![]() His Steinway piano, CD 199, once revered for its sound by concert pianists from around the world, is at the ready, a legend in itself. The 39 photographs, posters, recordings and other artifacts come from Henderson's collection. In the exhibit, " Skitch Henderson: A Man & his Music," pictures of Henderson with Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby hang alongside those of Count Basie, conductor Leopold Stokowski and Judy Garland. When MGM tapped him as a replacement pianist for Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, Henderson's career made a sharp turn, setting the stage for a life intertwined with the milestones in American music. It was the first time I heard big radio orchestras and the first time I heard dance bands like Earl Hines and Duke Ellington." "I would sit in the control room at night and listen to the broadcasts from Chicago and New York and dream like other kids did at that age about ascending the aesthetic stairs. The exhibit is a collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution. ![]() It was where my dreams began to unfold," Henderson said at his New Milford home, where an exhibit about his career opens Saturday in The Silo Gallery. The station was KFYR, which still exists today. "When I got to Bismarck, that was the big time. He made a short-lived, unsuccessful diversion in Mandan to play with Buddy and His Pals before arriving in Bismarck, where he was hired to play piano with Harry Turner and his Orchestra for a radio station. The 16-year-old was in Fargo, where he learned about a job for a pianist in Bismarck and hopped a freight train.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |