Tommy Dorsey

During the Swing era, there were jazz bands, dance bands, and sweet bands: Dorsey had the finest, most sugarcoated dance band that nevertheless swung like Roger Maris. They had almost 200 hit singles between 1935 and 1953. As a trombonist, Dorsey had amazing breath control that was studied by jazz musicians as well as by his star singer, the young Frank Sinatra. Aside from the Voice, Dorsey employed Sy Oliver, Buddy Rich, and Jo Stafford in his band during the early '40s, each of whom ultimately went out and struck it big in his or her own right.