Al Hirt
b. 7 November 1922, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. After studying classical music, trumpeter Hirt divided his professional career between symphony orchestras and dance bands and still found time to play dixieland jazz in New Orleans clubs. Among the bands with which he played were those led by Tommy Dorsey and Ray McKinley, and a sideman in one of his own first bands was Pete Fountain. In the '60s an important recording contract (which resulted in albums under his own name and as accompanist to some transiently popular singers) a successful residency at his own club and a spectacular technique all helped to turn him into one of the best-known trumpeters in jazz. In the '60s, Hirt had 17 albums in the US jazz charts. As often happens, commercial success brought a measure of condemnation from jazz hardliners but Hirt was unmoved. He continued to perform in clubs and to record throughout the '70s, shrugging off a lip injury, and was still playing his popular version of high-spirited, good-humoured jazz in the '80s.