Erskine Hawkins was born in July 1914, the son of a US soldier who died in the First World War. He originally learnt to play the drums as a child, but turned to trumpet in his teens and led a band at Alabama State Teachers College. This band turned professional and headed to New York, where they started recording in 1936 and by 1938 were pretty successful. In 1939, Hawkins wrote "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson - the Hawkins orchestra took their recording to the Top Tan a year or two later, but Glenn Miller's version went right to No. 1. He had further hits with "after hours" and "Tippin' in", the band developing a reputation as a solidly swinging outfit, that appealed to dance audiences and jazz fans alike. As the '40s progressed the band developed a foothold in the growing R&B market, enabling it to last longer than many big bands, ercording and eprforming until 1953. He led smaller jazz-oriented bands after that, until enjoying a long twilight to his career performing as trumpeter and bandleader at The Concord Resort in New York State's Kiamesha Lake. Hawkins died in 1993 at the age of 79. Acrobat has on catalogue an album of his hits from the '40s - for details click here.