It was my privilege, and my good luck, to have played in a Bay Area big band, the Johnny Lampson Orchestra, from around 1978 until 2010. It was a special experience - a significant contribution to my music education, and a lot of fun besides. I was at first a sub on tenor, then for many years a regular in the bari chair. I left the band for a couple of years in the early 1990s, then came back as a sub on bari or tenor.
Google and Gemini AI were able to find just a few references to Johnny and to the band, but I thought there was some local music history here, worth preserving and making available.
When I joined, not long out of college, the band was working most Saturday nights, and often Friday nights as well. Most of those gigs were for dance clubs, country clubs, weddings, company parties, or other occasions where the audience was likely to be from the generation that danced to big band music. I suppose you could call it a "society band." Some of our venues over the years were the Little New Yorker (Santa Clara), Castlewood Country Club (Pleasanton), Elks Club (Palo Alto), Menlo Circus Club (Atherton), Pacific Union Club (San Francisco).
I'm not from that generation, but the Lampson band got me in on the tail end of that musical era.
My high school jazz band class in the 1960s was still called "Dance Band." It was kind of a misnomer at that point. We were a big band in instrumentation, but we did not play for dances. Dance music, to my classmates, meant rock, not big band swing. We did play classic swing charts, but also some more “modern” charts, not geared to dancing. For example, I recall a “Night in Tunisia” chart that featured our trumpet soloist, Tom Harrell, who was a year or two older than me. Another term that came into use in the schools was “stage band,” a term that more accurately described the current role of that musical format. Nowadays, the preferred name for school groups is “jazz band,” though the bands still have the traditional big band instrumentation.
Later on, after college, I played in some "rehearsal bands" - big bands that exist to provide musical recreation for the players, and help to keep their chops in shape, but that do not necessarily gig much. Those bands weren't much interested in being commercial.
John Lampson had a commercial formula that worked. He had a relatively small book of charts, maybe 150 or so. The arrangements were easily playable, mostly well-known tunes, often transcriptions of classic recordings by Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, etc. John hired some very good players - some were old pros, some were music teachers, some were jazzers just out of college, others were Silicon Valley engineers who played well. We were all good readers. If we ever rehearsed, I don't remember doing so.
With this combination of good players, a limited book, easy charts, and gigs most weekends, the band was pretty tight. We provided a quality product, that appealed to dancers and to a somewhat older “society” demographic. It helped that John Lampson was a good salesman. In fact, his day job was in sales at Syntex, the pharmaceutical company.
Here’s a promo tape that the band recorded in 1977 (thanks to Joe Doll for providing this!). It was probably recorded right before I joined the band:
Before Johnny took over as leader in 1971, the band existed as the Greg Harrison Band. "Greg Harrison" was the stage name of Harrison Peeck. According to trombonist Joe Doll, when Peeck passed away, the band members decided that John would be the logical person to lead the band, since he had previous experience as a leader. Thus, it became the "Johnny Lampson Orchestra."
Note: Google AI found a reference to a 17-piece "Harrison Peeck" band in a 1963 issue of the Oak Forest Times (that's in Illinois). It would seem that Peeck came to California from there, at some point in the 1960s.
Google also found this interesting bit of Johnny Lampson trivia: When John was a young musician in Beaumont, Texas in the 1950s, the guitarist in “The Johnny Lampson Combo” was J.P. Richardson, better known as The Big Bopper. Richardson had a few early rock and roll hits (Chantilly Lace) before he died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens in 1959. I think this info is probably correct, as I know that Johnny was from Beaumont. I don't know what kind of music his combo played in those days. Johnny’s instrument was trumpet.
John and his family moved from Texas to the Bay Area in the 1960s, taking over the Harrison Peeck (“Greg Harrison”) big band in 1971. In about 1991, after 20 years of big band gigs, Johnny turned over the band's leadership to trombonist Adrian Davis, and it became the Adrian Davis Orchestra (aka “Adrian Davis Presents”) - but with the same players, pretty much the same repertoire, and the same kind of gigs. Adrian kept the band going until 2010, but by that time the number of gigs had dropped off a lot, as the older generation of the band’s audience was disappearing. The band's last gig was at the Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton, on October 30, 2010.
I have previously posted a few gig stories from the Johnny Lampson/Adrian Davis Orchestra:
Below is a list of musicians that I can recall who played with the Lampson band, either as regulars or as subs. An asterisk indicates that they were with the band around the time I joined in the late 1970s. I'm sure I've missed more than a few names of the fine local players who subbed. The instrumentation was always typical big band: 5 saxes, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, bass, drums, vocalist, sometimes guitar.
Many of these musicians are no longer with us. John (JJ) Lampson passed away in February 2020 in Reno, age 89.
