Richard Messner (18 December 1907 – February 1972) was an American band leader. He led a sweet-styled dance orchestra bearing his name from about 1938 to about 1942. He flourished as a dance band pianist from about 1923 to about 1942.

Career

A longtime resident of

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the village's population was 12,729,Ridgefield Park High School Ridgefield Park High School is a six-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Ridgefield Park, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary s ...

."Kiwanians Hear Program Given By Bandleader; Dick Messner Entertains Park-Teaneck Club At Meeting"
''

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'', October 4, 1935. Accessed December 2, 2022, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

. "Dick Messner of Ridgefield Park, leader of the famed Messner Brothers orchestra, was guest yesterday of the Ridgefield Park-Teaneck Kiwanis Club at Its weekly luncheon meeting at Bernhardt's Inn, Teaneck." Messner founded his orchestra around 1938, after 16 years performing with his four brothers as "The Five Messner Brothers" with himself as pianist,

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

as violinist and clarinetist, Charlie ''(né'' Charles Messner; 1905–2003) (woodwinds), Bill ''(né'' William Messner; 1904–1982) on drums, and Fred ''(né'' Frederick Messner; born 1902) on violin. The Five Brothers made their radio broadcast debut in 1923 on NBC, then known as WJZ. The Five Messner Brothers and, from 1938 to 1941, the Dick Messner Orchestra, and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Johnny Messner Orchestra, performed on national radio broadcasts and regionally around Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

Notable musicians

* Bernice Margaret Healey (1917–1990) was, in 1938, a featured soprano vocalist with Dick Messner. He began singing on radio broadcasts as early as 1934. *

Homer Mensch Homer Mensch (November 14, 1914 in Sussex, New Jersey – December 9, 2005 in Manhattan, New York) was a prominent classical bassist who was a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Pops, and the NBC Sy ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...

, performed with the Orchestra at the

Hotel McAlpin Herald Towers, formerly the Hotel McAlpin, is a residential condominium building on Herald Square, along Broadway between 33rd and 34th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Constructed from 1910 to 1912 by the Greel ...

* Norwood Linn, tenor from California * Irene Collins, who, before Messner, was a featured vocalist with

Fran Frey Fran Frey (December 23, 1903 in Indiana - December 1, 1962 in California) was a singer and saxophonist best known for his work for George Olsen and His Music in the 1920s and early 1930s. Among his better known songs are "The Varsity Drag" of 19 ...

Record label

When the Messner brothers started the

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's dep ...

(later

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

) label,

Norman Granz Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz record producer and concert promoter. He founded the record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, and Pablo. Granz was acknowledged as "the most successful impresa ...

was on board to produce a legendary session by

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

with Nat Cole on piano. Additional sessions followed.

Experimentation

In 1936, Dick Messner introduced an idea in New York called "Tymphonic Music" — an ensemble of 10

Timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditiona ...

, a harp and an augmented violin section in a band of 18 musicians. It was believed that the experiment was the first time that

had been used wholesale for modern music.

Selected discography

*5-11-10 (catalog no.) Recorded September 11, 1935 Dick Messner and His Orchestra

"The Oregon Trail"
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18066=1
"Wouldn't I Be A Wonder"
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18071=1

:Control no.: E890? : Melotone : Conqueror :Cross reference: CQ8570 *5-11-11 (catalog no.) Recorded September 11, 1935 Dick Messner and His Orchestra

"Now You've Got Me Doing It Johnny Burke (words),
Harold Spina Harold Spina (21 June 1906 – 18 July 1997) was an American composer of popular songs. His best-known work happened in the early 1930s, when he collaborated with lyricists Johnny Burke and Joe Young on songs such as "Annie Doesn't Live Her ...
(music), Irene Collins (vocalist)
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18071
"Rhythm and Romance" George A. Whiting (words) Nat Schwartz ''(pseudonym'' Nat Burton; 1901–1945) (words) J.C. Johnson (music) Irene Collins (vocalist)
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18068

: Melotone : Conqueror :Cross reference: CQ8607 *5-12-02 (catalog number) Recorded September 11, 1935 Dick Messner and His Orchestra

"I Live For Love"
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18067
"Mine Alone"
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18069

: Melotone : Conqueror *5-12-09 (catalog no.) Recorded October 14, 1935 Dick Messner and His Orchestra

"On Treasure Island"
Edgar Leslie Edgar Leslie (December 31, 1885 – January 22, 1976) was an American songwriter. Biography Edgar Leslie was born in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1885. He studied at the Cooper Union in New York. He published his first song in 1909, starting a lo ...
(words) Joe Burke (music) Peter Schipper (vocals)
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18166=1 Xref: CQ8571
"When The Leaves Bid The Trees Goodbye" Tot Seymour ''(pseudonym of'' Grace Mann; 1889–1966) (words) Vee Lawnhurst ''(pseudonym of'' Laura Lowenherz; 1905–1992) (music)
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18164=1 Xref: CQ8606

: Melotone : Conqueror * 6-01-07 (catalog no.) Recorded October 14, 1935 Dick Messner and His Orchestra

"In Your Own Innocent Way" Harold Newell Raymond (1884–1957) (w&m)
Nat Simon Nat Simon (6 August 1900, in Newburgh, New York – 1979) was an American composer, pianist, bandleader and songwriter. From the 1930s to 1950s his songs were used in over 20 films. Between 1931 and 1940 he also took part in the musical Vaudeville r ...
(w&m) Sammy Mysels (1906–1974) (w&m) Irene Collins (vocalist)
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18163
"You Stayed Away Too Long" George A. Whiting (words) Nat Schwartz ''(pseudonym'' Nat Burton; 1901–1945) (words) J. C. Johnson (music) Johnny Messner (vocalist)
Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...
: 18165=1 Xref: CQ8614

: Melotone : Conqueror

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messner, Dick American jazz bandleaders Musicians from New Jersey People from Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Ridgefield Park High School alumni 1907 births 1972 deaths 20th-century American singers