Russ Morgan

In the years preceding the rock revolution, Russ Morgan distinguished himself as a leading arranger and composer. Early New York ensembles occupied his time throughout the initial 1920s, while he supplied scores to Victor Herbert and John Philip Sousa. By 1926 he had become radio music director in Detroit, where he created charts for Fletcher Henderson, Chick Webb, Louis Armstrong, the Boswell Sisters, and the Dorsey Brothers. Cotton Club revues later flowed from his pen, and he also directed a Broadway orchestra while serving Brunswick as music director. A 1934 stint alongside Freddy Martin preceded the launch of his own ensemble two years afterward. From the close of the 1930s through the 1950s, Morgan guided an orchestra that enjoyed widespread commercial triumph; its numbers, though straightforward, playfully coy, and at times awkwardly artificial, found eager listeners on radio. He first presented the Ames Brothers vocal quartet in 1949. Rock & roll ultimately curtailed his dominance, yet Morgan continued to mount concerts and Las Vegas engagements across the 1950s and 1960s. Into the middle of the 1980s his son Jack sustained the orchestra’s activity.