Bob Havens (born May 3 1930) is an American
big band and jazz musician who appeared on The Lawrence Welk Show from 1960
to 1982. His instrument is the
trombone.
Born to a
musical family in Quincy, Illinois
. He began studying
violin and
trombone at age
seven and played both instruments throughout his school years. He
landed his first professional job with a local dance band at age
12.
By the
age of 16, his talent as a trombonist was recognized with a
scholarship from the Interlochen
Music Camp in Michigan
and Bob held
the first trombone chair in the school's 250 piece concert
band. He later held the first trombone chair in the
Quincy Symphony while also playing in many
popular dance groups in Illinois.
After serving in the
Illinois
National Guard as a bandsman during the
Korean War, he left Quincy in 1955 to tour with
the
Ralph Flanagan Orchestra.
In 1956,
he joined George Girard's Dixieland
Band at the Famous Door in New Orleans
. There, he met his idol,
Jack Teagarden.
In 1957, Bob joined
Al Hirt at Dan's Pier
600 on
Bourbon Street when Hirt
formed his very first band. The front line consisted of Hirt,
Havens and
Pete Fountain.
During the time in New
Orleans, he recorded albums for Good
Times Jazz and Vic
labels with the Girrad band and on Verve and Audio
Fidelity with Hirt. He also recorded about a dozen
albums for the
Southland label
with many other New Orleans musicians.
Bob stayed with this group until 1960 when he was persuaded to move
to the West Coast and join the
Lawrence
Welk Orchestra as a featured soloist on their weekly TV series.
His brilliant tenure with this show lasted for 23 years until the
show ended in 1982.
Since then, he continued to be active as a free-lance professional
working often with the
Bob Crosby Bob
Cats and the
Benny Goodman Orchestra
(led by clarinetist
Peanuts Hucko).
From 1985 to 1995, Havens played with the
Great Pacific Jazz Band along with
Bob Ringwald (lead vocals/piano),
Don Nelson (saxophone), and
Zeke Zarchy (trumpet).
Recently
in 2005, he performed with the North
Carolina Pops Orchestra at Campbell University
with fellow Welk star Ava
Barber for a benefit raising money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bob Havens
lives in Buies Creek, North Carolina
and has a summer home in Maywood, Missouri.
He continues to record and appear at
jazz
festivals and
concerts throughout the
world.