| Wally Besser | |
| Alias: | Wally |
| Birth Date: | 16 January 1936 |
| Birth Place: | Minneapolis, Minnesota, |
| Death Place: | Jupiter, Florida |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Occupation: | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument: | trumpet, flugelhorn, valve trombone, keyboard, vibes |
| Years Active: | 1957–2017 |
Wally Besser (January 16, 1936 - April 4, 2017) was a trumpet and flugelhorn player with a large career playing with best orchestras as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Sammy Kaye Orchestra, or Larry Elgart. He spent twenty years with Fotis Gonis Express doing the top Greek work in New York and around the country, as well as Canada and Venezuela. From 1984 to 1994 he led a successful wedding band, part of Steven Scott Orchestras on Long Island NY. The core was him, Gary Pace (keys), Craig Niederberger (guitar), Christine Beckett (vocals), Ron Vincent, Dave Tangrini (drums) and Bill Kirshner (sax,clar,flute)
Besser was born on January 16, 1936, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Heattended Douglas elementary school until he was seven years old and then hisparents bought a large old house in Excelsior, Minnesota on Lake Minnetonka.
The family had a very large garden complete with a chicken coop, whichkept his mom and children busy and helped supply them with food. His father was aleft-handed piano player and singer in the style of Fats Waller. His father continuedto perform until he built a small grocery store at which time he put aside the musicbusiness and ran the store, together with his wife and children.
Besser took piano lessons as a child but they did not take. Finally when he could notcompete as an athlete (for health reasons), he took up the trumpet in his junioryear in high school.
After graduation from Minnetonka High School, he went on to study privately atMacPhail College of Music. After three semesters he was offered a job in a Polkaband and he spent the summer with them in western Minnesota. Besser quit theband in the fall when his dad got back into the music business, to gethim a decent job. Besser went to work in a striptease club, where they taughthim "everything he knows", so he says.
He spent a couple of years with the strippers until he had enough money saved tomove to Chicago, in 1957, to continue his studies. He studied trumpet with Arnold Jacobs and arranging with William Russo, while doing gigs with local bands. Besserleft Chicago with a hotel Band and after a couple of months, when the band brokeup, he moved to Los Angeles and spent a few uneventful months there. One day hegot a letter from the military telling him to report for a physical. He went back to Minneapolis and failed his physical due to Asthma. He was now free to pursue hisdream and travel the world.
While living in the Devonshire Hotel in Chicago he became friendly with Jack andPhil Hand. Phil was an ex trumpet player now playing valve trombone and Jack waslearning to play bass. Jack had lived in Paris during the Second World War and wasa devout follower of the jazz scene. Jack Hand had moved to Spain. He wanted tostart a Jazz Club there and asked Besser to join him. Besser went back to the Stripclubs to earn enough money to finance his new adventure.
Besser arrived in Barcelona in February 1959. Jack had already started a recordJazz Club in a bar called "La Selva", and had built quite a big following. Theowner promised he would get all necessary permits for live music. Itnever happened. Jack stopped paying rent and one night they arrived to find alock on the door. Together with Besser and a large group of jazz enthusiasts, theybroke the lock and put Count Basie on the record player. One or two weeks later, once again they were locked out. Finally, one night, Jack Hand and Besserdecided to try it on their own. The owner was ready for them and had them beatenup by an off duty policeman and the waiters. Besser was beaten across the backand legs and Jack had his jaw broken in three places.
The next day, Jack's brother Phil Hand arrived in Barcelona with his pregnant wife,Nancy. While recuperating the two brothers and Besser went to Sitges to see aboutthe jazz scene. In April they founded a club called "La Galera" which they started toplay in until June. And then back to Barcelona for some jazz gigs while searchingfor a new venue. From November 15, 1959 to February 15, 1960, they worked outa deal with a club called Jack's located at 48 Calle Parlamento. Jack's was doing great but without the necessarypermits they were closed down by the authorities and out of work again. At thattime, Jack's was the only place in Barcelona at where one could listen to live jazzmusic every day.
