Dean Hudson

Dean Hudson (February 7, 1913—December 5, 1991) was an American trumpeter, singer, and big band swing leader, known for his bands Dean Hudson and the Florida Clubmen, or just Clubmen, which was later renamed "Dean Hudson and His Orchestra."

Dean Hudson was born Marion Elsworth Brown on February 7, 1913, in Lake Worth, Florida, to musician parents—his father was a trumpeter and symphonic band director, and his mother was a pianist.

In the 1930s, Marion attended the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, where he was part of a band called Clubmen. At the time, the band was headed by fellow student Eli Katz, who used the stage name, "Dean Hudson." After graduation, Katz went on to become a lawyer in Miami, Florida, leaving the bandleader spot vacant. Marion was chosen as the bandleader and assumed the "Dean Hudson" moniker. The band then became known as "Dean Hudson and the Florida Clubmen." After they graduated in 1936, they got a gig performing at the Dempsey Hotel in Macon, Georgia.

In January 1938, they recorded six tracks for Bluebird records, including "Miami Dreams", which Brown ("Hudson") sang. The tracks also included "Liebestraum" (originally composed by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt), "Stormy weather" (written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler), and "Annie Laurie" (performed by Frances Colwell).

After a few years, the band was renamed "Dean Hudson and His Orchestra." In the early 1940s, their new band recorded several selections for Otto K. E. Heinemann's Okeh Records. The tracks included such songs as "Holly Hop", "Ma, I Miss Your Apple Pie", "Blitzkrieg", "You're Gone", "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" among others. The other performers on the tracks were: Sonny Stockton (vocals), Sam Latimer (vocals), The Dixie Debs (vocals), and Parker Lund (drums). They also performed "Can't You Tell" with Ruth Vale on vocals—the song was originally written by Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson.

During that period, influential big bandleaders like Tommy Dorsey would often call on musicians from his band when he needed someone to tour.

From late 1941 to 1943, Marion ("Hudson") served in the U.S. Army. He then returned to music and his band made a few recordings for Lang-Worth Feature Programs/Langlois and Wentworth, and Musicraft Records (tracks "The More I See You", "I Wuv A Wabbit", "It Never Has Happened Before", "I Found A New Baby album art" etc.—all in 1945). They also covered "Caravan," which was originally written by Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, and Juan Tizol.

Their band became an annual attraction at the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, Virginia for 15 years, and also performed at the nation's several well-known venues during the 1940s and 1950s, including the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago; the Paramount Theatre in New York City; the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey; the Earle Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana; and Copley Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts.

Hudson remained active with his orchestra until the eighties. At an appearance at the Columbia Inn in Columbia, South Carolina, on September 28, 1981, Hudson played quite a few medleys, including ones in tribute to fellow bandleaders Russ Morgan and Guy Lombardo. His band's last recordings took place in January 1982, for George H. Buck's label Circle, and included former Glen Gray musician Billy Rauch on trombone. Over the years, Hudson collaborated, at various times, with trumpeter Ray Linn, clarinetist/saxophonist Mahlon Clark, and pianist Lennie Love.

Hudson was married to Nancy Hudson, a singer.

In his later years, he ran a booking agency in Atlanta, then Decatur, Georgia, and continued to occasionally front bands at college proms, private balls, or conventions.

Hudson died of cancer on December 5, 1991, in a hospital in Decatur, Georgia.

• Dean Hudson and His Orchestra 1944-1950, Circle, 1999
• Dean Hudson and His Orchestra 1944-1950, vol. 3, Circle
• More 1944-1950, Circle, 2002
• 1982/1985, Circle, 2005