Paul Fredricks
Encyclopedia
Paul G. Fredricks was a German-American brass musician of the Big Band
s Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He is known for his unique skills as a trumpeter and left his mark on a range of larger bands such as the orchestras of Alvino Rey
, Charlie Spivak
, Les Brown
's Band of Renown, and Mel Torme
's Mel-Tones, in the jazz music scene of the period surrounding World War II
. He later ventured off with his own New Orleans-style Dixieland jazz band The Paul Fredricks Orchestra, later The Crescent City Stompers. He was featured in some Hollywood films including A. Edward Sutherland
and RKO Pictures
' Sing Your Worries Away (1942), starring Buddy Ebsen
, Patsy Kelly
and Bert Lahr
.
Throughout his eight decades as a professional musician, he cultivated a versatile career and recognized musical style. Fredricks began his professional music career in New York City at the age of 16 playing gigs at the Lincoln Hotel in New York City and the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, a launch pad of Frank Sinatra
. He continued playing with big bands before and after the war, during which he voluntarily entered to serve in the United States Army in the Asia-Pacific Arena. In the years surrounding the war, he toured across the country and was featured in shows in Hollywood, California; The Roseland Ballroom
, The Paramount Theater and The Palladium
/Academy of Music in New York. In 1941, after Alvino Rey’s group played at New York's Paramount Theater
, which led to greater exposure, they became one of the most popular acts in the country, recording top ten hits and making appearances in Hollywood films including A. Edward Sutherland
and RKO Pictures
' Sing Your Worries Away (1942), and others. Rey re-organized the orchestra, expanding the brass section including Paul Fredricks.
and played with his orchestra between 1946 and 1948. Paul retired from work with Charlie Spivak’s Orchestra to start his own New Orlean's style jazz band The Paul Fredricks Orchestra, later The Crescent City Stompers, for which he led tours for many years to come.
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He is known for his unique skills as a trumpeter and left his mark on a range of larger bands such as the orchestras of Alvino Rey
Alvino Rey
Alvin McBurney , known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American swing era musician and pioneer, often credited as the father of the pedal steel guitar...
, Charlie Spivak
Charlie Spivak
Charlie Spivak was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his big band in the 1940s.-Biography:...
, Les Brown
Les Brown
Les Brown may refer to:*Les Brown , U.S. Big Band leader, or his son, Les Brown Jr., leader since 2001*Les Brown , American author-See also:*Leslie Brown...
's Band of Renown, and Mel Torme
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
's Mel-Tones, in the jazz music scene of the period surrounding World War II
. He later ventured off with his own New Orleans-style Dixieland jazz band The Paul Fredricks Orchestra, later The Crescent City Stompers. He was featured in some Hollywood films including A. Edward Sutherland
A. Edward Sutherland
A. Edward Sutherland aka Eddie Sutherland was a film director and actor. Born Albert Edward Sutherland in London, he was from a theatrical family. His father, Al Sutherland, was a theatre manager and producer and his mother, Julie Ring, was a vaudeville performer...
and RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
' Sing Your Worries Away (1942), starring Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
, Patsy Kelly
Patsy Kelly
Patsy Kelly was an American stage and film comedic actress.-Early life and career:Kelly was born Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly in Brooklyn, New York to Irish immigrants, John and Delia Kelly, and made her Broadway debut in 1928...
and Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr was an American actor and comedian. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz, but was also well-known for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.-Early life:Lahr was born in New York City, of German-Jewish heritage...
.
Early life and career
Fredricks' grandparents were members of the German migration to the States in the 1800s. Raised near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he received his first trumpet as a gift from his parents at the age of nine. He developed his skills playing on his own and in several local bands as a young boy until he left home at 16 to pursue his dreams in New York City's music scene of the time.Throughout his eight decades as a professional musician, he cultivated a versatile career and recognized musical style. Fredricks began his professional music career in New York City at the age of 16 playing gigs at the Lincoln Hotel in New York City and the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, a launch pad of Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. He continued playing with big bands before and after the war, during which he voluntarily entered to serve in the United States Army in the Asia-Pacific Arena. In the years surrounding the war, he toured across the country and was featured in shows in Hollywood, California; The Roseland Ballroom
Roseland Ballroom
The Roseland Ballroom is a multi-purpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theatre district, on West 52nd Street....
, The Paramount Theater and The Palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
/Academy of Music in New York. In 1941, after Alvino Rey’s group played at New York's Paramount Theater
Paramount Theater (New York City)
The Paramount Theatre was a noted movie palace located at 43rd Street and Broadway in the Times Square district of New York City. Opened in 1926, it was the premiere showcase for Paramount Pictures and also became a popular live performance venue. The theater was closed in 1964 and its space...
, which led to greater exposure, they became one of the most popular acts in the country, recording top ten hits and making appearances in Hollywood films including A. Edward Sutherland
A. Edward Sutherland
A. Edward Sutherland aka Eddie Sutherland was a film director and actor. Born Albert Edward Sutherland in London, he was from a theatrical family. His father, Al Sutherland, was a theatre manager and producer and his mother, Julie Ring, was a vaudeville performer...
and RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
' Sing Your Worries Away (1942), and others. Rey re-organized the orchestra, expanding the brass section including Paul Fredricks.
WWII and Beyond
Fredricks served in the U.S. Army and toured the Asia-Pacific Arena serving his country in a number of roles. After the war, Fredricks was scouted by Charlie SpivakCharlie Spivak
Charlie Spivak was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his big band in the 1940s.-Biography:...
and played with his orchestra between 1946 and 1948. Paul retired from work with Charlie Spivak’s Orchestra to start his own New Orlean's style jazz band The Paul Fredricks Orchestra, later The Crescent City Stompers, for which he led tours for many years to come.