Sonny Dunham

Born Elmer Lewis Dunham in New England, this brass specialist gravitated toward milder climates over successive decades and ultimately settled in Florida, where he led a band during the 1960s. He and his sister Louise Dunham, a professional saxophonist, grew up in a household that placed strong emphasis on music. Known professionally as Sonny Dunham, he took up the valve trombone at seven, moved to slide trombone at eleven, and later added trumpet while playing in Eric Tremaine’s orchestra.

His first significant professional engagement came from bandleader Ben Bernie in New York City during the late 1920s, though he had already performed locally since turning thirteen. After several years with Tremaine he attempted to lead his own group briefly, then joined the Casa Loma Orchestra. In 1936 he launched another ensemble that lasted nearly twelve months; once that project ended he lived in Europe for three months before rejoining the Casa Loma Orchestra late in 1937. With the arrival of the 1940s he formed Sonny Dunham & His Orchestra once more, keeping the band active throughout the decade.

Early in the 1950s he stepped away from leadership for a short period and worked as a sideman with Bernie Mann and Tommy Dorsey, confirming that his range on multiple instruments remained undiminished. High trumpet notes earned him the nickname “the man from Mars” for a time. By the 1960s his bandleading activities centered almost entirely in Florida, where he concentrated on trombone and came to be viewed as thoroughly terrestrial. He eventually retired, a choice that suited his Florida surroundings. His final recordings date from 1974, after roughly 158 sessions in total. The band, whose theme was “Memories of You,” appears in the 1942 film Off the Beaten Track.