Great trumpet player, Albert Aarons (also known as Al Aarons) was born on March 23rd, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started studying trumpet when he was 15, moving to Detroit in 1955.
He was in the Wild Bill Davis Group when he was spotted by Count Basie, who asked him to join his orchestra. Aarons stayed with Basie from 1961 to 1969. After that, Albert Aarons moved to LA, starting his work for TV.
Albert Aarons was one of the founders of the Legend record label, along with Buddy Collette and Red Callender.
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA
This was the Count Basie Orchestra that appears in the live DVD Live in ´62 in Sweden:
This was the Count Basie Orchestra around May 1962:
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in July 1962, appering at the Newport Jazz Festival:
In August 1962, Count Basie recorded the live album Basie in Sweden with Louie Bellson on drums temporarily replacing Sonny Payne:
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in October 1963:
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in 1965:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1962 |
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Count Basie † piano | Irene Reid † vocals | Freddie Green † guitar | Eddie Jones † bass | Thad Jones † trumpet | Snooky Young † trumpet |
Albert Aarons † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet | Quentin Jackson † trombone | Benny Powell † trombone | Henry Coker † trombone | Frank Foster † sax |
Eric Dixon † sax | Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Marshal Royal † sax, clarinet | Frank Wess † flute, sax | Sonny Payne † drums |
This was the Count Basie Orchestra around May 1962:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1962 |
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Count Basie † piano | Joe Williams † vocals | Irene Reid † vocals | Freddie Green † guitar | Eddie Jones † bass | Thad Jones † trumpet |
Snooky Young † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet | Albert Aarons † trumpet | Quentin Jackson † trombone | Benny Powell † trombone | Henry Coker † trombone |
Frank Foster † sax, clarinet | Marshal Royal † sax, clarinet | Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Eric Dixon † sax, flute | Frank Wess † flute, sax | Sonny Payne † drums |
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in July 1962, appering at the Newport Jazz Festival:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1968 |
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Count Basie † piano | Joe Williams † vocals | Jimmy Rushing † vocals | Freddie Green † guitar | Walter Cole bass | Thad Jones † trumpet |
Sonny Cohn † trumpet | Albert Aarons † trumpet | Flip Ricard † trumpet | Quentin Jackson † trombone | Benny Powell † trombone | Henry Coker † trombone |
Frank Foster † sax, clarinet | Marshal Royal † sax, clarinet | Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Eric Dixon † sax, flute | Frank Wess † flute, sax | Sonny Payne † drums |
In August 1962, Count Basie recorded the live album Basie in Sweden with Louie Bellson on drums temporarily replacing Sonny Payne:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1962 |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count Basie † piano | Freddie Green † guitar | Ike Isaacs † bass | Thad Jones † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet | Albert Aarons † trumpet |
Flip Ricard † trumpet | Quentin Jackson † trombone | Benny Powell † trombone | Henry Coker † trombone | Frank Foster † sax | Marshal Royal † sax |
Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Eric Dixon † sax | Frank Wess † sax | Louie Bellson † drums |
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in October 1963:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1963 |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count Basie † piano | Jimmy Rushing † vocals | Freddie Green † guitar | Buddy Catlett † bass | Don Rader † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet |
Albert Aarons † trumpet | Flip Ricard † trumpet | Grover Mitchell † trombone | Bill Hughes trombone | Henry Coker † trombone | Frank Foster † sax, clarinet |
Marshal Royal † sax, clarinet | Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Eric Dixon † sax, flute | Frank Wess † flute, sax | Sonny Payne † drums |
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in 1965:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1965 |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count Basie † piano | Freddie Green † guitar | Norman Keenan † bass | Harry ´Sweets´ Edison † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet | Albert Aarons † trumpet |
Wallace Davenport † trumpet | Phil Guilbeau trumpet | Al Grey † trombone | Grover Mitchell † trombone | Henderson Chambers † trombone | Bill Hughes trombone |
Marshal Royal † sax | Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Eric Dixon † sax | Eddie ´Lockjaw´ Davis † sax | Bobby Plater † sax | Sonny Payne † drums |
FRANK SINATRA BAND
Frank Sinatra toured with Count Basie Orchestra in January and February 1966:
A live album was released that same year, Sinatra at the Sands.
FRANK SINATRA BAND #? |
1966 |
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Frank Sinatra † vocals | Count Basie † piano | Bill Miller † piano | + | Quincy Jones arranger, conductor | Freddie Green † guitar |
Norman Keenan † bass | Harry ´Sweets´ Edison † trumpet | Albert Aarons † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet | Wallace Davenport † trumpet | Phil Guilbeau trumpet |
Eddie ´Lockjaw´ Davis † horns | Marshal Royal † horns | Eric Dixon † horns | Bobby Plater † horns | Charlie Fowlkes † horns | Al Grey † trombone |
Grover Mitchell † trombone | Bill Hughes trombone | Henderson Chambers † trombone | Sonny Payne † drums |
A live album was released that same year, Sinatra at the Sands.
