Les Elgart

Along with his brother Larry, trumpeter Les Elgart led one of the more popular swing orchestras of the '50s. His smooth, tightly arranged sound helped keep the declining big band style alive on the charts for a little while longer, and his later reunions with Larry often produced stylistic detours into contemporary easy listening trends. Elgart was born August 3, 1917, in New Haven, CT, to parents who both played the piano; he took up the trumpet in his early teens and was already performing professionally by the time he turned 20. During the early '40s, Elgart performed in or...