Born in Newcomerstown, Ohio, on November 6, 1941, Larry Carney is the husband of Nancy, father of guitarist Sean (the 2007 International Blues Challenge Winner), and brother of previous Hall-of-Fame inductee Gary. He taught music for 33 years including 9 in Denver and 24 in Ohio (with 9 of those in Dublin). As a bass player, Larry has performed with orchestras in Fort Wayne, Lima, Indianapolis, Columbus, Denver, Springfield, Newark/Granville, and Delaware. He was a member of a hotel house band at the Sherman House in Chicago, and the Brown Palace and Fairmont in Denver. Among the many big name musicians he has performed with are Mose Allison, Xavier Cugat, Billy Eckstine, Cab Calloway, Jim Pankow, Eddie Daniels, Sue Raney, Keely Smith, Chris Connor, and Louie Belson. Larry also has worked with the Ohio Northern Faculty Jazz Concert, Lima Symphony Orchestra, Gary Carney Sextet, and Ball State University Jazz Quintet.
Joseph Linn “Joe” Colburn was encouraged to take piano lessons by his mother and within a few years had progressed beyond his teacher. He then moved on to Frank Meier who had studied for his doctorate in Dresden, Germany, prior to World War I. Meier served as the pianist/organist for the old Memorial Hall and taught Joe harmony, theory, composition, and other useful things. Soon he was playing piano at a local church and in Earl Angel’s country-western band during high school. When World War II broke out, Joe served in the Army in the South Pacific and played piano whenever he had the opportunity. He then entered Ohio State on the GI Bill, intent on becoming a music teacher. He studied piano and organ under Professors Tettly-Cardos and Frederick, and worked part time at a funeral home. He soon switched out of music education to become a funeral director. In 1947, Joe became one of the original members of Doc Everhart’s Band, remaining with it for its entire fifty year run. On joining the music union in 1950, he began played weekly with the Frank Larue Band at the Maennerchor until 1961. He also was a member of the Anne Young-Chuck Selby band for a number of years, while gigging in various combos. Upon retiring from the funeral business, Joe played with the Continentals for 8 years, the Larry Shafer Band for 9, and also was the fulltime organist at his church. He was also the accompanist for Humboldt Masonic Chorus until it disbanded, as well as the Aladdin Shrine Dixieland Band and the Dance Band.
For 32 years, Herb Harrison (aka “Dr. Jazz”) was a professor of music theory at the University of California, Sacramento, where he was the founder and director of the award winning jazz program. Under Herb’s direction, the school took prizes at the Reno Jazz and Newport Music Festivals. A gifted composer, arranger, and conductor, Herb worked with symphony orchestras and vocal groups. Following his retirement, he moved to Columbus (his wife’s home town) where he was “adopted” by Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra, to which he contributed many arrangements. He was a member of The Ohio State University Alumni Association and the Faculty Club. Herb passed away on 09/20/2008 at the age of 85. Only the week before, he had delivered a new arrangement to Wiester. In the Galion area, Herb was known as the man who re-arranged the “Galion Stomp,” a piece that was originally composed by Lovie Austin. Herb was so charmed by the city in 2005 he created his own composition, “Another Galion Stomp.” The Galion City School District subsequently used Herb’s score of the “Galion Stomp” to decorate the walls of the high school music room.
For more than 20 years, Dwight Lenox has been delighting audiences around the country with his singing as he moves effortlessly from blues to ballads and jazz to swing. Growing up in New York, Dwight honed his talent in the church choir. Although he went on to study and perform musical styles as diverse as country and rock 'n' roll, his roots were in gospel. Influenced by Nancy Wilson, Nat King Cole, and Sarah Vaughn, Dwight inevitably gravitated to jazz. With his band, the Lenox Avenue Express, Dwight has performing at galas, fund raisers, private parties, and clubs. He's worked with Sammy Tucker and organist Hank Marr, another Hall-of-Famer. He's been showcased alongside the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Bobbie Humphreys, Ramsey Lewis, and Herbie Mann. And as featured vocalist with the 17-piece Columbus Jazz Orchestra, he's shared the stage with Harold Jones and Carmen Bradford. Dwight's career has taken him from New York to LA to the heart of the Midwest. Between his half dozen or so albums any many local appearances, if you haven’t heard Dwight sing, then you must not get out much.
