Biography
Larry Elgart sustained a commanding role across dance-band and big-band circles for many years, edging toward jazz largely by recruiting an array of swing-oriented players for his sections. The Elgart name carries enduring prestige in this sphere, given that brother Les Elgart directed a parallel orchestra and the two jointly operated the Les & Larry Elgart Band from the mid-1940s into much of the following decade. Their mother had worked as a concert pianist, yet the decisive early guidance came from Connecticut musician Hymie Shertzer, who secured a teenage Larry Elgart the lead alto saxophone chair in the Charlie Spivak ensemble.
Once Les Elgart relocated to the West Coast near the end of the 1950s, Larry assumed primary direction of the former shared outfit, steering its evolving personnel through notable sessions for RCA Victor and Decca among other labels. Some forty years afterward, Les Elgart was still proclaiming the band’s continued vitality and its readiness to open new territory, specifically an Australian tour. Collectors drawn to exotica single out an earlier project, the 1953 10-inch Impressions of Outer Space, as a release that challenges Sun Ra on cosmic ground. Elgart’s post-millennium output includes the 2003 album Bandstand Boogie. Larry Elgart died in Sarasota, Florida, in August 2017 at the age of 95.
Once Les Elgart relocated to the West Coast near the end of the 1950s, Larry assumed primary direction of the former shared outfit, steering its evolving personnel through notable sessions for RCA Victor and Decca among other labels. Some forty years afterward, Les Elgart was still proclaiming the band’s continued vitality and its readiness to open new territory, specifically an Australian tour. Collectors drawn to exotica single out an earlier project, the 1953 10-inch Impressions of Outer Space, as a release that challenges Sun Ra on cosmic ground. Elgart’s post-millennium output includes the 2003 album Bandstand Boogie. Larry Elgart died in Sarasota, Florida, in August 2017 at the age of 95.
Albums
