Solid!
The encyclopedia of big band, lounge, classic jazz and space-age sounds.
Irving Aaronson
Born
- February 7, 1895
- New York, NY
Died
- May 10, 1963
- Hollywood, CA
Theme Song
- Commanderism
Irving Aaronson
- BIOGRAPHY
- FILMOGRAPHY
Irving Aaronson began his professional career at age 11, playing piano in silent movie houses. In the mid-1920s he put together his own jazz band. At first known as the ''Crusaders,'' the group later changed its name to the ''Commanders'' and made its first recording in 1926. The band performed primarily in theaters and earned their reputation as a well-trained and entertaining outfit. Members in the late-1920s included Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw, Claude Thornhill, Tony Pastor, Jack Armstrong, and Chummy MacGregor, Glenn Miller's future pianist.
In 1928 the Commanders appeared in Cole Porter's Broadway show Paris. Bing Crosby used the group as his backing band on four songs he recorded from his 1934 film She Loves Me Not, which included the best-seller ''Love In Bloom.'' In 1952 Aaronson became a musical supervisor for MGM studios, where he remained until his death in 1963.
Aaronson also co-wrote, with Paul Francis Webster, the classic popular song ''The Loveliest Night of the Year,'' made popular by tenor Mario Lanza.