The other day, Darlene, who loves to talk, stopped me and told me about her second husband Elmer Gene Burton. He was a musician from Idaho who now lives in northern Utah.

He’d written a couple of songs for her. One “Dreaming a Dream of about You”.

They divorced but are friendly toward one another.

Gene is a Saxophone player of note, who once had two of his fancy instruments stolen but recovered them.   I had to admit I’d never heard of Gene but I had heard of the bands he played with.

Have you?

Horace Heidt, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey.

Horace Heidt (May 21, 1901–December 1, 1986) was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television through the 1930s and 1940s.

Henry Haag “Harry” James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an actor and musician best known as a trumpeter who led a swing band during the Big Band Swing Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.

Thomas Francis “Tommy” Dorsey, Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956[1]) was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as “The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing”, due to his smooth-toned trombone playing.[2] He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey.[3] After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely popular and highly successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s.

(Thanks to Wikipedia for the historical info on these three band leaders.)

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