Jimmy Dorsey Biography

Fast Facts

• Formed his first band as a teenager with his younger brother, Tommy, called Dorsey's Novelty Six and later Dorsey's Wild Canaries
• Best known as a jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, big band leader, and composer of the jazz standards "I'm Glad There Is You" and "It's the Dreamer In Me․"
• After his brother left, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra began performing on radio broadcasts like Bing Crosby's "Kraft Music Hall" and recorded singles like "Contrasts," "Green Eyes," and "Tangerine․"
• Reunited with his brother in the 1950s, appearing regularly on "The Jackie Gleason Show" and co-hosting their own series, "Stage Show․"
• Began recording as The Dorsey Brothers and Their Concert Orchestra in 1927, although they didn't make a formal debut until 1934
• Appeared in the films "Shall We Dance," "The Fleet's In," and "Lost in a Harem," as well as the bio-pic "The Fabulous Dorseys" with his brother Tommy in 1947
• Was included in Ripley's Believe It or Not after he played "Flight of the Bumblebee" in two breaths in 1938 and later played it in only one on "Swing Session․"
• He and his brother Tommy played with acts like Bing Crosby, the Boswell Sisters, the California Ramblers, and the Paul Whiteman Orchestra