Hal McIntyre

Hal McIntyre ( born November 29, 1914 in Cromwell, Connecticut; † 5 May 1959 Los Angeles ) was an American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and big band leader in the swing and popular music.

Life and work

Hal McIntyre worked in local bands in Connecticut and founded in 1935 his first band, an octet. In 1937, he played for a short time with Benny Goodman and was then hired by Glenn Miller; he belonged to the founding members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, in which he played from 1937 to 1941. Glenn Miller supported him financially in the formation of its own orchestra; be McIntyre Orchestra debuted in 1941 in New Rochelle (New York) and eventually became known through his involvement in the Glen Iceland casino. The ensemble consisted of the band vocalist Helen Ward, Gloria Van, Ruth Gaylor and Al Nobel and musician Bobby Jones, Eddie Safranski, Louis Mucci, Bobby Guyer and Allen Eager; Arrangers were Dave Matthews, Billy May, Ralph Flanagan and Howard Gibeling. The orchestra, which was selected in a poll of college Billboard 's most promising bands of 1942 and 1943, and campaigned with the Band did America Loves for himself, played mainly in the large ballrooms like the Hollywood Palladium; in the final stages of World War II, it also played outside the United States as part of the troop entertainment. It emerged LP recordings for Cosmo and Victor Records. McIntyre was able to maintain the orchestra until the 1950s; 1952 accompanied his Orchestra The Mills Brothers in their success, entitled " Glow Worm ".

McIntyre moved in the late 1950s to the West Coast and died in 1959 from the effects of a house fire. His son, Hal Jr. had a big band in the Boston area, who played the arrangements of the original McIntyre Orchestra in the 1970s.

Disco Graphical Notes

• The Uncollected: Hal McIntyre ( Hindsight, 1940-1943 )
• Hal McIntyre & His Orchestra (Circle, 1942)
• Dance Date ( Columbia, 1950)