Dave Burns (musician) Dave Burns (musician) David Burns (March 24, Perth Amboy, New Jersey - April 5, 2009, Freeport, New York) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, arranger, composer, and teacher. Burns began playing trumpet when he was nine years old, and heard bebop performances at Minton's Playhouse as a teenager, including Dizzy Gillespie. His first ensemble was Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans, with whom he played from 1941 to 1943, then joined the Army Air Force and led a band from 1943 to 1945 that included James Moody as a sideman. He joined Gillespie's band in 1946 and appeared with Gillespie in "Jivin'
Billy Root (musician) 1968 settled in Las Vegas, where he played live in casinos for the next two decades. With Bennie Green With Red Rodney Billy Root (musician) William "Billy" Root (born March 6, 1934, Philadelphia) is an American jazz saxophonist. Root was raised in a musical family; his father played drums in Philadelphia ensembles. Root began playing professionally in the early 1950s, with Roy Eldridge, Hal McIntyre, Red Rodney, Bennie Green, and Buddy Rich. Later in the decade he worked extensively with Stan Kenton and with Rodney, as well as with Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, and Curtis Fuller.