Wyatt Ruther, Bass, 1923, Pittsburgh, PA
Ruther played trombone in high school and later took up the bass, studying both instruments at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Pittsburgh Musical Institute. He graduated in1950 and for the next few years he worked with Dave Brubeck and with Erroll Garner and did some touring with Lena Horne and Toshiko Akiyoshi. In the mid '50s he made his home in Canada where he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. He played with prominent Canadian musicians and also taught in Hull, Ottawa, and Toronto and also managed to return to New York and record with numerous American musicians. During most of the 1970s Ruther worked as a freelance in Vancouver. The mid '80s found Wyatt living and working in the San Francisco Bay area where he led his own group and taught privately. Ruther is known for his strong bass playing and a wonderful free-swinging style. His smooth phrasing and melodic inventive ideas reflect the influence of his idol, Jimmy Blanton.
Gene Schroeder, Piano, 1915, Madison, WI
Both of Gene's parents were musicians and Gene studied the piano for several years in the mid '20s. In high school he played the clarinet and in1932 studied music for a year at the University of Wisconsin. Later in the decade he moved to New York where he led his own small band at the Towne Topics Club. During the '40s he moved around quite a bit, playing with the top musicians in New York, Chicago, and Boston. In the 1940s he worked in New York at Nick's and Eddie Condon's club. He remained with Condon for almost two decades. He also studied with the composer Paul Creston during the late '40s. From 1961 to 1964 he was a member of the Dukes Of Dixieland. Gene Schroeder died in 1975.
Don Goldie, Trumpet, 1930, Newark, NJ
Bill Mays, Piano, 1944, Sacramento, CA
