Bob Chester Rare Very Early Original Autographed 8/10 Photo Big Band 40s

Description

Here is a rare very early vintage original autographed 8" by 10" photo of saxophonist and big band leader Bob Chester (1908-1977), from his prime in the 1940s, signed in fountain pen. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Bob Chester came from a wealthy car family; his step-father was head of General Motors' Fisher Body Works. But Chester chose a music career instead. He started out as a saxophonist for such bandleaders as Irving Aaronston, Ben Bernie and Ben Pollack before starting his first band in 1939. This band had an unoriginal Glenn Miller sound, though, and quickly folded. He founded another one that same year, with direction by Tommy Dorsey and arrangements by David Rose. It wasn't the most famous outfit of its kind, but Chester's band developed a reputation for its quality music and sidemen, like trumpeters Alec Fila and Conrad Gozzo, saxophonists Herbie Steward and Peanuts Hucko, trombonist Bill Harris and singers Bob Haymes, Gene Howard, Betty Bradley and Dolores O'Neill. The market moved away from the big band sound in the mid-1940s, though, forcing Chester's band out of business. He later got a job as a disc jockey in Detroit and leading a few other bands, including a Dixieland band, before quitting the music business altogether and entering the auto industry. Rare.
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Bob Chester (March 20, 1908 – June 14, 1977) was an American jazz and pop music bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Chester's stepfather ran General Motors's Fisher Body Works. He began his career as a sideman under Irving Aaronson, Ben Bernie, and Ben Pollack. He formed his own group in Detroit in 1939, with a Glenn Miller-influenced sound. This band was unsuccessful in local engagements and quickly dissolved. He then put together a new band on the East Coast under the direction of Tommy Dorsey and with arrangements by David Rose. This ensemble fared much better, recording for Bluebird Records. Chester's group, billed "The New Sensation of the Nation," had its own radio show on CBS briefly in the fall of 1939. The twenty-five-minute program aired from the Hotel Van Cleve in Dayton, Ohio late on Thursday nights (actually 12:30 am Friday morning, Eastern Time); the September 21, 1939 edition can be heard on the famous One Day In Radio tapes, archived by Washington D.C. station WJSV. Chester's Bluebird records have proved excellent sellers, both for retail dealers and coin phonograph operators such as "From Maine to California"; "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie"; "Madeliaine"; and two songs from "Banjo Eyes" - "Not a Care in the World" and "A Nickel to My Name". His only national hit was "With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair" (b/w "I Walk With Music"; Bluebird 10614), which featured Dolores O'Neill on vocals and went to #18 on the charts in April 1940. Chester's orchestra included trumpeters Alec Fila, Nick Travis, Lou Mucci, and Conrad Gozzo, saxophonists Herbie Steward and Peanuts Hucko, drummer Irv Kluger, and trombonist Bill Harris. His female singers included Dolores O'Neill, Kathleen Lane, and Betty Bradley; among his male singers were Gene Howard, Bill Darnell, Joe Harris, Stu Brayton, Hall Stewart, Peter Marshall, Bob Haymes, and Al Stuart. The orchestra disbanded in the mid-1940s, due in part to the shrinking market for big band sound. After a stint as a disc jockey at WKMH radio, Chester assembled another band for a short time in the early 1950s, but after it failed he retired from music and returned to Detroit to work for the rest of his life in auto manufacturing.