Al Hirt

Genres:	Drama • Holiday & Seasonal • Instrumental • Jazz • Pop / Rock • Television • Vocals
Descriptive "tags":	jazz • trumpet • soundtrack • instrumental • easy listening
Decades Active:	1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	Wikipedia

Biography

Alois Maxwell Hart, 7 November 1922, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 27 April 1999, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. After studying classical music at the Cincinnati Conservatory in the early 40s, trumpeter Hirt divided his professional career between symphony orchestras and dance bands and still found time to play dixieland jazz in New Orleans clubs. Hirt worked as a bugler during World War II, and following his discharge he played with bands led by Tommy Dorsey, Ray McKinley and Horace Heidt. Clarinettist Pete Fountain was a sideman, and occasional leader, in one of the first bands Hirt formed on his return to New Orleans. He first recorded as a leader for the Southland label in 1955, but in 1958 signed a career-boosting contract with the Audio Fidelity label.

In the 60s an important recording contract with RCA Records (which resulted in albums under his own name and as accompanist to some transiently popular easy-listening singers), a...

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