Henry Busse

about

Hot trumpeter Henry Busse truly was a legend. Born 1894 in Germany. In 1912, at 18 the he "jumped ship" in New York after successfully running away following numerous failed attempts from the family farm outside of Magdeburg, Germany. There, he had been forced to play trumpet in his uncle's band after a finger he broke set crooked. (Violin players need straight fingers after all.) The broken finger was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. In 1916 where he found his way to Hollywood and worked playing trumpet in a movie theatre pit band. He later was one of the original keystone cops and counted among his friends Ray Bolger, Gorge Raft, Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson and his best friend Bing Crosby. He formed his own band and toured the country ending up in San Francisco where they disbanded. Al Hirt and Herb Alpert say they were inspired by Busse Sr.'s trumpet solos, particularly his rendition of "Rhapsody in Blue." ["He and singer Bing Crosby invented the mute for trumpet".- whoever put this in got something wrong - the trumpet mute has been around since the middle ages - I think the writer meant he invented a particular model of mute - please contact me at www.VintageMutes.com] Although Busse primarily used a mute, which made his straightforward style unique and immediately identifiable, he did occasionally play open trumpet as on "Red Hot Henry Brown", recorded by Busse's Buzzards on August 27, 1925 in NYC. Personnel on that session: Frank Siegrist (tp

top songs

albums

Big Band Classics from the 1940s

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Hits of the 1920s: Volume 2: The hits of 1921-1923

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Clarinet Goes to Town

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Fascinatin' Rhythm

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Show Tunes Of The 1920's Vol. 1

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Big Band Memories

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The Legends - The Best Of Big

Whiteman, Paul: Music for Moderns (1927-1928)

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Big Band

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