John Graas (March 14, 1917 – April 13, 1962) was an American jazz French horn player, composer, and arranger from the 1940s through 1962. He had a short but busy career on the West Coast, and became known as a pioneer of the French horn in jazz.
John Jacob Graas was born in Dubuque, Iowa. His father was born in Luxembourg, as well as his mother's parents, and they emigrated to the United States before settling in Dubuque. His mother was a very talented pianist and had perfect pitch. His brother was Vincent Graas.In 1931 Graas' parents gave their son a French horn while he was a student at Jefferson Junior High School and played in the band and orchestra.
His musical gift on the instrument appeared quickly. In 1932 at Dubuque Senior High School, he placed first in an elimination contest of musicians and finished third in the state district meet. In 1933 he took first in the district tournament and finished second in the state finals. In 1934, Graas won state and national honors as a French horn musician. He was the only entry in the French horn event to win superior rating.
Upon his graduation in 1934, Graas joined the National Musical Ensemble of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1935--1936 he joined another touring group, a concert band led by the noted cornet virtuoso and conductor, Bohumir Kryl. Graas returned home in time to play with the Cadet band in their preparation for the Chicago music festival and made the trip with them. Graas received invitations to play with the Houston symphony, the Miami, Florida municipal band, and an offer to be the assistant band director at the University of Nebraska. He turned them down in hopes of becoming a conductor of a major symphony.
He enrolled and commuted from Columbia to Chicago to study with Max Pottag of the Chicago Symphony. In June 1940 he received a scholarship to the Tanglewood Camp at the Berkshire Music Center where he played under conductor Serge Koussevitzky and studied there with Willem Valkenier, principal horn with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
He soon became interested in jazz and studied ways to bring jazz and classical music together, an early effort at what would later be called Third Stream music. Following the path of his dual interests, he was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (1941).Graas left classical music for a brief time in May 1942, when he became a member of the Claude Thornhill cool bop big band. He recorded several songs featuring him, including "Buster's Last Stand" and "Lullaby in the Rain" before returning to Tanglewood under Koussevitsky.
Graas was drafted into the Army in 1942 and spent the most of his time with the 145th Army Ground Forces Band in Virginia. He also saw training at the Army Music School, Fort Meyer, Florida. While there, he was one of several performers asked to perform at the White House for President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Graas played a French horn solo and sang in the school chorus.It was during his military life that Graas developed his love of jazz.
After his military discharge, Graas became a member of the Mark Warnow band, playing at the Capitol Theater in New York City. He also played with the NBC Studio Orchestra, the Lucky Strike Hit Parade Band, and the Hall of Fame Band conducted by Paul Whiteman. He frequently heard Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie play bebop at Minton's Playhouse and began to study with Lennie Tristano. From 1947 to 1949 Graas became a member of the Tex beneke Orchestra, then from 1950 to 1953 the Stan Kenton Orchestra.
Liberace with John Graas
The 1950s were a period of intense activity by Graas, as performer, composer, and arranger. Besides groups under his own name, he appeared in the musical aggregations of Shorty Rogers, Maynard Ferguson, Billy May, Pete Rugolo, Mel Lewis, and others. In 1955 Graas played with the Liberace TV Orchestra for one year. The famed pianist referred to Graas as "the greatest French horn player in the world." He continued recording fairly regularly as a leader up to 1958. He began working with Universal Studios, where he was first horn, and studied and later taught jazz arranging at Westlake College in Los Angeles.
(Edited from Encyclopedia Dubuque & Wikipedia)
Here's
John Graas with Shorty Rogers and His Giants performing Wig Alley (a.k.a.
Morpo) in the 1953 film Dementia. The musicians on the track (all of whom are
featured in the film except for drummer Shelly Manne, who was replaced by an
actor) are Shorty Rogers (tp), Milt Bernhart (tb), John Graas (fhr), Jimmy
Giuffre (ts), Frank Patchen (p), Howard Rumsey (b), Gene Englund (tu), Rodney
Evans Bacon (congos), Shelly Manne (dr).