The ever vibrant GRAMMY-winning trumpeter and former Tonight Show band leader Doc Severinsen is back on tour—bringing his Big Band on the road for the first time in many seasons.

Doc’s big band features some of the finest musicians around the country and is one of the only traditional big bands of its kind, touring with its original conductor. Repertoire will cover a broad range from Basie and Ellington to Broadway and Hollywood, and will also include Latin inspired jazz.

Doc Severinsen bio

Doc Severinsen's accomplishments began in his hometown of Arlington, Oregon, population 600. Carl H. Severinsen was born on July 7, 1927, and was nicknamed "Little Doc" after his father, Dr Carl Severinsen, a dentist. Little Doc has originally wanted to play the trombone, but had to settle for the only horn available in Arlington's small music store, a trumpet. A week later, with the help of his father and a manual of instructions, the seven-year old was so good that he was invited to join the high school band. At the age of 12, Little Doc won the Music Educators National Contest and, while still in high school, was hired to go on the road with the famous Ted Fio Rito Orchestra. He served in the Army during World War II and, following his discharge, landed a spot with the Charlie Barnett Band. When this band broke up, Severinsen toured with the Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman bands in the late 1940s.

Doc arrived in New York City in 1949 to become a staff musician for NBC. After years of playing with the peacock network's studio bands, he was invited to do a gig with the highly respected TONIGHT SHOW Band. An impressed conductor, Skitch Henderson, asked him to join that band in 1962 as first trumpet. Five years later, Doc took over as Music Director, where he stayed until 1992.

After the Tonight Show, Doc continued to perform and conduct major orchestras throughout the US and Canada. He held simultaneous titles as pops director for the Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and the Phoenix Symphony.

A Grammy award winner, Doc has made more than 30 albums--from big band to jazz-fusion to classical. Two critically acclaimed Telarc CDs with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra showcase his multifaceted talents from Bach to ballads. The Very Best of Doc Severinsen reprises fifteen of Doc's signature pieces. His other recordings include Unforgettably Doc with the Cincinnati Pops on Telarc, and the Grammy nominated Once More With Feeling on Amherst. He received a Grammy Award for "Best Jazz instrumental Performance - Big Band" for his recording of Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Band-Volume I. Doc Severinsen and His Big Band/Swingin' the Blues was released with Ed Shaughnessy and Ernie Watts.

Today, Doc has not lost his flair for outrageous fashions and witty banter. Yet, he is highly regarded as one of the most technically proficient trumpeters. Doc has the best stage presence of anyone out there. He can blow a horn like few others...he is a high note virtuoso, a genuinely funny man, and always a fashion fiend.

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