Buddy Morrow (a.k.a. Muni Zudekoff), big band era trombonist (with a mastery of the upper range), hit-making recording artist, studio musician and most notably, bandleader of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra ghost band for over thirty years, passed away at age 91 years on the morning of September 27th, 2010 in his sleep...(photo form the blog http://conductorjonz.wordpress.com) a resident of Maitland, Florida (part of greater Orlando), Buddy Morrow had a life in music that began at the age of 12. Initially he wanted to play the trumpet but his mother gave him a trombone instead. At age 14 he was touring with the Yale Collegians and in 1936 having moved to New York City at the age of 16 started formally studying trombone via a scholarship at Julliard with Ernest Horatio Clarke. Shortly thereafter, he began playing with Sharkey Bonano's "Sharks Of Rhythm" (an Eddie Condon group). Then eventually he did stints as a member of various bands such as: The Eddy Duchin Orchestra, Vincent Lopez, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey (1938), recorded with Paul Whiteman's Concert Orchestra in 1939, Tony Pastor band (1940), Bob Crosby band.
During the Second World War, Morrow served in the U.S. Navy as a musician. In the post-war years he became a member of the Jimmy Dorsey Band. When Dorsey took sick he asked Morrow to fill in as bandleader. In 1946 Morrow hired a singer for his own band by the name of Eddie Fisher helping to launch the crooner's career. By the 1950s after signing on with RCA Victor in 1951, Buddy had a couple of million-seller Billboard hits by 1952 in the recordings of "Night Train" and "Rose, Rose, I Love You". He also produced
two albums of TV show themes released in 1960 called "Impact" and "Double Impact". In the 1970s Buddy led The Glenn Miller Orchestra temporarily. In 1976 he and his family moved to Florida and on the eve of considering retirement was offered the opportunity to lead the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra ghost band which became a permanent gig beginning in 1977, leading the band right up to his death having just completed a performance with the orchestra a few days before. The Official Tommy Dorsey Orchestra conducted by Buddy Morrow website is linked here. Buddy Morrow's Wikipedia profile can be found here. A more detailed obituary can be found here by Eloísa Ruano González of The Orland Sentinal newspaper. A three-part 2007 interview of Buddy on the BigBandBuddies website can be found here. Honor Buddy's memory by stopping by a memorial site that has been set up on-line at http://buddymorrow.people2remember.com/. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the local Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home.
Here is the original Buddy Morrow 1952 hit "Night Train":
During the Second World War, Morrow served in the U.S. Navy as a musician. In the post-war years he became a member of the Jimmy Dorsey Band. When Dorsey took sick he asked Morrow to fill in as bandleader. In 1946 Morrow hired a singer for his own band by the name of Eddie Fisher helping to launch the crooner's career. By the 1950s after signing on with RCA Victor in 1951, Buddy had a couple of million-seller Billboard hits by 1952 in the recordings of "Night Train" and "Rose, Rose, I Love You". He also produced
two albums of TV show themes released in 1960 called "Impact" and "Double Impact". In the 1970s Buddy led The Glenn Miller Orchestra temporarily. In 1976 he and his family moved to Florida and on the eve of considering retirement was offered the opportunity to lead the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra ghost band which became a permanent gig beginning in 1977, leading the band right up to his death having just completed a performance with the orchestra a few days before. The Official Tommy Dorsey Orchestra conducted by Buddy Morrow website is linked here. Buddy Morrow's Wikipedia profile can be found here. A more detailed obituary can be found here by Eloísa Ruano González of The Orland Sentinal newspaper. A three-part 2007 interview of Buddy on the BigBandBuddies website can be found here. Honor Buddy's memory by stopping by a memorial site that has been set up on-line at http://buddymorrow.people2remember.com/. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the local Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home. Here is the original Buddy Morrow 1952 hit "Night Train":
Here is Buddy Morrow leading the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in a video of "Well Get It" that includes some Tommy Dorsey home movie clips:
(sources: youtube.com, wikipedia.org, orlandsentinal.com, conductorjonz.wordpress.com)