Other info on members of Frank Sinatra Band (I know up to 57 members) | |
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Already covered (4): | Frank Foster, Al Porcino, Derek Watkins, Jimmy Wyble |
To be covered (44): | Francisco Aguabella, Trigger Alpert, Vic Ash, Count Basie, Chuck Berghofer, Billy Byers, Pete Candoli, Henderson Chambers, Sonny Cohn, Don Costa, Irv Cottler, Wallace Davenport, Eddie ´Lockjaw´ Davis, Eric Dixon, Harry ´Sweets´ Edison, Tony Fisher, Charlie Fowlkes, Freddie Green, Al Grey, Sol Gubin, Phil Guilbeau, Neal Hefti, Jim Hughart, Bill Hughes, Quincy Jones,... up to 44 musicians. |
Not enough info (8): | Ron Anthony, Gene Cherico, Vince Falcone, John Markham, Bill Miller, Tony Mottola, Sy Oliver, Charles Turner |
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA (again)
This was one of the multiple editions of Count Basie Orchestra, this time around July 1968:
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in October 1968:
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in June 1969:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1968 |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count Basie † piano | Freddie Green † guitar | Norman Keenan † bass | Albert Aarons † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet | Gene Goe trumpet |
Oscar Brashear trumpet | Richard Boone trombone, vocals | Harlan Floyd trombone | Grover Mitchell † trombone | Bill Hughes trombone | Eddie ´Lockjaw´ Davis † sax |
Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Vi Redd sax, vocals | Marshal Royal † sax, clarinet | Bobby Plater † flute, sax | Eric Dixon † flute, sax | Harold Jones drums |
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in October 1968:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1968 |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count Basie † piano | Marlene Shaw vocals | Freddie Green † guitar | Norman Keenan † bass | Albert Aarons † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet |
Gene Goe trumpet | Oscar Brashear trumpet | Richard Boone trombone, vocals | Steve Galloway trombone | Grover Mitchell † trombone | Bill Hughes trombone |
Eddie ´Lockjaw´ Davis † sax | Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Marshal Royal † sax, clarinet | Bobby Plater † flute, sax | Eric Dixon † flute, sax | Harold Jones drums |
This was the Count Basie Orchestra in June 1969:
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA #? |
1969 |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count Basie † piano | Freddie Green † guitar | Norman Keenan † bass | Albert Aarons † trumpet | Sonny Cohn † trumpet | Gene Goe trumpet |
Oscar Brashear trumpet | Richard Boone trombone, vocals | Frank Hooks trombone | Grover Mitchell † trombone | Bill Hughes trombone | Eddie ´Lockjaw´ Davis † sax |
Charlie Fowlkes † sax | Marshal Royal † sax, clarinet | Bobby Plater † flute, sax | Eric Dixon † flute, sax | Harold Jones drums |
Other info on members of Count Basie Orchestra (I know up to 199 members) | |
---|---|
Already covered (7): | Bob Brookmeyer, Buddy Catlett, Frank Foster, Chico Hamilton, Al Porcino, Joe Wilder, Snooky Young |
To be covered (191): | Pepper Adams, Harold Ashby, Clarence Banks, William ´Scotty´ Barnhart, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Emmett Berry, Lin Biviano, Richard Boone, Manny Boyd, Carmen Bradford, Oscar Brashear, Ray Brown, Ray Brown, Roy Burrowes, Don Byas, George Caldwell, Paul Campbell, Tee Carson, Ace Carter, Henderson Chambers, Jimmy Chappell, Doc Cheatham, Buddy Childers, Buck Clayton,... up to 191 musicians. |
FRANK WESS ORCHESTRA
This was the Frank Wess / Harry Edison Orchestra (mostly comprising Basie alumni) that recorded the live album Dear Mr Basie in November 1989 in Tokyo:
Albert Aarons passed away on November 17th, 2015 in Laguna Woods, California. He was 83.
