Tommy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey

Luke Meyer

The last time you went to your local burger joint you probably noticed some cool art and photographs hanging on the wall, such as local sports teams and schools, or maybe artifacts of local artists, such as an album cover hanging on the wall. Maybe if you saw your favorite rock band’s album hanging on the wall you would establish a personal connection with that restaurant. Yet, sometimes there may be something such as an old album cover hanging on the wall that will grab your attention. Well, on the north wall of the main dining room of Manuel’s Tavern there is a framed album cover that belongs to Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra for their project “Swing High” that grabbed my attention for a number of reasons. First of all, who is this guy and why does he have his own orchestra? Dorsey was a jazz trombonist from Pennsylvania who had made a name for himself in the jazz scene for his pivotal trombone skill. He grew his name in the buzzing jazz scenes of Detroit and New York. This fame and credibility led to Dorsey being able to make connections to other talented musicians who he had eventually brought together to work on his compositions.

The reason this captured my attention is because I have picked up music production as a hobby of my own, so seeing how an accredited trombone player can grow to be a great music producer in the jazz era of music is a great inspiration to me, and brings insight to how I could use my hobby to network with other producers and creators. It is a great motivational piece coming from a restaurant, which is unexpected and neat.