 and was soon touring the South in a family band with his parents and four siblings. Young was widely regarded by his peers as one of the great lead trumpeters.Įugene Edward Young (he acquired the nickname Snooky in childhood) was born on Feb. He must also be comfortable in all registers, especially the highest ones. The lead trumpeter is in effect the concertmaster of a big band, establishing the way an arrangement is phrased and interpreted not just by the trumpet section but by the entire ensemble. Young had one of the more challenging tasks in jazz. The cause was complications of a lung disorder, said William Selditz, a family friend.Īs lead trumpeter in the ensembles of Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman and many others, Mr. Snooky Young, who led the trumpet sections of some of the world’s most famous big bands - including, for some 30 years, Doc Severinsen’s “Tonight Show” orchestra - died on May 11 in Newport Beach, Calif.
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