Chuck Cabot ''(né'' Carlos Guillermo Cascales; 16 May 1915 Querétaro, Mexico – 27 December 2007) was an American saxophonist and big band leader. The Chuck Cabot Orchestra launched in 1937 while Cabot (Cascales) was a student at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. He later transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles where he became a member of the legendary UCLA 1939 football team along with

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

, Kenny Washington, and

Woody Strode Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an American athlete, actor, and author. He was a decathlon, decathlete and American football, football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National ...

. In the early 1940 he was athletic coach at El Monte, Jefferson, and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

High Schools. His orchestra played to capacity crowds in the 1940s and 1950s in ballrooms such as Roseland in New York, the

Palladium Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...

in Hollywood, and the Catalina Island Casino. He co-partnered with Arthur Benson in the forming of Hollywood International Talents. He was instrumental in discovering and securing recording contracts for 'Los Nomadas,' the first inter-racial rock and roll band. He recognized the individual talents of the band's lead guitarist Bill Aken. (Adopted son of Cabot's friends Francisco & Lupe Mayorga) Changing Aken's name to 'Zane Ashton,' he was instrumental in launching the young singer/guitarist's solo career. He lived long enough to see his young protege inducted into the Musician's Hall of Fame as a member of 'The Wrecking Crew' in November, 2007. Beginning in the 1960s until shortly before his death, Cascales booked performances for

The Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood (The Coasters song), Young Blood", "Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), Charlie Bro ...

The Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...

, and

The Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McF ...

. He also organized the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' first West Coast concert tour.
Charles W. "Chuck Cabot" Cascales Obituary
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

, December 30, 2007 Cabot and His Orchestra recorded on the Atomic label in Hollywood in the 1940s. His brothers,

Johnny Richards Johnny Richards (born Juan Manuel Cascales, November 2, 1911 – October 7, 1968) was an American jazz arranger and composer scoring numerous sound tracks for television and film. He was a pivotal composer/arranger for cutting edge, adventur ...

, Jose Luis Cascales (Joe), and Juan Adolfo Cascales (Jack) were also professional musicians.

Selected discography

Chuck Cabot and His Orchestra

Atomic Records Atomic Records was an independent record label based in Hollywood, California, which was founded in 1945 by trombonist Lyle Griffin. Among the notable recording artists on Atomic were Slim Gaillard, Barney Kessel and Griffin himself. In 1947, Grif ...

(78 rpm) * A-1001 ''Psychopathic Sally from the San Fernando Valley'' * B-1001 ''Swan Lake'' * A–1002 ''Part time Sweetheart'' * B–1002 ''Bewitched'' * A–1003 ''I Used to Call Her Baby'' * B–1003 ''Ruth'' * A–1004 ''In San Francisco (Long Ago)'' * B–1004 ''Wedding Waltz'' * A–1005 ''Come into My Arms'' * B–1005 ''Down the Lane''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabot, Chuck American jazz bandleaders 1915 births 2007 deaths UCLA Bruins football players University of Southern California alumni 20th-century American musicians Mexican emigrants to the United States