Roy Harte RIP

[Gordokae]

Roy Harte passed away this past Sunday, October 26, 2003, at St.

Josephs Hospital, Burbank, CA. Roy grew up with the swing bands of

the late 1930s and among his gigs he counted time with the bands of

Muggsy Spanier and Dizzy Gillespie while still in high school. In

the early 1940s Roy moved on and played drums with the orchestras of

Bobby Sherwood, George Paxton, Billie Rogers, Boyd Raeburn, Lucky

Millinder, Vido Musso, and the Stan Kenton All Stars. He also had a

short gig with Billie Holiday.

Roy is best remembered as the co-founder of Pacific Jazz Records with

Dick Bock in the summer of 1952, and later as co-founder of Nocturne

Records with Harry Babasin in the spring of 1954.

Roy was an active studio musician in Hollywood in the late 1940s and

early 1950s when he was known to keep a drum set at all of the major

recording studios where his drumming would provide the beat for

dozens of recording artists, among them: Ella Mae Morse, Kay Starr,

Georgia Carr, Helen O'Connell, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Hank Snow, Dave

Pell, Les Brown, and Stan Freberg.

Roy is best known for his jazz drumming with the Bud Shank / Laurindo

Almeida Quartet, and his backing of numerous groups on the Nocturne

label, most notably Bud Shank's first album as leader for Nocturne

playing the compositions of Shorty Rogers.

For many years Roy operated Drum City on Santa Monica Boulevard where

he provided drum instruction plus sales and repair for all of the

major drum manufacturers.

In addition to his busy schedule in the recording studios Roy found

time to tutor some famous personalities for the movie business. When

Sal Mineo was tapped to play Gene Krupa in the Hollywood production,

Roy was the drummer who coached Sal on the rudiments of drumming.

Likewise when Fred Astaire needed some instruction for a scene in

Daddy Long Legs, Hollywood turned to Roy for expert lessons.

In the spring of 1954 Roy held the first "Percussion Fair" at Drum

City which included a display of drums from the past to the present,

a collection of foreign drums, drum demonstrations, a Sound Effects

Department, and displays of the latest percussion instruments from

the leading manufacturers. The fair was a great success attracting

youngsters as well a cross section of amateur and professional

percussion enthusiasts. The fair would become an annual event that

continued to grow and build the national reputation of Drum City as

one of the nations leading drum retail and instruction centers.

In December of 1955 Roy entered the Ripley's BELIEVE IT OR NOT! Hall

of Fame after setting the world record for continuously playing a

drum for 57 hours.

The sixth Annual Percussion Fair drew throngs of retailers,

manufacturers, professional percussionists, as well as movie stars

and celebrities such as William Holden, Sal Mineo, Tommy Sands, Pat

Wymore (Mrs. Errol Flynn), Marlon Brando, and many others. During

the six weeks of the Fair (March 17 through April 30), the clinics

offered saw the participation of thirty-two public schools, ten

parochial schools, and eleven drum and bugle corps. Based on the

national attention that this Fair drew and the crowds of attendees at

Drum City, Roy made plans to accommodate 10,000 visitors at the

seventh annual Fair to be held the following year.

When the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958 Roy was

instrumental in organizing a welcome reception for the team which

included a full battery of percussionists led by Roy.

Jazz fell on some hard times in the sixties and later decades when

popular music of the day embraced rock-n-roll and other music. But

Roy and Harry continued to support Jazz in Hollywood through a

rebirth of their Nocturne label, and other jazz enterprises which

kept straight ahead jazz a priority.

In 1961 Roy and Harry Babasin established Jazz Chronicles to record

and promote jazz in Hollywood and continue some of the goals they set

with their original Nocturne label.