Don "Jake" Jacoby was a noted

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, teacher, band leader and author who died December 25, 1992, at the age of seventy-two. He played with

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

, Les Brown, did session work for CBS, NBC and soloed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. In addition, he did a great deal of recording session work in Dallas, Texas, where he also performed with his own groups, and served for a time as president of the A.F. of M., Local 147.

Formative years

Jacoby was born in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, Pennsylvania and learned to play trumpet from an uncle at six years old. He was one of the youngest players ever accepted to the famous E. S. Williams school. While still in his teens he often played the

Herbert L. Clarke Herbert Lincoln Clarke (September 12, 1867 – January 30, 1945) was an American cornetist, feature soloist, bandmaster, and composer. He is considered the most prominent cornetist of his time. Clarke's legacy includes composing a portion of t ...

parts in the

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( , ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era known primarily for American military March (music), marches. He is known as "The March King" or th ...

band in concerts in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Music career

Jacoby spent much of his life teaching and presenting clinics for Conn. During this time, he recorded several albums such as "Have Conns Will Travel," "Don Jacoby & College All-Stars Swinging Big Sound LP" and "Jacoby Brings The House Down." He spent the last years of his life teaching private students and writing a trumpet book, "Jake's Method." Jacoby taught in Denton, Texas, and tutored many very successful brass players including Bobby Shew, Marvin Stamm, Craig Johnson, Dan Miller, and

Jim Rotondi James Robert Rotondi (August 28, 1962 – July 8, 2024) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, educator, and conductor. The youngest of five siblings, Rotondi was born in Butte, Montana. He played in New York City for twenty years b ...

. He was listed as one of the top players of the twentieth century in Dr. Nobel's book, “The Psychology of Cornet & Trumpet Playing," and he was mentioned in "The Secret of Technique Preservation," which was written by his teacher E. S. Williams.

Artistic works

References

External links

Don "Jake" JacobyPersonal recollection of lessons with Don Jacoby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacoby, Don American male trumpeters Writers from York, Pennsylvania 1920 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American trumpeters Musicians from York, Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians Pompeii Records artists