Born in Toledo, Ray Pauken graduated from Maumee High School and The Ohio State University. As a child, Ray developed a life-long interest in the banjo, particularly the Dixieland and Riverboat style, although he also plays guitar and drums. Despite the fact that he bought his first banjo while in college, Ray didn’t really get started playing professionally until he was 40. A school teacher by day, he began playing the banjo on weekends at Plank’s in 1979, a gig he held down for twenty five years with his piano-playing partner, John Farley. The secret of Ray’s success was getting the audience involved and making them a part of the performance. He continues to appear at schools, retirement centers, festivals, and other events where people come to have a good time. More than ten years ago, Ray and his friend Greg Hankins formed the Bexley String Band at the Radio Café, a loose group of musicians which gather together once a week just to have fun. Oh, and incidentally, Ray is also the father of mutli-instrumentalist Molly Pauken, one of the area’s best known female musicians. I suspect he had something to do with her interest in music.
Bob Robuck graduated from North High School, earned a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University, and a master’s from the University of Michigan. Accomplished on the clarinet as well as the piano, Bob taught instrumental music in the public schools for 35 years in California, New York, and Ohio, retiring from the Columbus Public Schools in 1997. Locally, he has performed with The Classmen, The Continentals, Buckeye Brass, Trombones Plus, River Rats, and the Emerland City Orchestras. He also was the long-time keyboard player for The Golden Buckeyes and is a member of the Worthington Civic Band. Bob maintains membership in the IAJE, WASBE, MENC, OMEA, and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. For many years, he’s been a judge for the OMEA adjudicated competitions and has also accompanied numerous students in the solo and ensemble portions of the competitions. He has also served as accompanist for school programs at Beechcroft, Northland, and Fort Hayes, as well as Curtain Players. He developed an interest in arranging music while participating in Program 60 at OSU.
Originally from Youngstown, John Stanton came to Columbus to attend college and remained until his retirement to Florida. While still in Youngstown, he was a member of the Shrine Band as well as the first marching band established at Youngstown College. John earned a bachelor of science in music education from The Ohio State University, as well as a master of arts. Primarily a trumpet and coronet player, he also studied clarinet. John was a member of the Concert Band (first chair), Marching Band (for which he wrote arrangements), and Men’s Glee Club. He also worked in local dance bands at least twice a week including those of Jimmy Frank and Ken Frank, Chuck, and one that played at Pomerene Hall. Upon graduation, he became the band director at Steubenville before moving to Bexley High School where he taught Janet Ebert and Ian Polster among others. Among his former students are symphony, band and choir directors, jazz musicians, and many music supporters. He continued to write arrangements and became an expert in the sheet music business, first working at the Musical Arts store and then Ziggy Coyle’s before establishing Stanton’s Sheet Music. His knowledge and leadership in this field has made Stanton’s a music source with a world-wide market. Since his retirement, John has sat in on many jam sessions, directed choral groups, sung with choirs, and played in the Ft. Myers Band.
Jim Strouse began playing in high school in St. Marys, Ohio, and continued through college at Ohio State, and as a member of the 30th Army Band in Munich. He plays the trombone (on which he gave his grad recital at Ohio State) and the euphonium (on which he is generally better known). He has played in many jazz and dance combos. Following in John Stanton’s footsteps, he took over as owner of Stanton’s Sheet Music and enlarged the services, bringing in more church musicians and other leaders in need of a selection of music. Jim holds a B.S. in music from Ohio State, and was a high school band and orchestra director in Columbus for five years. A member of the Aladdin Temple Shrine Concert Band and Dixieland Band, he has also played trombone in the Ragtime Strutters. Among his many awards is the first ever Outstanding Retailer Lifetime Achievement Award from Hal Leonard Publishing. In 2001, he received the Dorothy Award, the highest honor in the print music industry, at the RPMDA Convention. The same year he received the first ever Traugott-Rohner Leadership in the Music Industry Award from the American String Teachers Association. In 2006, Jim retired from running the day-to-day operations at Stanton’s.
Born in 1919 in Salem, Ohio, Howard Arthur Tibbs was a graduate of Salem High School. His mother came from a musical background and taught both piano and voice. His grandmother was a classically trained pianist who performed with the Howard Minstrels. His choice was to learn the tenor saxophone. The discipline of music would serve him the rest of his life and aid him also in his military service to the nation during World War II. Howard entered the military at Ft. Hayes as a member of the Army Air Corps (AAC). Due to segregation, the bases her served at were largely comprised of African-American troops with European-American commanding officers. As a member of the service bands, Howard appeared with Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, and the Mills Brothers. For a time, he was stationed at Lockbourne Air Force Base. Following the war, he returned to Salem and married. After earning a bachelor’s degree at Youngstown College, he attended Capital Law School in Columbus, and then settled into a career with the Internal Revenue Service. He spent the last forty years of his life in Newark. He lived in Newark for the last 40 years of his life until he passed away in 1986. He continued to play his sax throughout his life and sometimes gigged with local bands. Following his death, Howard A. Tibbs was awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal.
