Some folks may not know what “Hoyt’s Garage” was. Hoyt Bohannon was a very successful studio trombonist in LA. From 1946, Hoyt hosted trombone ensemble rehearsals. From 1951, they took place in a room attached to his garage – hence, “Hoyt’s Garage.” This was just before my time, but here is a live broadcast from 1973.

In the mid-fifties, Tommy Pederson, a trombone legend, joined the group. Tommy’s virtuosity can be heard in this humorous clip from the Spike Jones Show and playing Moontide with Gene Krupa in 1945. Tommy’s record, All My Friends Are Trombone Players should be in every trombonist’s library (available here or here). Hoyt and Tommy were “unindicted co-conspirators” at The Garage.

Hoyt was on staff at Warner Brothers for more than a decade, principal trombone of the Glendale Symphony, a featured soloist with Harry James, played with Paul Whiteman, and freelanced in LA for years. Leopold Stokowski programmed the Nathaniel Shilkret Concerto for Trombone to be performed July 28, 1945 at the Hollywood Bowl. Tommy Dorsey had premiered the work earlier that year, but a fee for Mr. Dorsey could be agreed. So, 27-year-old Army Air Corps Sergeant, Hoyt Bohannon was tapped to replace Dorsey. Hear Hoyt perform the Shilkret here.

Pullman Gerald “Tommy” Pederson, the self-proclaimed “foremost authority on the art of playing the trombone” was way, way, WAY larger than life. He went the road with Orrin Tucker’s band at the age of 13, moved to LA six years later a was a first-call trombone player for more than two decades thereafter. He wrote etude books, composed over 300 works for solo trombone and trombone ensemble – and arranged works such as Ravel’s “Alborado del Gracioso”, Albeniz’s “El Puerto” and “Festival of Seville” (from Iberia Suite) and Debussy’s “Prelude” (from Suite Bergamasque) for trombones. Michelle Poland Devlin’s doctoral dissertation is a gold mine of information about Tommy!

For decades, Hoyt’s Garage was a de facto audition to break into LA studio work. The first time at The Garage was an overwhelming experience. There was this stunning array of trombone players. The music was extraordinarily challenging. Here are a couple samples from Alan Kaplan (playing all the parts): Tommy’s A Touch of Drastic and Hoyt’s arrangement of music from The Adventures of Don Juan by Max Steiner.

Neither Tommy nor Hoyt were shy about clarifying the standard they expected – particularly Tommy. Comments like “Who’s the sloppy son of a [expletive deleted] playing long eighth notes?” “Not your kind of loud!” & “COME ON!!” were interspersed with “ATTA BOY!” The fact that these gents took me seriously was huge.

The signature stylistic element of the Garage was the pretty much constant slide vibrato in ensemble – not just soloistically. Bass trombone, not so much, but it was mandatory for tenors! Hoyt felt, “the string section vibrates, so should we.” This was a deal breaker for some. That time has come and gone.

The contrast between Hoyt Bohannon’s and Tommy Pederson’s personalities – and their mutual respect and friendship – was a joy to behold. This difference was clear in their music. Hoyt’s was largely adaptations and arrangements of orchestral, chamber and vocal music as well as music by great film composers. Tommy’s was mostly original music that reflected his bravura approach to life in general. Alan Kaplan’s two Secrets of Hoyt’s Garage CDs, and All My Concertos, produced by Jim and Debbie Boltinghouse (available here or here) illustrate this contrast vividly. I was honored to play The Orators with my friend Bill Booth for the Boltinghouse project in 2003. Alan wrote a nice piece about the Garage here.