Record Collectors Convention

[sheldonm]

I just ran over to a small record jazz collectors show that is run by photographer/writer/musician Duncan Scheidt. While I was there I met Doc Wheeler, who I knew/know nothing about. I understand he was a trombonist in the Suset Royals back in the day. I'm not sure how old he is but my guess would be his mid 80s at least; nice man! I had lunch with Jim Neumann (beehive records) and listened to a little swing before heading back to the office!

Mark

[ghost of miles]

Mark,

I believe he's actually 94, and I'm hoping/planning to interview him for the Indiana jazz series. Also currently on the prowl for early-1940s recordings of his band. Yes, he took over the Sunset Royals around 1938 or so. There have been allegations that Tommy Dorsey stole the arrangement of his hit "Marie" from Moran.

[sheldonm]

Mark,

I believe he's actually 94, and I'm hoping/planning to interview him for the Indiana jazz series. Also currently on the prowl for early-1940s recordings of his band. Yes, he took over the Sunset Royals around 1938 or so. There have been allegations that Tommy Dorsey stole the arrangement of his hit "Marie" from Moran.

David,

Thanks for the info; seems to be in good shape for 94!

[ghost of miles]

Sad news re: Wheeler from the Indy Star:

December 21, 2005

A LIFE LIVED: Wheeler Morin, 1910-2005

Bandleader, arranger was national figure

By Rob Schneider

rob.schneider@indystar.com

On the nights the big band sound poured from the Jazz Kitchen's stage, odds were Doc Wheeler was in the audience.

Wheeler Morin, who went by the professional name of Doc Wheeler, was 95 when he died Dec. 15. Even within the last couple of years, he was searching for musicians for a band, friends say.

"This is one of the great ones that got their start in this state," said Harry Riser, the host of "The Grand Big Band Show" on WICR (88.7 FM).

"He was a national figure" who was not only a bandleader, but also did arrangements for musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald, Riser said.

Born in Muncie, Mr. Morin was playing his trombone on Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis by the time he was 17, including in places such as the Walker Theatre, said Duncan Schiedt, a jazz authority who lives in Pittsboro in Hendricks County.

Mr. Morin rode the sound of that trombone to jobs with dance and theater orchestras in the Eastern United States before settling in New York in the 1930s, Schiedt said.

Mr. Morin eventually hooked up with a dance band called the Sunset Royals, and the group became known as Doc Wheeler and his Sunset Orchestra, Schiedt said.

The group obtained an RCA recording contract and recorded such tunes as "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well?"

The band, whose members included several up-and-coming musicians who went on to play with Duke Ellington and Count Basie, played at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom and Apollo Theater, Schiedt said.

"There were dozens of bands in Harlem during the 1930s and '40s, and not too many got to play at the Savoy and the other hot spots," Schiedt said. "He and his band did. He was just a go-getter."

During the 1940s, Mr. Morin was a master of ceremonies for theaters and hosted several radio programs in the New York metropolitan area.

He returned to Indianapolis in the early 1990s after the death of his wife, Julia. He made a run at starting a radio program here, but it never got off the ground.

But Mr. Morin, who lived for many years in an apartment near Girls School and Rockville roads on the Far Westside, never lost his interest in performing. In the last year or two, he asked Riser to mention on his radio program that Mr. Morin was putting a band together.

"His roots are incredible; his credentials are just fantastic," Riser said. "I don't know of anyone else in Indianapolis that had those kind of credentials."

Riser recalled the excitement he felt talking to Mr. Morin at the Jazz Kitchen in Broad Ripple, because his insights and knowledge about jazz were so incredible.

"He was the real McCoy."

Survivors include a son, Kevin Morin. The family plans no public service.

I played several of the RCA sides on the Oct. 7 edition of The Big Bands, if anybody wants to hear what that 1940s band sounded like. Thanks again to Chuck Nessa for helping me to find them on LP.

Wheeler will be much missed.

[BERIGAN]

Mark,

I believe he's actually 94, and I'm hoping/planning to interview him for the Indiana jazz series. Also currently on the prowl for early-1940s recordings of his band. Yes, he took over the Sunset Royals around 1938 or so. There have been allegations that Tommy Dorsey stole the arrangement of his hit "Marie" from Moran.

Did you ever get to interview him????

[Guest]

Mark,

I believe he's actually 94, and I'm hoping/planning to interview him for the Indiana jazz series. Also currently on the prowl for early-1940s recordings of his band. Yes, he took over the Sunset Royals around 1938 or so. There have been allegations that Tommy Dorsey stole the arrangement of his hit "Marie" from Moran.

Did you ever get to interview him????

Hello everyone!

We are going to be featuring Doc Wheeler's entire recorded output on an upcoming edition of Jazz Lives (WICR 88.7, Tuesdays, 10-11 a.m.) This will include the eight sides by Doc Wheeler and His Sunset Orchestra and the four earlier sides by Ace Harris and His Sunset Royals (the Sunset Royals were the band that Wheeler took over at Moe Gale's request, ostensibly to rehearse them for an Ink Spots tour).

Right now, my best case estimate for the air date will be either January 10 or January 17. I'll let you know as more details develop.

Thanks!

David Brewer

(co-host with Bob Price, Jazz Lives)

[ghost of miles]

David, thanks much from a jazz DJ just to the south of you! Love 88.7--listen to it whenever I'm in the city. I'll be tuning in for the Wheeler broadcast.

Berigan: sadly, no.