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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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 and ...

leader. Aaronson's orchestra was one of the most popular in America during the

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western world, Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultura ...

. His most popular song, " The Loveliest Night of the Year", was not recorded with his band but was adapted by Aaronson in 1950 for the

Mario Lanza Mario Lanza ( , ; born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza ; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer a ...

film '' The Great Caruso''.

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 (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

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 and successful company in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by ...

. 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" in 1927. The band appeared in the Café des Ambassadeurs in Paris in 1926 and 1927, and in

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

's Broadway musical ''

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

'', in 1928 and broadcast on KFWB, 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 label, originally founded by the Aeolian Company, a piano and organ manufacturer before being bought out by Brunswick in 1924. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pi ...

label. In 1934 and 1935, they recorded for the

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

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 commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. The band toured movie theatres and ballrooms across America. Aaronson's band included at various times such musicians as Phil Saxe, 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) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

, and

Tony Pastor Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837 – August 26, 1908) was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid-to-late-nineteenth century. He was sometimes refe ...

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 hero' ...

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, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

film studio as a musical director. He remained in that capacity and served as assistant to producer

Joe Pasternak Joseph Herman Pasternak (born József Paszternák; September 19, 1901 – September 13, 1991) was a Hungarian-American film producer in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Pasternak spent the Hollywood Musical film, "Golden Age" of musicals ...

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) * Hollywood ...

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

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California, United States. Many Jewish people from the entertainment industry are buried there. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (designed by Los Angeles ...

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 Mus ...

Irving Aaronson
at the Red Hot Jazz Archive *
Irving Aaronson
at Discography of American Historical Recordings American jazz pianists American male jazz 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 * {{ Find a grave, 7501482