Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. (November 19, 1905 - November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. Although he was not known for being a notable soloist, his technical skill on the trombone gave him renown amongst other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely popular and highly successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr., was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the second of four children born to Thomas Francis Dorsey, Sr., and Theresa (née Langton) Dorsey. He and Jimmy, his older brother by slightly less than two years, would become famous as the "Dorsey Brothers". The two younger siblings were Mary and Edward (who died young). Tommy Dorsey initially studied the trumpet with his father, only to later switch to the trombone. His
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Robert L. Stockdale
Tommy Dorsey
Scarecrow Press
John Ridgway
Tommy Dorsey Frank Sinatra "The Song Is You"
bmg music
Pictures & stories of Dorsey & Sinatra
Big Sid Catlett & Band, June Christy, Tommy Dorsey, Helen Forrest, Ina Ray Hutton and Band
Swing Era: Artie Shaw/Tommy Dorsey
Idem
DVD
Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Janet Blair, Paul Whiteman, William Lundigan
The Fabulous Dorseys [Region 2]
DVD
Judy Garland, Van Heflin
Presenting Lily Mars
DVD & VHS T.D.'s Orchestra
Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong
A Song is Born [VHS]
Hbo Home Video
VHS
Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie
Swing - The Best of the Big Bands - The Complete Set of (4)
MCA Home Video
VHS
Paulette Goddard & Artie Shaw Fred Astaire, Harry James, Joe E. Lewis Andrew Sisters, Janet Blair, Paul Whiteman Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey, William Frawley, Evelyn Daw James Cagney
Classic Musicals
Diamond Entertainment Corp
VHS
George Murphy, Ginny Sim
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Tommy Dorsey
American jazz the trombonist and bandleader (1905–1956)
This article is about trombonist and bandleader. For the pianist and jazz and gospel composer, see Thomas A. Dorsey.
Musical artist
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956)[1] was an American jazztrombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing.[2] His theme song was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians.[3] He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey.[4] After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus One", "This Love of Mine" (no. 3 in 1941) featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, "Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, "I'll Never Smile Again" (no. 1 for 12 weeks in 1940).