Irving A. Aaronson (February 7, 1895 – March 10, 1963) 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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

leader. Aaronson's most popular song, "

The Loveliest Night of the Year "The Loveliest Night of the Year" is a popular song. The music was first published as a waltz called " Sobre las olas" ("Over the Waves") in 1888, written by Juventino P. Rosas. In 1950, the music was adapted by Irving Aaronson with lyrics by ...

", was not recorded with his band but was adapted by Aaronson in 1950 for the Mario Lanza film ''

The Great Caruso ''The Great Caruso'' is a 1951 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mario Lanza as Enrico Caruso. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer from a screenpla ...

''.

Early life and education

Aaronson was born in New York, United States. He learned the piano from Alfred Sendry at the David Mannes School for music.

Career

By age 11, he played accompaniment in silent movie theaters (called

nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

s).Lewis, Dave. ''Irving Aaronson'', redhotjazz.com He co-wrote a hit song, "Boo-Hoo-Hoo", in 1921. Aaronson's first band was called the Crusaders and recorded several sides for

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's found ...

. His band signed with the Victor label in 1926 and the band's name was changed to Irving Aaronson and his Commanders. While signed to Victor from 1926 to 1929, the band had a notable success with "

Let's Misbehave "Let's Misbehave" is a song written by Cole Porter in 1927, originally intended for the female lead of his first major production, ''Paris''. It was discarded before the Broadway opening in favor of " Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love". However, the ...

" in 1927. The band appeared in

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

'', in 1928 and broadcast on

KFWB KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios i ...

, Hollywood, California, circa 1929.Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 9. In 1933, Irving Aaronson and his Commanders recorded for the

Vocalion Records Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

label. In 1934 and 1935, they recorded for the

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

label. It is difficult to evaluate these records as they have never been reissued, but fortunately, some of them have been uploaded onto the Internet in recent years; including the song “Let’s Be Thankful”. In 1935, Aaronson headlined the ''Irving Aaronson Orchestra'' radio program on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. The band toured movie theatres and ballrooms across America. Aaronson's band included at various times such musicians as

Phil Saxe Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root te ...

, Joe Gillespie, and others who would become bandleaders themselves:

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...

, and Tony Pastor.

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

movie actor

Fuzzy Knight John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...

was a drummer with Aaronson's band in the late 1920s. In 1939 Billy Mann, a successful investor who had been a founding member of the Yacht Club Boys musical quartet, bought the Irving Aaronson band outright. Aaronson remained as the pianist, but only briefly; in 1940, he joined the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

film studio as a musical director. He remained in that capacity and served as assistant to producer Joe Pasternak until his death from a heart attack in 1963. Some sources suggest his retirement at age 65, others have him active until his death.

Personal life and final years

Aaronson died in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

of a heart attack in 1963, at 68 years old. He was interred at

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (desig ...

References

Other sources

* Clarke, Donald. ''The Penguin encyclopedia of popular music'', Viking, 1989. * Larkin, Colin. ''The encyclopedia of popular music'', third edition. Macmillan, 1998. * Sies, Luther F. ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960'', McFarland, 2000.

External links

* Irving Aaronsonat

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 Music ...

Irving Aaronson
at the Red Hot Jazz Archive *
Irving Aaronson
at Discography of American Historical Recordings {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaronson, Irving American jazz pianists American male pianists American jazz bandleaders Musicians from New York (state) 1895 births 1963 deaths Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Victor Records artists Columbia Records artists 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians