Albert M. "Al" Drootin (born December 24, 1916, Boston - died January 10, 2016) 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 major ...

clarinetist and saxophone player. He was the brother of drummer

Buzzy Drootin Benjamin "Buzzy" Drootin (April 22, 1920 – May 21, 2000) was an American jazz drummer. Career Drootin was born near Kyiv, Ukraine, and moved to Boston, Massachusetts, United States, with his family when he was five. His father played the cl ...

and father of pianist Sonny Drootin (all part of the Drootin Brothers Band, formed in 1973). Drootin played locally in Dixieland jazz groups in Boston in the 1930s, then moved to New York, where he played and toured with Bud Freeman,

Muggsy Spanier Francis Joseph "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist based in Chicago. He was a member of the Bucktown Five, pioneers of the "Chicago style" that straddled traditional Dixieland jazz and swing ...

Al Donahue Al Donahue (June 12, 1904, Dorchester, Massachusetts - February 20, 1983, Fallbrook, California) was an American violinist and big band leader. Donahue got his start playing in Boston-area campus bands and led a band at Boston's Weber Duck Inn i ...

and

Boyd Raeburn Boyd Albert Raeburn (October 27, 1913 – August 2, 1966) was an American jazz bandleader and bass saxophonist. Career He was born in Faith, South Dakota, United States. Raeburn attended the University of Chicago, where he led a campus band. H ...

. He did a stint in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during World War II, then came back to Boston, where he worked for George Wein in the 1950s playing with Ruby Braff, Doc Cheatham,

Vic Dickenson Victor Dickenson (August 6, 1906 – November 16, 1984) was an American jazz trombonist. His career began in the 1920s and continued through musical partnerships with Count Basie (1940–41), Sidney Bechet (1941), and Earl Hines. Life and care ...

and Claude Hopkins at Jazz clubs including Storyville and Mahogany Hall. In the 1960s he played and travelled with the orchestras of Harry Marshard and Ruby Newman, eventually leading his own trio and quartet primarily playing soprano sax in clubs, hotels and restaurants around Boston. After forming the Drootin Brothers Band in 1973, which played that same year at the Newport Jazz Festival, they played together throughout the 1970s at Boston's Scotch 'n Sirloin, performing with, among others,

Wild Bill Davison William Edward Davison (January 5, 1906 – November 14, 1989), nicknamed "Wild Bill", was an American jazz cornetist. He emerged in the 1920s through his work playing alongside Muggsy Spanier and Frank Teschemacher in a cover band where they p ...

, Roy Eldridge, Bobby Hackett,

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

Maxine Sullivan Maxine Sullivan (May 13, 1911 – April 7, 1987), born Marietta Williams in Homestead, Pennsylvania, United States, was an American jazz vocalist and performer. As a vocalist, Sullivan was active for half a century, from the mid-1930s to just be ...

Teddi King Teddi King (September 18, 1929 – November 18, 1977) was an American jazz and pop vocalist. Born Theodora King in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, she won a singing competition hosted by Dinah Shore at Boston's Tributary Theatre, later beg ...

Ralph Sutton Ralph Earl Sutton (November 4, 1922 – December 30, 2001) was an American jazz pianist born in Hamburg, Missouri. He was a stride pianist in the tradition of James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. Biography Sutton was born in Hamburg, Missouri, ...

, Max Kaminsky, Jimmy McPartland and

Joe Venuti Giuseppe "Joe" Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was an American jazz musician and pioneer jazz violinist. Considered the father of jazz violin, he pioneered the use of string instruments in jazz along with the guitarist Eddie La ...

. Throughout those years the Drootin Brothers Band also provided music all over New England for numerous private parties and events. Al Drootin also led Lester Lanin's Orchestra in Palm Beach in the 1980s and 1990s.

References

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...

, "Al Drootin". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Drootin, Al American jazz clarinetists Musicians from Boston Jazz musicians from Massachusetts