At the beginning of 1960, Besser and the brothers Hand had convinced JoanRoselló to convert the basement of his bar "Los Tarantos" into a jazz club. Withthe help of some of the jazz followers and especially a young artist, Jordi Bonás,who painted magnificent jazz murals on the walls, the club started to happenwith The Jazz Brothers (Hand brothers, Besser, plus the pianist Pere Ferré anddrummer "Chip" Collins. Roselló obtained all the necessary papers and "TheJamboree Jazz Club" was born.
The Jamboree did great and The Jazz Brothers developed a big following. It even appealedto the high society crowd, but the majority of the patrons were young students,artists and people seeking something new. The club was a big success. The club, located in la Plaça Reial, became the heart of jazz music in Barcelona.[1]
Finally after a few months and several disagreements, mostly with Jack Hand,Besser decided to move on. Their pianist, at that time, José Fuste, was offered ajob as the leader of the band at "Florida Park", a night club in Madrid. He tookBesser with him. Besser stayed a couple of weeks but decided it was not for him.He quit and went to work at the "Whiskey Jazz Club" in Madrid.
While working and jamming in Madrid, he met the members of the "Manny KelleyOrchestra", with Manny at the piano, the German bass player Pitt Rudolph,the German drummer Peer Wyboris, the Spanish sax and guitar player Pedro Iturralde, Audrey Gray on vocals and conga and Besser playing trumpet, valve trombone and vibes. These musicians were allbasically jazz players, but played commercial music to make money. They worked and recorded around Spain until one day they were offered a job in Athens, Greece.
In Athens, they played at the Casino de Athens and were offered a job in Ankara,Turkey. Besser was notified that his father was seriously ill and returned to Minneapolis.When he arrived his father was still holding on, so Besser had to find workto pay bills. He took a gig with an entertaining lounge group that was workingthe Midwest and shortly thereafter his father died.
Besser quit the lounge group and returned to Athens, Greece, and joined the "Lavranos Orchestra" where he stayed for approximately two and a half years playingin the best hotels and doing some recording. He still came back to "Jamboree JazzClub" in Barcelona for about two weeks where he played with his own band and Audrey Gray on vocals. He then went to Madrid to look for work, then to Seville,Kenitra, Morocco, and finally returned to Athens to re-join the "Lavranos Band".From May 1966, to October 1967, they worked around Europe.
In October 27, 1967, Besser returned to New York City with the intention of joininga "Name Band" or else going to Las Vegas to seek work. Within two days he wasoffered a job traveling with "The Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction ofBuddy DeFranco. Besser stayed with the band until June 28, 1970, when he left togo with the "Billy Maxted Jazz Band". He stayed with Maxted until the winter of1971, when he decided to try to make it in New York City. At first he worked withsome Latin bands, did a few gigs in the Catskills and a few nightclubs. In September1971 he was offered a job in a new Greek/Israeli club "Sirocco". He stayed for ayear and then went to a new club "Alexander the Great" which only lasted a shortwhile.
On September 7, 1973, he married Shelley Drayer, who was working in the stockmarket, then moving on to Swiss Air and then started her own financing business.They lived on West 91st Street in Manhattan until 1974, when they bought a housein Long Beach Long Island. Besser was then doing private parties plus contractingthe musicians and playing with the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circusin Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, West Palm Beach, Miami and NewJersey. He was then accepted an offer to lead a wedding band for the Steven ScottOrchestras, where he stayed for approximately seven years moving on to Alex Donner society band as a leader, contractor, salesman and co-producer as well asconductor of Alex's two CDs.
In June 2007 Besser and his wife sold their New York home and moved to JupiterFlorida. After breaking his left wrist, fractured his right hip and got through a leftvocal cord cancer, he is now living Florida and playing five nights a week inmany different bands.
Pujol Baulenas, Jordi (2005). Jazz en Barcelona 1920–1965. Barcelona: Almendra Music.