For 38 years, Gary Tirey was director of instrumental studies and a professor of tuba at Otterbein College, retiring in 2006. In 1982, with the support of Hall-of-Famer Gene D’Angelo, he started the Merry TubaChristmas tradition in Columbus. He had studied under Harvey Phillips at Indiana University, the founder of Merry TubaChristmas. Gary was also the founder of the Bexley Meadow Band in 1985. This group held concerts at Jeffrey Park. A native of Anna, Ohio, he is an alumnus of both Capital University and VanderCook College of Music. In 1990, Gary was named an honorary alumnus of Otterbein. He is an active member of the Columbus Federation of Musicians, the Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA) and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). He has held several leadership positions in OMEA, and has served as regional student advisor to MENC. He is currently president of Phi Beta Mu, an honorary fraternity for band directors. An original member of the Brass Band of Columbus, Gary also has performed with the Columbus Symphony and faculty brass quintets. Currently he is a member of the TubaShop Quartet, a professional tuba quartet which features Harvey Phillips.
Sid Townsend teaches String Methods. He is an active performer on string bass, electric bass, and tuba and has performed in Central Ohio with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, Westerville Civic Symphony, Kenley Players Orchestra, Lawrence Welk Orchestra, Columbus Jazz Orchestra, and the High Street Stompers Dixieland Band. He is presently playing in the Broadway Series Orchestra, the Capital Brass Quintet, and the Terry Waldo Ragtime Orchestra and, is free-lancing throughout the Midwest. In addition, he has recorded four albums with Carmen Cavallaro and two albums with the Terry Waldo Ragtime Orchestra. As a 25-year veteran of the Westerville City Schools, Sid remains an active member of the Ohio Music Educators Association and has served the organization in several positions. He has a Bachelor and Master degree in Music Education, from The Ohio State University, and taught music in the public schools for 30 years before his retirement. He has been an adjunct professor at the Capital University Conservatory of Music for 14 years and has taught as adjunct bass professor at the Ohio State Univ. and Otterbein College.
Chuck Warner’s father was a local dance band leader, so it’s not surprising that he became interested in music at an early age. Starting in 7th grade at Linden-McKinley, Chuck played piano in Gene D’Angelo’s junior/senior high dance band for 6 years, joining Local 103 at the ripe old age of 16. In 1939, he became a charter member of the justly famed Columbus Boychoir. At 19, Chuck attended the Dorsey Brothers School of Music in New York. During his sojourn in the Big Apple, he joined local 803, and played on a NYC radio station. After coming home, he became a member of the Ziggy Coyle Band for 22 years until the band was retired. Chuck has played piano with the Jerry Kaye Orchestra at the Ohio State Fair backing Bob Hope, Red Skelton, the Ringling Brothers Circus, etc. He also directed church choirs for 55 years. Until 2001, he accompanied Margie Coyle on WCVO’s Sunday afternoon request show. Somewhere along the way, Chuck also managed to squeeze in a Bachelor of Music degree from Ohio State.
Born in Circleville, Frederick Weaver learned to play the clarinet at an early age. While attending Everts High School, he took it upon himself to start an orchestra and also composed the music for the senior class song. Following graduation, Fred attended the Boston Conservatory of Music and the Chautauqua Summer program. Returning home to Circleville, he went on tour with the Columbus-based Arcadian Sextet until he entered The Ohio State University. Toward the end of World War I, he enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the 7th Regimental Band as director. After being discharged, Fred returned to OSU and became actively involved in the music and drama programs. Just before graduation, he was signed by the Sousa Band with which he remained for 11 years. During the summers, he worked in other bands and orchestras, primarily in Florida. When he finally left Sousa, Fred toured with the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus band for two years. Back in Columbus, Fred became orchestra director for the Hartman Theatre, conducted the WHKC radio band, and taught woodwind classes until his death from cancer in 1948.
A graduate of North High School and The Ohio State University, David Weltner plays the cornet, flugelhorn, and harmonicas. He has been involved in music, both vocal and instrumental, since junior high school, playing in numerous bands, combos, and quartets, as well as performing in choruses, choirs, and theatre productions. After open heart surgery forced him to quit playing horns, he taught himself to play jazz harmonica at 73. While he pursued a career in newspaper advertizing, music has always played a major role in David’s life. He is currently a member of the Bexley String Folk Band and the Mifflin Church Contemporary Worship Praise Band. He was founder of the Gahanna Community Theatre. He is a past board member of the Society for Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America (Buckeye Chapter), was a past president of the Young Business Men’s Club. For 25 years, he was a member of the Advertizing Federation Jazz Combo, soloist for the annual Gridiron Show, and a vocal and instrumental soloist for 25 years.
