History
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| Mel Marvin |
An accomplished saxophonist, Teddy
Lee's start came by touring nationally with several "name" orchestras
from the 1930's through the mid 1950's.
The next and most formative chapter
for Lee came when he was asked to join the great Ray Pearl Band, which had
for many years been a dancing hit from coast to coast. Pearl found Lee to
be instrumental to the future success of the band and asked him to arrange
the music, direct the band and of course blow his famous lead alto. Lee and
Pearl were a formidable team, spending the next 10 years perfecting their
craft and building the band's extremely danceable style of music. Pearl, who
at one point was courted by major movie studios, would ultimately end up publicly
attacking then powerful music union head Frank Petrillo. The feud over artist
pay with the union stirred up controversy and ended Pearl's music career in
1956. Following the breakup of the Pearl Band, Lee toured for one year with
Wayne King, a musician Lee had always admired.
The Teddy Lee
Orchestra was organized in 1958 when the owners of the Melody Mill Ballroom
in
Riverside, IL asked him to start his
own band. On the spur of the
moment, Lee put together a new version
of the old Ray Pearl Band. Now under his own name (The Teddy Lee Orchestra),
but using many Pearl
arrangements and several of his old Pearl bandstand colleagues.
Promising only a two week engagement, the popularity of the band was immediate,
changing two weeks into two months,
the band became one of the biggest name orchestras in Chicago..
Wonderful music, great dancing
and great times, the Teddy Lee Orchestra has the history of providing
them all to Chicago for over 45 years.
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Teddy Lee and Ray Pearl
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| Teddy Lee in US Army
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The success of the Orchestra moved
forward with numerous engagements at the top Chicagoland ballrooms such as;
Melody Mill, Willowbrook, Milford, Embassy, Glendora House and the Aragon Ballroom.
Many of these engagements were broadcast live by CBS radio, which helped the
band to gain further popularity. Lawrence Welk, after hearing the orchestra
at the Willowbrook said, "There should be more dance-bands like Teddy Lee!"
Later the orchestra would be named "One of America's Great Dance Orchestras"
by the National Ballroom Association.
Teddy Lee was loved by the dancers
for his musical style and his special way with people. Although he played
5 days a week, fifty weeks a year, he made the dancers and listeners feel
as if each engagement was a special night for them. Not only was he a gifted
saxophonist and leader during his career, but also a highly skilled music
arranger. The key to his arranging style was his ability to keep the dancers
in mind, while leaving out the clutter of unnecessary writing. In 1990, after
55 years in the music business, the baton was passed to his son Teddy Lee
Jr.
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Teddy Lee Jr.
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Fads, trends and entire pop culture
movements have come and gone since the inception of the Teddy Lee Orchestra,
but the band continues onward without compromise. Their integrity, as much
as their style, has helped them build a loyal audience. It won't be long before
the rest of the world finds out what fans closer to Chicago already know.
Photography Credits: Chuck Sengstock, Marsha Lega
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