Robert Leo "Bobby" Hackett (January 31, 1915 - June 7, 1976) was a jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet and guitar, and played with the Glenn Miller Orchestra during 1941-42.
Hackett was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Bobby, who was later to become the most important white representative of Dixieland jazz, learned banjo, guitar and violin as a child. He left school at 14 and played from then on with local dance orchestras. He began working professionally in an around the Boston area. Appearing with such artists as Teddy Roy, Pee Wee Russell, Herbie Marsh, Payson Re, and the Harvard Gold Coast Orchestra, he quickly earned a reputation. 
In 1936 he was asked to form a Dixieland outfit for Boston's Theatrical Club. The group proved very popular and after their one-year engagement ended the members decided to try their luck in New York. Unable to get a job as a group they eventually split up, and for the next couple of years Hackett worked on and off with various artists, including Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Jack Teagarden, and Eddie Condon. He made his name as a follower of the legendary cornet player Bix Beiderbecke: Benny Goodman hired him to recreate Bix's famous "I'm Coming Virginia" solo at his (Goodman's) 1938 Carnegie Hall concert.
In 1939 Hackett formed his own big band. Louise Tobin, then the wife of Harry James, was featured vocalist. The group contracted with MCA and made several recordings but financial problems forced it to disband after only six months. Owing MCA almost
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| Bobby Hackett with fats Waller |
$3000, Hackett decided to take a steady job with Horace Heidt in order to pay off the band's debts. He remained with Heidt through the summer season of 1940.
In 1941 Hackett joined Glenn Miller. Miller and Hackett were close friends, and Miller helped renegotiate Hackett's debt. Hackett also recently had had dental surgery and was unable to play the cornet, so Miller placed him as a guitarist. Hackett eventually took up his horn again and can be heard as the featured soloist on the Miller standard ''String of Pearls.''
When Miller disbanded his orchestra in 1942 to join the Army Air
Force, Hackett took a studio job at NBC. He also spent a brief time with Katherine Dunham's revue. In 1943 he joined the Casa Loma Orchestra and remained with them for three years. He then took a job with ABC, where he spent the next fifteen years.
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| Bobby Hackett with Louis Armstrong |
From the 1950s up until his death Hackett continued performing and recording. He led several small groups and worked closely with many other top artists, including Goodman, Teagarden, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Maxine Sullivan, and Lee Wiley. In the early 1950s Hackett was the star of Jackie Gleason's memorable ''Music for Lovers Only'' album series.
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Bobby Hackett died of a heart attack on the 7th June, 1976 in Chatham, Massachusetts. (info edited from Wikipedia & Solid!)
Here's a clip of the Bobby Hackett Sextetwith Deed I Do!
Here's a clip of the Bobby Hackett Sextetwith Deed I Do!
Bobby Hackett (Trumpet -Cornet) Urbie Green (Trombone) Bob Wilber (Clarinet) Morey Feld (Drums) Dave McKenna (Piano) Nabil Totah (bass)