Abe Aaron

Who was Abe Aaron?

Alvin "Abe" Aaron was a jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, who was born in Canada but spent most of his life performing in the United States.

Aaron's father was bandleader with a theater band in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and had him play reeds in the band for more than ten years. Early in the 1940s he left this group to play alto saxophone in the big band of Jack Teagarden. He moved to Hollywood in 1943 and played with Horace Heidt on radio. From 1945 to 1947 he played with Skinnay Ennis, then returned to work under Heidt as lead alto and solo clarinet through 1949.

Through the decade of the 1950s Aaron played in Les Brown's Band of Renown, including on tours of Europe and East Asia. He recorded often as a member of Brown's band, for Coral Records and Capitol Records among others. He also recorded with Billy Usselton and Sidney Bechet.