Johnny Mince
b. 8 July 1912, Chicago Heights, Illinois, USA. A highly accomplished clarinettist, Mince's early career saw him playing with several of the most sophisticated bands of the early swing era. At the age of 17, he was with Joe Haymes's excellent danceband, and during the '30s, Mince moved on to Ray Noble, Bob Crosby and Tommy Dorsey. During the spell with Noble, Mince played an important part in helping to establish the ‘sound’ of Glenn Miller's arrangements, a sound which Miller later developed with his own band. After military service, Mince was mostly active in studio work, but he returned occasionally to play jazz dates in clubs and on record. In later years, Mince became a familiar and popular figure at international jazz festivals, touring extensively with a variety of musicians, such as the Kings Of Jazz, and with the bands of Dixieland veterans led by Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart and by British trumpeter Keith Smith. On all such forays, Mince attracted the favourable attention of a new generation of fans through his superb technique and distinctive style.