Tommy Dorsey

Who is Tommy Dorsey?

Margaret Wyporek

My audience is a late elementary school or early middle school music appreciation classroom. I'm hoping to target those students that struggle with reading or lecture comprehension because many music appreciation classrooms focus on lecture or hand-out reading.  I hope that this will serve as a self-paced, introduction to a lesson.

My coaches each have a specific use, the 1st coach asks questions about the material, my 2nd coach gives a hint about where to find the answer to the question, and my 3rd coach gives a model response.  I have also included sound clips, pictures, captions under the pictures for vision imparied students.

Tommy Dorsey was born on November 19, 1905 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania and later died on November 26, 1956 at 51 years old.  He was known for his work during the big band era of American music.  He was a great trombonist , composer , and big bandleader .

Tommy Dorsey played the trombone.  The trombone is a member of the brass family , meaning it is made out of metal and wind is used to make it sound.  The trombone has 3 main parts, the bell, which vibrates to amplify sound, the slide, which allows the player to switch pitch, and the mouthpiece that connects the player to the instrument and is the beginning place of sound.

Tommy Dorsey led his own big band for over 20 years!  He had many number one hit songs during this time, maybe his most famous was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You."  From this song he also earned his nickname "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing."  Take a listen to the song, the first thing you hear is Tommy Dorsey playing trombone with the rhythm section quietly playing behind him.

Tommy Dorsey had his own big band as seen on the previous brass quintet or larger ensembles like symphony orchestras .  Sometimes Tommy Dorsey combined different types of groups to make a new sound, for example sometimes he included more string instruments in his band.

A traditional jazz band includes

5 saxophones

4 trombones

5 trumpets

1 piano

1 guitar

1 bass

1 drum set

Thanks for coming along with me for the ride!  I hope you enjoyed the music and history.  Until next time practice makes perfect!

Images were pulled from the following websites:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tommy_dorsey_playing_trombone.jpg

http://www.esmschools.org/Schools/MinoaElementary/rotationcalendar.aspx

http://www.jazz.com/music/2007/11/12/tommy-dorsey-song-of-india

http://puffincat.blogspot.com/2008/01/learn-trombone-with-shane.html

http://www.earlehagen.net/bands.htm

http://www.yankeehomecoming.com/Day4.html

http://www.nndb.com/people/374/000043245/

Audio Recording:

J.J. Johnson. "The Very Thought of You." Tangence.  Polygram Records, 1994.

Tommy Dorsey.  "Symphony In Riffs."  Tommy Dorsey I'm Getting Sentimental Over You.  Collectables, 2003.

Tommy Dorsey.  "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You."  Kings of Swing (Disc 2).  Bassman/Washington, 1993.

Margaret Wyporek. "La Femme a Barbe." Margaret Wyporek Junior Recital.  New England Conservatory of Music, 2007.

The information for this book was prior knowledge of Margaret Wyporek, her previous research was done at the New England Conservatory of Music using resources such as:

Levinson, P. (2006). Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a great big way, a biography. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.