Frank Orilio oral history interview with Chris Brubeck about performing with Dave Brubeck in USO tours throughout Germany from 1945-1946
Moving Image, 1.5C.03.016
Created June 27, 2025
103-year-old Frank Orilio (b. 1922), a jazz drummer and WWII veteran from Hollywood, Florida, visited the archive to talk with Chris Brubeck about his experiences playing with Dave Brubeck in a large USO show band (formed from the combined 115th Army Ground Force Band and 17th Reinforcement Depot Band) for the Radio City Rockettes in Germany from late 1945 to early 1946.
Topics include Frank and Dave's army roles, the Nuremburg Trials, visiting the Eagle's Nest, performing Ravel's Boléro, Dave Brubeck's group The Wolf Pack (U.S. armed forces' first racially integrated band), and Orilio's encounters with famous jazz musicians including Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, Marian McPartland, Jimmy McPartland, and Harry James (recorded in the Brubeck Collection Archive Room).
Topics include Frank and Dave's army roles, the Nuremburg Trials, visiting the Eagle's Nest, performing Ravel's Boléro, Dave Brubeck's group The Wolf Pack (U.S. armed forces' first racially integrated band), and Orilio's encounters with famous jazz musicians including Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, Marian McPartland, Jimmy McPartland, and Harry James (recorded in the Brubeck Collection Archive Room).
English
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