Walter Gerhardt "Pee Wee" Hunt (May 10, 1907 – June 22, 1979) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trombonist, vocalist, and bandleader. Hunt was born in Mount Healthy, Ohio. He developed a musical interest at an early age, as his mother, Sadie, played the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

and his father, Edgar C., played

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

. He had a younger sister, Marian, and younger brother, Raymond. The teenage Hunt was a banjoist with a local band while he was attending college at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, where he majored in

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

,Biographical notes by Roger St. Peirre on LP record MFP1151 Twelfth Street Rag and during his college years he switched from banjo to trombone. He graduated from the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Conservatory of Music. He joined Jean Goldkette's Orchestra in 1928. Hunt was the co-founder and featured trombonist with the Casa Loma Orchestra, but he left the group in 1943 to work as a Hollywood radio disc jockey, before joining the Merchant Marine near the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He returned to the West Coast music scene in 1946. His " Twelfth Street Rag" was a three-million-selling number-one hit in September 1948. He was satirized as Pee Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland Band in

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...

's animated MGM cartoon '' Dixieland Droopy'' (1954). His second major hit was " Oh!" (1953), his second million-selling disc, which reached number three in the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart. At age 72, Hunt died after a long illness in

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...

. Hunt and his wife, Ruth, had a daughter, Holly, and a son, Lawrence.

References

External links

Famous King players: Pee Wee Hunt
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Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

br>Outlet.historicimages.com : 1959 Press Photo Pee Wee Hunt

Pee Wee Hunt recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Pee Wee American jazz trombonists American male trombonists Capitol Records artists 1907 births 1979 deaths People from Plymouth, Massachusetts Ohio State University College of Engineering alumni 20th-century American trombonists People from Mount Healthy, Ohio Jazz musicians from Massachusetts Jazz musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Casa Loma Orchestra members