27 Facts About Jimmy Dorsey

James Francis Dorsey was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader.

Jimmy Dorsey recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You " and "It's The Dreamer In Me".

Jimmy Dorsey played clarinet on the seminal jazz standards "Singin' the Blues" in 1927 and the original 1930 recording of "Georgia on My Mind", which were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, United States, the first son of Theresa Langton Dorsey and Thomas Francis Dorsey.

Jimmy Dorsey made his first public appearance at the age of 9 while playing trumpet with J Carson McGee's King Trumpeters in New York in 1913.

Jimmy Dorsey switched to alto saxophone in 1915, and then learned clarinet.

Jimmy Dorsey played on a clarinet outfitted with the Albert system of fingering, as opposed to the more common Boehm system used by most of his contemporaries including Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw.

Jimmy Dorsey did much freelance radio and recording work throughout the 1920s.

Jimmy Dorsey joined Ted Lewis's band in 1930, with whom he toured Europe.

Jimmy Dorsey married Jane Porter in 1928, and they had one daughter, Julia.

Jimmy Dorsey played the clarinet solo on the iconic 1927 jazz standard "Singin' the Blues", with the Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke.

Jimmy Dorsey appeared on at least seventy-five radio broadcasts, many of them with his brother.

Jimmy Dorsey was a member of Nathaniel Shilkret's orchestra, on programs such as "The Music That Satisfies".

Jimmy Dorsey left Crosby in 1937, to concentrate on his own career, and he did well commercially, although he was overshadowed by Benny Goodman, whose big band had "grabbed center stage" in the mid thirties.

Kitty Kallen sang with the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra following Helen O'Connell's departure in 1942.

Jimmy Dorsey employed pianist and arranger Joe Lipman in 1939 ; he contributed heavily to the repertoire of the band an success of the recordings through the next three years.

Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey reunited on March 15,1945, to record a V-Disc at Liederkranz Hall in New York City.

In 1947, Jimmy signed with MGM Records and in the same year, the brothers would put aside their tensions to film The Fabulous Dorseys.

In 1950, Jimmy moved to Columbia Records and his brother offered him a seat in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

In 1956, after Tommy Dorsey died from choking in his sleep, Jimmy took over leadership of the orchestra.

Around that same time, Jimmy Dorsey was diagnosed with throat cancer.

Jimmy Dorsey died on June 12,1957, at age 53 in New York City.

At the time of his death, Jimmy Dorsey's final hit song, "So Rare", reached the number-two spot on the Billboard charts, becoming the highest-charting song by a big band during the first decade of the rock-and-roll era.

Jimmy Dorsey is considered one of the most important and influential alto saxophone players of the Big Band and Swing era, and after that era.

Jimmy Dorsey co-wrote the jazz and pop standard " I'm Glad There Is You" with Paul Madeira, known as Paul Mertz, in 1941.

Jimmy Dorsey had eleven number one hits with his orchestra in the 1930s and the 1940s:.

Jimmy Dorsey's biggest hit was "Amapola", which was number one for ten weeks in 1941 on the Billboard pop singles chart.