Mr. Trumpet

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THE TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS, AND TRIUMPH OF

BUNNY BERIGAN

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Advance praise for Mr. Trumpet by Richard Claar

“This book is a biography of Bunny Berigan, but is it also the story of the swing era of American musical history, a time when, truly, musical giants strode the earth. Mr. Trumpet—The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumph of Bunny Berigan, by Michael P. Zirpolo, was published by Scarecrow Press on October 1, 2011. I recommend it most enthusiastically. This is an essential work for swing aficionados. It is impeccably researched, and well written; indeed it is one of the best biographies of a jazz musician that I've ever encountered, and I've read more than a few.

As a superb supplement, many previously unseen images are included in the photospread. In addition to shots of Bunny and his family members, one can view many of his talented sidemen including Buddy Rich, Georgie Auld, George Wettling, Dave Tough, Ray Conniff, Joe Lippmann (an outstanding arranger), Joe Bushkin, Don Lodice, Johnny Blowers, and Jack Sperling, among many others. And there are also photos of Bunny's colleagues and fellow legends—Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, and the sultry chanteuse Lee Wiley (read the book).

Although Mr. Trumpet will undoubtedly be used as a reference book, it is also highly entertaining. There are many anecdotes from the golden age of swing in it, all masterfully told. It is insightful, truly revealing, occasionally of devastating depth. It is a uniquely American story; a tragedy that, ultimately, miraculously, is inspirational.”

Richard Claar, broadcaster and swing era historian, is a co-moderator of the world’s largest big band online discussion group under the auspices of the University of Colorado American Music Research Center Glenn Miller Archive. (For the full review written by Richard Claar, see below under "Reviews.")

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A biography of the jazz trumpeter Roland Bernard “Bunny” Berigan (1908-1942), by Michael P. Zirpolo, was published on October 1, 2011, by Scarecrow Press as a part of its “Studies in Jazz” series, in conjunction with the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University. Its title is: Mr. Trumpet…The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumph of Bunny Berigan.

The story of Berigan's life resembles an ancient Greek tragedy: a heroic figure rises from obscurity to dizzying heights, touches greatness, becomes ensnared by circumstances, some beyond his control, others of his own making, and comes to a disastrous early end. Berigan was very much a man of his time and place, and was intimately involved in the commercial music/dance band/show business milieu of the 1930s and '40s in New York City and the eastern United States, where he worked. The story of his life necessarily includes an examination of the part of jazz history that is now known as the “Swing Era.” Berigan was a charismatic performer, one of the relatively few musicians in the history of jazz to advance the art. His trumpet artistry made a deep and lasting impression on almost everyone who heard him play. The body of recorded work he left continues to evoke a wide range of emotions in those who hear it.

This biography is an analysis of the life of Bunny Berigan that sets his story in the fullest possible context, and explains many heretofore misunderstood events in both Berigan's life, and in the Swing Era. The structure of the book is strictly chronological. That allows for an organic development of the exposition of the events of Berigan's life that can be easily followed and understood by a reader, even one with little or no knowledge of the music and musicians of the Swing Era. There are numerous explanations of Berigan's music in the book which are as non-technical as possible so they can be understood by the lay reader. Also included are appendices containing lists of all known broadcast/transcription recordings made by Bunny Berigan during the years he led his own bands (1936-1942). Many of these recordings have never been released commercially. There is also an appendix devoted to an explanation of Berigan's soundtrack recordings for the film Syncopation (1942). The book contains many photos that have never been published previously.

Those having questions about this book can contact the author at: mzirpolo@neo.rr.com

Mr. Trumpet-the Trials, Tribulations and Triumph of Bunny Berigan has 550 pages, including a 24 page photospread which contains many previously unpublished images. The text is supported by hundreds of footnotes and references. Mr. Trumpet can be purchased at Amazon.com, or from numerous other online booksellers worldwide. To access the Amazon listing for Mr. Trumpet, go to Amazon.com Bunny Berigan Mr. Trumpet, or click on the "order now" box at the upper right.

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Michael P. Zirpolo is a practicing lawyer in Canton, Ohio. He has written numerous articles and given many lectures in the last fifteen years on jazz musicians from the swing era, including Duke Ellington (and his sidemen Sonny Greer and Russell Procope), Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge, Tommy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, and Bunny Berigan. He has written criticisms of reissues of classic jazz recordings and of books about the music and musicians of the swing era. He has also written about the development of swing and the contributions to that development made by Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke. He is a longtime collector of jazz recordings from the 1920s to the 1980s, and has developed considerable skill in the art of digitally remastering vintage recordings. He is frequently consulted by writers and collectors of vintage jazz recordings from around the globe with questions about the music, recordings, and musicians of the swing era, and has appeared on radio and television discussing classic jazz. In addition to jazz and American popular song, he is a devotee of long form music. He can be contacted at: mzirpolo@neo.rr.com

For information about the Bunny Berigan photo search project, and about the "lost" recordings of Bunny Berigan, please go to the "contact" page.

"...About the trumpet players I admire...first, I'll name my boy Bunny Berigan. Now there's a boy I've always admired for his tone, soul, technique, his sense of phrasing and all. To me, Bunny can't do no wrong in music."

