Buddy Morrow (born Muni Zudekoff, aka Moe Zudekoff; February 8, 1919, New Haven, Connecticut – September 27, 2010) was an American trombonist and bandleader. He is known for his mastery of the upper range which is evident on records such as "The Golden Trombone," as well as his ballad playing.
On a scholarship at age 16, Morrow studied trombone with Ernest Horatio Clarke (1865–1947) at Juilliard (known then as the Institute of Musical Art) from October to December 1936. At age 17, he began playing trombone with Sharkey Bonano's Sharks of Rhythm, an Eddie Condon group.He then moved on to big bands, first Eddie Duchin, then Vincent Lopez. He eventually graduated to swing bands, first with Artie Shaw. He first became Muni Morrow, then Buddy Morrow, when he joined the Tommy Dorsey trombone section in 1938. In 1939, he performed with Paul Whiteman's Concert Orchestra for their Decca/Brunswick recording of Gershwin's Concerto in F.
After demobilization, Morrow joined Jimmy Dorsey's band, then went into radio freelancing as a studio musician. He began conducting odd sessions, which introduced him to band-leading. RCA Victor sponsored him as director of his own band in 1951.
The band's first hit — "Night Train" by Jimmy Forrest — was a crossover into rhythm and blues. "Night Train" reached No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1953. In 1959 and 1960 Morrow's Orchestra released two albums of American television theme songs; Impact and Double Impact respectively.
Morrow played intermittently with the “Tonight Show” band in the 1960s. His own band broke up in 1968, but he continued performing, recording and leading different bands. He spent most of the '70s as a studio musician but he worked a bit with the World's Greatest Jazz Band in 1970. He also led a quartet in Las Vegas but he broke it up in 1973 and went to live in Florida.
Amazingly, he was latterly able to lead the band from a wheelchair on stage. His last appearance with the band at the age of 91 was September 24, 2010.
In 2008, Morrow was awarded the International Trombone Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, an award that is given to a person who has significantly changed trombone playing around the world. Morrow died in the morning on September 27, 2010 at his home in Maitland, Fla.
(Compiled and edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & NYTimes)