Gene Krupa in Chicago. Bartłomiej was an immigrant from Poland. Anna was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania and was also of Polish descent. His parents were Roman Catholics who groomed him for the priesthood. He spent his grammar school days at parochial schools. After graduation he attended Saint Joseph's College for a year but decided the priesthood was not his vocation. Krupa studied with Sanford A. Moeller and began playing drums professionally in the mid-1920s with bands in Wisconsin. In 1927 he was hired by MCA to become a member of Thelma Terry and Her Playboys, the first notable American jazz band—all-girl bands
Bill Ashton (jazz musician) to jazz in 1978 and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. Ashton has also received the BBC Radio 2 Jazz Award in 1995 for his Services to Jazz, a Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and is a Fellow of Leeds College of Music. Bill Ashton (jazz musician) William Michael Allingham Ashton OBE (born 6 December 1936) is a British saxophonist and composer, best known for co-founding the London Schools’ Orchestra, now the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO), of which he is Musical Director. Ashton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire.