Benny Meroff Benny Meroff Benny Meroff (1899-1973) was an American dance bandleader active in the swing jazz era. He also played violin, clarinet, and saxophone. Meroff started his career in vaudeville, and put together his own ensemble in the middle of the 1920s. His sidemen included Wild Bill Davison, Al King, Vernon Brown, Frank Teschemacher, and Santo Pecora. He was principally active in Chicago in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and also played in New York into the 1940s. Meroff was noted for his showmanship as a bandleader; big band historian Leo Walker described Meroff as "a capable emcee, equally at
Benny Kalama Kainapau, Alvin Isaacs Sr and Tommy Castro. In between his participation with the McDiarmid band, Benny played with the Wally Lavque's band, also at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. He toured the mainland with the Royal Hawaiian Serenaders, appearing in movies and on recordings. Benny Kalama was with Andy Bright's band the years 1952–1955 at the Moana Hotel in Waikiki. In 1955, he began working with Alfred Apaka in Las Vegas, followed by 15 years with Henry Kaiser's Hawaiian Village. Kalama's arrangements are credited with helping Apaka's success. On radio, Kalama was a director and arranger on KGU's "Voice of Hawaii"