Freddy Martin led his own band while he was in high school, then played in various local bands. After working on a ships band, Martin joined the Mason-Dixon band, then joined Arnold Johnson and Jack Albin.Later, his career really got started when his band filled in for Lombardo. But the band broke up and he did not form a permanent band until 1931 at the Bossert Hotel in Brooklyn. Martin took his band into many prestigious hotels, including the Roosevelt Grill in New York City and the Ambassador in Los Angeles. A fixture on radio, his sponsored shows included NBC's Maybelline Penthouse Serenade of 1937. But Martin's real success came in 1941 with an arrangement from the first movement of Tchaikovsky's B-flat piano concerto. Although his playing has been admired by so many jazz musicians, Freddy Martin never tried to be a jazz musician. Martin always led a sweet styled band. He also had a good ear for singers. At one time or another, Martin employed Merv Griffin, Buddy Clark, Terry Shand (also a pianist), Elmer Feldkamp (a saxophonist and vocalist), Stuart Wade (his most impressive male singer), Eddie Stone (also a violinist), and many others. Helen Ward was a singer for Martin just before she joined Benny Goodman's new band. In the early 1970s, he was part of two long TV series. Martin died in 1983. This outstanding record was cut in 1935, featuring a lovely vocal by Elmer Feldkamp.
