band and looked forward to delving into the challenging music they play. I also felt New York offered more possibilities and variety in the long run.” Thirty-seven years later, he is still a fixture in Giordano’s 11-member aggregation on Monday and Tuesday nights at Birdland. Detroit Upbringing Jon-Erik Kellso grew up in the Detroit suburb of Allen Park. When he auditioned for his elementary school band, Jon opted for the trumpet, not knowing that his father had played trumpet in swing and polka bands as a youth. So it followed that his father gave him his first lessons. He had become intrigued with his parents’ collection of 78rpm Swing records. His buddy Mike Karoub (who went on to become a highly-regarded cellist with the Royal Garden Trio and various jazz and symphonic groups), turned him on to Bix, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and the Eddie Condon gang as the two youngsters shared their musical discoveries. “Dad dug out his old horn and taught me the B flat chromatic scale the first day, which might normally take weeks or even months. I was anxious to learn to play, and he got me started on the right foot before turning me over to a series of fine private teachers. My folks were very supportive and encouraging in my musical education. I needed no prodding, and they would often tell me to stop practicing and go to bed.” In junior high school, the two boys downsized the big swing band they had assembled in elementary school, and for two summers, they played five hours a day, six days a week outside the Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. “When we auditioned for the job, we knew about six tunes, so we had to learn new ones in a hurry, either by ear or from commercial arrangements that we were able to pick up. This was a great learning experience and chops-builder, and I even tried my hand at arranging and composing.” During his junior high and high school days, Jon also studied classically, playing with the International and Michigan Youth Symphonies and various com- munity orchestras. When he was 16, he joined the musicians’ union. This opened the door for him to play with older professionals, and he soon was playing with the Tailgate Ramblers and Red Garter Band. He enrolled at Wayne State University to study music which gave him the opportunity to travel to Europe with their concert band and jazz ensembles. As his reputation grew, his work load expanded and included big bands led by Johnny Trudell and legendary drummer, J.C. Heard, as well as a salsa band and Motown acts that came to town. Breaking In Cornetist Tom Saunders, clarinetist Bill Roper, trumpeter Nate Panicacci and ragtime pianist Bob Milne were among those who encouraged and hired Jon and introduced him around the Detroit jazz scene. “Mike Karoub and I enjoyed going to the Presidential Inn where Saunders led his Surfside Six for many years, and he eventually let us sit in,” Kellso recalled. “We would sip Coca-Cola, and if we were lucky, beer out of coffee mugs trying to look like we were older. We dressed like we imagined college kids dressed – tweed or camel hair jackets with sweaters underneath, with bow ties, and Mike would sometimes smoke a cigar or pipe.” “Tommy brought Wild Bill Davison in as a guest once or twice a year, and it was a thrill listening to him share anecdotes. When I was 17, Tom included me in a “Four Generations of Jazz Cornet” concert with himself, Wild Bill and Paul Monat. That was quite a thrill!”
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