Corrections, additions, or stories are welcome; just let me know in the comments. If you played in the band, I'd love to hear from you!
Saxophone
Emil Trojak* (alto)
Leo Stan* (tenor)
Jerry Caron* (tenor)
Johnny Partal* (bari, tenor)
Peter Spitzer* (tenor, bari)
Art Gallegos* (alto)
Jerry Zis (alto)
Bill St. Pierre (tenor)
Ann Merrell (bari)
Mark Russo (alto)
Kevin Deibert
Doug Miller
Trumpet
Ralph Bach*
Bob Runnels*
Bill Stadfeld*
Terry Tresemer*
Greg Lampson* (Johnny's son)
Johnny Lampson*
Bruce Haag
Dean Boysen
Tom Brozene
John Capobianco
John Worley
Stan Soroken
Tony Enfantino
Trombone:
Joe Doll*
Vince Percent
Bill Robinson
Barbara Sigler
Adrian Davis
Frank Prins
Ken Wirt*
Piano:
Reed Struppa*
Galen Smiley
Suzy Potts
Bass:
Miroslav (Merle) Swyryd*
Jon Ward
Drums:
Bill McAllister*
Guitar
Jack Herschkorn
Vocals
Lorna Davis (Adrian's wife)
Jack Herschkorn
Camille Mendoza
Lynn (last name?)
Bob Grant
Some miscellaneous notes about the musicians
Emil Trojak - Emil was the band's long-time lead alto player. He was born in 1915, and was a lifelong saxophonist and student of jazz, always interested in self-improvement. Before Emil passed away in 2012, he gave me quite a bit of saxophone gear, including mouthpieces going back to the 1930s and 1940s, and a 20-year collection of issues of "Saxophone Journal" magazine. In his day job, he was an engineer at Ampex.
Jerry Caron - He was the tenor soloist when I started with the band. Jerry played Getz-like solos, that showed me what a tenor sax should sound like. Jerry and Jon Ward contributed at least one arrangement to the band's book.
Art Gallegos - A perfect 2nd alto player. A fine reader, very precise, knew how to blend, and didn't take solos. Art taught elementary school music in Mountain View, and my daughter was in his 3rd-grade music class, where the kids played kazoo.
Jerry Zis - Active in other local big bands, while keeping up his day job in tech. When Jerry retired from tech, he started a sax repair business in his home. Silicon Valley exec at Precision Monolithics and Analog Devices, Inc.
Bill St. Pierre - Bill had been a longtime pro musician in Southern California; he composed the scores for several movies and TV shows. He was the sax player and band leader at Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch nightclub in Carmel for 7 years.Bill was a fine tenor player. A couple of times, when I was playing bari and Bill was taking a solo, I got so caught up listening to what he was playing that I missed my entrance. Bill once gave me a definitive answer to a question that had been bugging me for years: In a swing piece, where eighths are just understood to be swing, sometimes charts will show a dotted-eighth-sixteenth figure for no apparent reason. I asked him if there was any actual logic to this, if I should play that figure any differently. Bill said, "Just play swing." That was, for me, a definitive answer.
Ann Merrell - Did some arranging for the band. Ann also played bari with the Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra. She was also a dedicated quilting artist.
Mark Russo - Currently active as a Bay Area teacher and performer.
Kevin Deibert - Kevin is a respected long-time local teacher of sax, clarinet, and flute.
Ralph Bach - NASA engineer and dedicated jazz trumpeter, now retired from both. For many years, Ralph played in an adult combo/improv class that I taught. He pulled some strings to get us rehearsal space at the Navy Rec Hall at Moffett Field.
Tom Brozene - Taught public school music. Middle-school music teachers are heroes, in my book.
Bob Runnels - Currently assistant conductor of the California Pops Orchestra; plays trumpet with the Black Tie Jazz Band.
Bruce Haag - Currently a trumpet teacher and performer in Cincinnati. Bruce played with Stan Kenton, in Las Vegas show bands, and with Elvis Presley.
John Capobianco - Click the link for a long and impressive list of his educational background and performance experience. Active performer and educator.
John Worley - Jazz soloist with a number of local groups; has played with or backed up a multitude of major jazz artists.
Joe Doll - Joe occasionally directed the band, when Johnny couldn't make it. He was the band's financial and personnel manager. Joe is currently leader of the South Bay Stompers, a "trad-jazz" band. Joe and bassist Merle Swyryd were my sources for info about the "Harrison Peeck" origin of the band. And many thanks to Joe for his help in remembering the musicians listed here!
Barbara Sigler - Freelance musician; bass trombonist in a number of local classical and brass ensembles. Click the link for a list of Barbara's recent and current musical activities.
Frank Prins - Frank is currently owner/president of Excursion Music Group in Nashville, providing musical management and production services.
