Herb Geller

Herb Geller was an accomplished American alto saxophonist and clarinettist, adept on both instruments by the age of ten. He came from a musical background, his mother having been a piano accompanist for silent pictures. Inspired by a performance of Benny Carter at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, Geller decided upon a career as a professional musician. In 1946, aged eighteen, he joined the big band of Joe Venuti on the West Coast. After a further stint with a group led by trumpeter/arranger Billy May, Geller moved to New York. He worked in the orchestras of Claude Thornhill (1950-51) and Jerry Wald (1952), afterwards playing in smaller combos involving leading West Coast personnel, including Chet Baker, Maynard Ferguson, Shelly Manne and Marty Paich. He was also briefly co-leader of a quartet with his wife, the bop pianist Lorraine Walsh. Her sudden death from pulmonary edema in 1958 prompted Geller to leave the U.S.. He subsequently toured South America, moving on to Germany via Lisbon and Paris. For three years beginning in 1962, he played in the orchestra of West Berlin's RIAS radio station, as well as operating a night club. From 1965, he settled in Hamburg, much in demand as a session musician, playing bebop in the style of Charlie Parker. For many years, Geller was a fixture at the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) radio big band as arranger/leader. Up until the 1990's, he also made recordings for Enja Records, Fresh Sound, and V.S.O.P. and with top musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, Max Roach and Louie Bellson.