MP3 An American Dance Band - JAZZ: Dance Band

Celebrating its 50th year in 2007 The Teddy Lee Orchestra "An American Dance Band" featuring vocals in the Frank Sinatra style. With its diverse range of custom arrangements by Teddy Lee Sr. The songs range from swing to cha cha.

23 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Dance Band, JAZZ: Big Band

Details:
Today, with 50 consecutive years of performing live, Teddy Lee Jr maintains the Ballroom heritage and expertise with highly skilled musicians and over 2000 arrangements written by his father Teddy Lee Sr. An accomplished saxophonist, Teddy Lee's start came by touring nationally with several "name" orchestras from the 1930's through the mid 1950's.

The most formative chapter for Lee came when he was asked to join the great Ray Pearl Band, which had for many years been a dancing hit from coast to coast. Pearl found Lee to be instrumental to the future success of the band and asked him to arrange the music, direct the band and of course blow his famous lead alto. Lee and Pearl were a formidable team, spending the next 10 years perfecting their craft and building the band's extremely danceable style of music. Pearl, who at one point was courted by major movie studios, would ultimately end up publicly attacking then powerful music union head Frank Petrillo. The feud over artist pay with the union stirred up controversy and ended Pearl's music career in 1956. Following the breakup of the Pearl Band, Lee toured for one year with Wayne King, a musician Lee had always admired.

The Teddy Lee Orchestra was organized in 1958 when the owners of the Melody Mill Ballroom outside Chicago, IL asked him to start his own band. On the spur of the moment, Lee put together a new version of the old Ray Pearl Band. Now under his own name (The Teddy Lee Orchestra), but using many Pearl arrangements and several of his old Pearl bandstand colleagues. Promising only a two week engagement, the popularity of the band was immediate, changing two weeks into two months, the band became one of the biggest name orchestras in Chicago, allowing Teddy to stop touring outside the Midwest.

The success of the Orchestra moved forward with numerous engagements at the top Chicagoland ballrooms such as; Melody Mill, Willowbrook, Milford, Embassy, Glendora House and the Aragon Ballroom. Many of these engagements were broadcast live by CBS radio, which helped the band to gain further popularity. Lawrence Welk, after hearing the orchestra at the Willowbrook said, "There should be more dance-bands like Teddy Lee!" Later the orchestra would be named "One of America's Great Dance Orchestras" by the National Ballroom Association.

Teddy Lee was loved by the dancers for his musical style and his special way with people. Although he played 5 days a week, fifty weeks a year, he made the dancers and listeners feel as if each engagement was a special night for them. Not only was he a gifted saxophonist and leader during his career, but also a highly skilled music arranger. The key to his arranging style was his ability to keep the dancers in mind, while leaving out the clutter of unnecessary writing. In 1990, after 55 years in the music business, the baton was passed to his son Teddy Lee Jr.

Teddy Lee Jr.'s musical career began at age eight studying piano, then clarinet and saxophone. By nineteen he was performing and teaching professionally. In 1995 he was recognized and inducted into the illustrious "American Band Masters Association" which had as a member John Philip Sousa. In 2006 he was awarded honorary Docorate by Vanderbilt University. Under Teddy Lee Jr.'s baton the orchestra maintains a 50-year tradition, while continuing the performance of great live music.

The band provides a variety of listening and dancing enjoyment through its inimitable style and vast custom arrangements of classic tunes, waltzes, latin, society, jazz and dixieland. Hit tunes of the big band era, show tunes and popular songs of the great American song writers are all a part of the Teddy Lee tradition. Vocalists round out the variety of the orchestra to make it a total big band experience.

Over the Years the Orchestra has played for tens of thousands and performed over 8000 engagements. Each year ends with Chicagoland's best interactive New Years' Eve party which is held at the famous Willowbrook Ballroom.

Today the orchestra is performing a wide array of engagements and Teddy Jr is working to preserve and record the vast arrangements for the loyal fans, and for future generations to be able to listen to a sound as pure as its 50 year history.

The orchestras new CD release Teddy Lee Orchestra âAn American Dance Bandâwith vocals by Peter Oprisko features songs from the 20âs through the 50âs in styles such as standards, waltzs, medleys, cha chas and many others.

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