Reed Struppa - Longtime stalwart with the Johnny Lampson Orchestra; pianist for most of my years with the band. Reed did some arranging for the band. Here's a Reed story, from one of my earlier blog posts:
Years ago, I was on a big-band gig for a corporate event. Eddy Arnold, the country singer, was at the event for some reason, and was scheduled to sing "September Song," accompanied by our pianist, Reed Struppa. Before the gig, when we were setting up, Eddy asked Reed to find the key where he would be most comfortable. They rehearsed a little, and came up with some little-used, awkward key. After the gig, Reed told me, "When they do that, I tell them OK, then when the time comes I just play it in the nearest easy key, C or F or whatever. They never notice the difference."
Miroslav (Merle) Swyryd - Merle was the band's bass player for I think the entire time that I was with the band. Merle also had a day job with Ampex.
Jon Ward - In the 1980s, Jon played bass in the "Solar Plexus" jazz-fusion band, along with some other top local players.
Bill McAllister - Another stalwart band member; Bill was the drummer for nearly all of my years with the band.
Johnny Lampson's memoir
After the band was disbanded in 2010, Johnny sent around an email with this wonderful memoir:
Memorable Music Moments
Music has had a profound effect on every aspect of my life. I have been involved with music, in one way or another, for the past seventy years. Though there were many events that were memorable in nature, two particularly phenomenal experiences remain in my memory as “once in a lifetime occurrences”.
The first occurred shortly after moving to the San Francisco Bay Area where we, my wife and five children, were attending our first cultural event in the state of California. The year was 1968. It was a perfect day (the locals called it just an average day in paradise). The setting was magnificent. We were seated on the grass in the spectacular Amphitheater, on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto. The entire theater was ringed with towering Eucalyptus trees with a canopy of spotless, brilliant blue sky. The mood was festive, with an enormous crowd eagerly anticipating the beginning of a concert featuring the San Francisco Symphony conducted by guest conductor, the inimitable Arthur Feidler.
The performance proceeded with the highly talented musicians of the orchestra putting unusual energy into their efforts to provide a memorable afternoon of music. The selection of music was light in nature, playing some of the songs for which The Boston Pops were noted, along with a sprinkling of semi classical arrangements working up to Respigi’s “Pines Of Rome”.
The music progressed through the frenetic sounds of the city of Rome, then on to the tranquil, peaceful sounds of the Appian Way. The music is written with bird whistles inserted to further enhance the peacefulness that exists as you leave the city and drive through the woods and countryside. The audience was taken up with the beauty of the music and they were responding as if they were an extension of the orchestra. Suddenly, as if on cue, the birds in the trees circling the theater all began singing. The audience and the musicians were spellbound. It was a perfect melding of music and nature. Every person was in total synchrony with the music. For a moment it all became one. Everyone knew that something very rare had happened. You could not have found a bad thought or bad feeling among the fifteen hundred people there. The overwhelming feeling of oneness and peace cannot be described. I felt privileged to have had such an experience.
Yet, some years later, a similar event occurred. I was conducting the Johnny Lampson Orchestra at an Elks Club dance, again, in Palo Alto, California. The dance was exciting with a very happy and responsive audience of approximately 400 dancers. The last song of the first set was an arrangement of Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood”, always an eagerly anticipated number. About half way through the song, everyone suddenly became totally synchronized with the music. The rhythm of the song permeated every person in the room. No one said a word. It was silent, except for the music and the sound of feet on the floor, all in perfect rhythm. For almost a minute, the entire audience was held in suspension, every vibration of the body in perfect vibration with the music. When the song ended there was silence for a few seconds, then the audience burst into applause and accolades. The musicians, normally a “tight” sounding group, knew that a special moment had occurred. The intonation, attacks and releases of notes, balance and feeling had reached an apex. Eighteen musicians were playing as one. Never had any of the musicians ever experienced such a feeling. It was absolutely my most exciting moment of a sixty-five year career in dance bands.
Though that experience was never repeated, every dance we played was a spiritual success. The exhilaration you get, bringing groups of people together with music, is unlike any other activity. Every sporting event is competitive, with people choosing sides and pulling against each other. Music brings all people together as one. There is no hatred, bitterness, or disappointments. In music, everyone wins.
JJ Lampson
Here are some pictures of the Johnny Lampson Orchestra in 1972, and the 1971 rhythm and trumpet sections. These were taken before I joined.
I still have one of those blue jackets. I wonder if they wore those same jackets in Harrison Peeck's band, maybe even back in Oak Forest, Illinois?
The rhythm section in 1971 - Bill McAllister, Suzy Potts, Jon Ward, unknown guitar.
The trumpet section in 1971 - John Lampson (standing), Greg Lampson, Bill Stadfeld, Tony Enfantino.
