Marshal Royal was at the core of the Count Basie Orchestra for 20 years during its resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s. Before that he was a pioneer of jazz on the West Coast of the US. His memoirs provide a document of the history of jazz on the West Coast and the development of big band jazz.



Marshal Royal was at the core of the Count Basie Orchestra for 20 years during its resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s. Before that he was a pioneer of jazz on the West Coast of the US, playing with many bands in and around Los Angeles. His memoirs provide a document of the history of jazz on the West Coast and the development of big band jazz. Royal gives a vivid account of his work in Les Hite's band at Sebastian's New Cotton Club, where he worked with many stars including Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. He became a founder member and "straw boss" of Lionel Hampton's Orchestra after a wartime career in US Navy bands. Leaving Hampton, he made countless recordings as a freelance before joining Basie, where he was responsible for rehearsing the Orchestra, and three chapters offer an insider's view of the latter-day Basie band. After leaving Basie, as well as continuing his prolific recording career Royal became internationally famous as a touring soloist. The book also contains an account of Royal's trumpeter brother Ernie, who starred in the bands of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton.