* En anglais uniquement
A brilliant technician with a beautiful tone and a wide range,
Ernie Royal spent most of his career in the anonymous settings of studio bands, uplifting the music but only gaining fame among those in the music industry. The younger brother of altoist
Marshall Royal (who was nine years older), the trumpeter picked up early experience playing in Los Angeles with
Les Hite & His Orchestra (1937-1938) and with Cee Pee Johnson (1939). Both of the
Royal brothers were with
Lionel Hampton & His Big Band (1940-1942) and
Ernie Royal hit the famous screaming high notes on the original
Hampton version of "Flying Home."
After a period in the Army (1942-1945), he worked in San Francisco with
Vernon Alley and in Los Angeles with
Phil Moore, and then spent much of 1946 with
Count Basie & His Orchestra.
Royal was a member of
Woody Herman's Second Herd during 1947-1949 and had short stints with
Charlie Barnet and
Duke Ellington. He played in France with
Jacques Hélian & Son Orchestre, worked with
Wardell Gray in 1952, and was with
Stan Kenton & His Orchestra twice (1953 and 1955). After becoming a staff musician at ABC in 1957,
Ernie Royal settled into the life of a well-respected studio musician, appearing on a countless number of recordings but rarely soloing. During his career he made few recordings as a leader: just ten titles in Paris in 1950 (six were reissued as part of a Xanadu album) and an LP for Urania in 1954. ~ Scott Yanow