Louis Armstrong, Down Beat, September 1, 1941.

click here to see REVIEWS *****

"Mr. Trumpet" billboard

As people begin to buy and read the book, their interest in and curiosity about Bunny Berigan is increasing. I have had a number of requests from folks all around the U.S. and in Toronto in Canada that I make presentations about Berigan, and do book signings. At this point, my plans for specific events are gradually taking shape. As these events are scheduled, I will post all relevant information on this website.

--On December 19 at noon, I appeared on WCPN-90.3 FM in Cleveland, as a guest on the Around Noon program. WCPN's jazz guru and longtime host for jazz programming, Dan Polletta, interviewed me about "Mr. Trumpet." Around Noon is WCPN's radio magazine, and it is streamed live via the Internet. To hear the 20 minute interview, click on the triangle at right.

--On Wednesday March 7 at 7:00 p.m., I made a presentation about Bunny Berigan at the Canton Museum of Art in my home town of Canton, Ohio. It included a narrated slide show featuring photos of Bunny, his family, his bands, and many of the now legendary musicians and singers with whom he worked including Paul Whiteman, Bix Beiderbecke, Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford and Buddy Rich. I also played choice selections from the Berigan songbook, and signed books. There was a reception after the presentation. The event was very successful with over 40 people in attendance. I was very happy to see many old friends, and meet a few new ones.

--From May 16 to 20, 2012, I will be at the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee in his home town of Fox Lake, Wisconsin and environs. That event will include many activities including musical performances by a number of bands. I will be presenting at least one slide show and lecture on Bunny's life, and present three demonstrations of his recorded music, with discussion and question and answer sessions. One of these will include Berigan's best known recordings, the other will include the "rarest of the rare" of Bunny's recordings. I will also making a presentation on the evolution of Bunny's performances of "I Can't Get Started," and be signing books. Two interviews on radio will also take place. The Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee will be a great event for Berigan aficionados to enjoy camaraderie, learn about Bunny, and enjoy a lot of good music.

For more information about the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee and about what has been going on lately with "Mr. Trumpet" check out the article posted by Christopher Popa on his "Big Band Library" website: http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/bigbandnewsmay2012.html

--Plans are taking shape for me to appear at the "Rutgers Roundtable" at the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey. More on this as final details are worked out.

BUNNY BERIGAN trivia quiz

The answers to the questions below can be found by clicking on "order now" on the bar below (not the box at the top of this page). Don't worry, by doing this you will NOT be automatically ordering the book. You can order the book however, by clicking on the "order now" box at the upper right corner of this page.

1) Bunny Berigan and his small band from the Famous Door, a club on New York's 52nd Street, were hired to play a wedding on March 15, 1936. It was quite a bash, and included among its guests, George Gershwin. Whose wedding was this?

2) Berigan's big band was among the first to record music from a revolutionary film. They did so on January 26, 1938. What was the name of the film?

3) Berigan worked in a short-lived musical show in late 1936 called "The Show is On." In the show, which was intended to present the first jazz band in a Broadway show, Bunny was to be silhouetted on a large screen playing the trumpet. For technical reasons, the show's director couldn't get the effect to work properly, so it was cut from the show. This director later went on to great success in Hollywood films. Who was he?

4) Berigan was a peerless studio musician in the early and mid-1930s. He was valued by conductors, musicians, and singers because he could fit into any musical situation, and add a great deal to any performance with his dynamic trumpet playing. He was on hand for the inaugural recording sessions for two icons of American music. Who were they?

5) Bunny Berigan's bands always were stocked with very talented musicians. One of his sidemen went on to great success in the music business. With his own musical groups, he recorded over ninety albums, won a Grammy, two Golden Globe awards, and had two platinum albums and at least ten gold albums. Who was he?

6) After being swamped by debt in 1939, Berigan was forced to dissolve his band. His friend, Tommy Dorsey, offered him a job, and he joined the Dorsey band in early March, 1940. Only a few weeks earlier, Dorsey had hired a new boy singer who was then virtually unknown, but who had boundless ambition, and talent. Who was this singer?

7) At CBS in the early and mid-1930s, Berigan worked with many talented people, including a young composer/arranger who was often used by the prodigious actor-director Orson Welles on his wildly unconventional CBS radio series The Mercury Theater of the Air. When Welles went to Hollywood in 1940, he took this gifted musician with him to compose the music for Citizen Kane. Later, this composer formed a creative partnership with film director Alfred Hitchcock, writing the music for the films Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds. Who was this composer?

8) Bunny very often worked with a drummer at CBS who became a personal friend. This drummer gained public recognition working with the pianist/composer Raymond Scott's Quintette. The drummer's son has been a very successful composer of film music in Hollywood for many decades, as a creative partner with film director Steven Spielberg. Who was the drummer/father, and who is the composer/son?

9) Bunny Berigan's name was often mentioned is a comic strip which debuted in 1987. What was the name of this comic strip?

10) Berigan backed a legendary female blues singer at a jam session held at the Famous Door on February 16, 1936. Who was this singer?