Dukes of Dixieland Dukes of Dixieland The Dukes of Dixieland was a New Orleans "Dixieland"-style revival band, originally formed in 1948 by brothers Frank Assunto, trumpet; Fred Assunto, trombone; and their father Papa Jac Assunto, trombone and banjo. Their first records featured Jack Maheu, clarinet; Stanley Mendelsohn, piano; Tommy Rundell, drums; and Barney Mallon, tuba and string bass. During its run the band also featured musicians such as jazz great clarinetist Pete Fountain, Jerry Fuller, and guitar legends Jim Hall, and Herb Ellis. The band also recorded with Louis Armstrong. Fred and Frank Assunto both died young, and the original Dukes of Dixieland
Jazz the 1950s and 1960s, Dixieland was one of the most commercially popular jazz styles in the US, Europe, and Japan, although critics paid little attention to it. In 1944, jazz impresario Norman Granz organized the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Los Angeles, which helped make a star of Nat "King" Cole and Les Paul. In 1946, he founded Clef, discovering Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson in 1949 and merging Clef with his new label Verve in 1956, which advanced the career of Ella Fitzgerald. By the end of the 1940s, the nervous energy and tension of bebop was