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The Bob Florence Limited Edition
Biography
As a longtime staff arranger for Liberty Records, Bob Florence wrote some of the most innovative and challenging charts in postwar jazz--in many respects a man out of time, he possessed a particular brilliance for large ensemble arrangements in the tradition of Duke Ellington, although the commercial vogue for big band jazz had long since passed. Born May 30, 1932 in Los Angeles, Florence was a child prodigy who took his first piano lesson at the age of three--he abandoned classical studies in favor of jazz and pop while attending Los Angeles City College, assembling a band with classmates and future studio aces Tommy Tedesco, Herb Geller and Dennis Budimir. At a friend's suggestion Florence shifted the group's practices to the Hollywood Musician's Union local rehearsal hall, launching a weekly session that quickly drew myriad players from across the southern California jazz scene, all vying for a spot in the lineup. Upon graduating Florence signed on with guitarist Alvino Rey, followed by a stints arranging for bandleaders Harry James and Les Brown--in 1958, he led his first session for Era, The Meet the Bob Florence Trio, followed a year later by his first big band date, The Name Band.
Selected Discography