   7 BANDS (WITH 40 SELECTED RECORDINGS):
   2 ALBUMS FOR 2 BANDMATES AND FRIENDS:
   1 SOUNDTRACKS:
   50 SESSIONS (FOR 36 ARTISTS):
FRANK WESS ORCHESTRA #? |
1989 |
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Frank Wess † flute, sax, leader | Harry ´Sweets´ Edison † trumpet, leader | Eddie Jones † bass | Ted Dunbar † guitar | Ronnell Bright piano | Joe Newman † trumpet |
Snooky Young † trumpet | Albert Aarons † trumpet | Ray Brown trumpet | Benny Powell † trombone | Al Grey † trombone | Grover Mitchell † trombone |
Michael Grey trombone | Marshal Royal † sax | Curtis Peagler sax | Billy Mitchell † sax | Bill Ramsey sax | Gregg Field drums |
Other info on members of Frank Wess Orchestra (I know up to 55 members) | |
---|---|
Already covered (1): | Snooky Young |
To be covered (37): | Art Baron, Kenny Barron, Luis Bonilla, Ronnell Bright, Ray Brown, George Cables, Tee Carson, Arthur Clarke, Santi Debriano, Ted Dunbar, Harry ´Sweets´ Edison, Gregg Field, Frank Greene, Al Grey, Winard Harper, Reggie Johnson, Eddie Jones, Victor Lewis, Kirk Lightsey, Dennis Mackrel, Pete Minger, Billy Mitchell, Grover Mitchell, Ted Nash, Joe Newman,... up to 37 musicians. |
Not enough info (16): | Roni Ben-Hur, Cyrus Chestnut, Joe Cohn, Quincy Davis, Essiet Okun Essiet, Greg Gisbert, Michael Grey, Brandon Lewis, Ilya Lushtak, Bill Ramsey, Tal Ronen, Terell Stafford, Noriko Ueda, Lewis Venier, Michael Weiss, David Wong |
Albert Aarons passed away on November 17th, 2015 in Laguna Woods, California. He was 83.
   7 BANDS (WITH 40 SELECTED RECORDINGS):
BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||||
Count Basie Orchestra |   | 34 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Buddy Collette Orchestra |   | 2 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Bill ´Wild´ Davis Group |   |  
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Barry Harris Group |   |  
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Yusef Lateef Group |   |  
| ||||||||
Frank Sinatra Band |   |  
| ||||||||
Frank Wess Orchestra |   | 2 RECORDINGS:
|
   2 ALBUMS FOR 2 BANDMATES AND FRIENDS:
BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||||
Louie Bellson Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Frank Foster Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
|
   1 SOUNDTRACKS:
BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS |
OST |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
|
   50 SESSIONS (FOR 36 ARTISTS):
BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||||
Gene Ammons Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
David Axelrod Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Brass Fever |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Albert Brooks Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
James Brown Band |   | 1 COMPILATIONS:
| ||||||||
Bobby Bryant Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Kenny Burrell Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Paul Cacia Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Keith Carradine Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Benny Carter Orchestra |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Ray Charles Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Stanley Clarke Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Rita Coolidge Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Leslie Drayton Orchestra |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Ella Fitzgerald Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Gap Band |   | 1 COMPILATIONS:
| ||||||||
Benny Golson Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Eddie Harris Group |   | 2 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Milt Jackson Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Quincy Jones Orchestra |   | 1 COMPILATIONS:
| ||||||||
Joyous Noise |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
B B King Band |   | 2 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Carole King Band |   | 2 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Lil Albert Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Henry Mancini Orchestra |   | 2 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Carmen McRae Group |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Essra Mohawk Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Maria Muldaur Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Nat Pierce Orchestra |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Pockets |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Martha Reeves Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Diana Ross Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Joe Sample Band |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Side Effect |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Sarah Vaughan Group |   | 2 RECORDINGS:
| ||||||||
Gerald Wilson Orchestra |   | 1 RECORDINGS:
|
RELATED WEBSITE LINKS: 1
Wikipedia doesn´t want to include links to this website, but I won´t do the same with them. So, from the great Wikipedia, we have:
RELATED MUSICIANS:
Albert Aarons mostly worked with these musicians: (name + number of credits)
Marshal Royal (44)
Count Basie (40)
Eric Dixon (40)
Charlie Fowlkes (40)
Grover Mitchell (40)
Sonny Cohn (38)
Freddie Green (38)
Benny Powell (33)
Sonny Payne (26)
Frank Wess (26)
Henry Coker (25)
Frank Foster (25)
Ernie Watts (24)
Snooky Young (23)
Bill Hughes (22)
Oscar Brashear (21)
George Bohanon (20)
Buddy Catlett (20)
Bobby Bryant (19)
Bobby Plater (19)
Flip Ricard (19)
Eddie ´Lockjaw´ Davis (17)
Harry ´Sweets´ Edison (17)
Jerome Richardson (16)
Gene Goe (15)
Thad Jones (15)
Teddy Reig (15)
Louie Bellson (13)
Garnett Brown (13)
Buddy Collette (13)
Al Grey (13)
Quincy Jones (13)
Henderson Chambers (12)
Jimmy Cleveland (12)
Wallace Davenport (12)
Chuck Findley (12)
Urbie Green (12)
Norman Keenan (12)
Maurice Spears (12)
Buddy Childers (11)
Victor Feldman (11)
William Green (11)
Don Rader (11)
Joe Sample (11)
Page created by Miguel Terol on: 30/December/2015 - Last modified on: 30/December/2015. If you want to contribute with info, please write to: molympus1@gmail.com
Please, note than you can check the indexes (musicians, bands, obituaries) at the top of this page.