I am frequently asked for further details of Carmen, his life and work.
I don't have any available, so I refer you to:-
Charles Garrod
CARMEN CAVALLARO & HIS ORCHESTRA - DISCOGRAPHY PB 750g
2001 revision - 77 pages including index
Bookseller Inventory #9879
Price: US$ 23.64 (15 GBP approx.)
Bookseller: A&R Booksearch, High Close, Lanreath, Looe, CON,
United Kingdom, PL13 2PF
tel:- 01503 220246
www.musicbooksrus.com
Canned Bio:-
Known as the ''Poet of the Piano,'' Carmen Cavallaro was the flashiest of the
flashy piano players. Though classically-trained, he was attracted to the dance
music craze, first working with Al Kavelin in 1933 and then with Rudy Vallee
in 1937. He also worked briefly with Enrico Madriguera and Abe Lyman.
Cavallaro debuted his first band, a five-piece combo, in St. Louis in 1939.
As his popularity grew, his group expanded into a fourteen-piece orchestra in 1944,
recording for Decca.
Larry Douglas and Guy Mitchell were vocalist. Traveling the country and playing in
all the top spots, the orchestra was most at home in the Mark Hopkins Hotel in
San Francisco. During the forties, Cavallaro also hosted The Schaeffer Parade
radio program.
He continued to record with smaller combos in the fifties and sixties, performing
jazz-tinged pop music. In 1956, he was the sound of Tyrone Powers' piano playing
in The Eddy Duchin Story.
Cavallaro's showmanship influenced Liberace, who said he stole everything from
Cavallaro,''except the fancy rings.'' Carmen Cavallaro died from cancer in 1989.
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