[ Larry Fagan Orch. ], (1930's)
Larry's orchestra was active in the early 1930's. In 1934, they played the famous Clear Lake Resort in Manitoba. The Brown Brothers orchestra may have followed them at Clear Lake.

      [ Joan Fairfax & her All Girl Orch.], (1950's)
Joan got her band, and vocal, training with the Art Hallman band. She was very active in the music business and even formed her own band which had a brief moment of glory in the 1960's.

      [ Percy Faith Orch. ], (A studio orch) (40's)
Please see Percy's entry on our American Bands database.
Percy started as one of Luigi Romanelli's sideman, and wrote quite a few scores for Luigi's band. He first found fame on the CBC with a program called Music by Faith. Later, he moved to Hollywood, CA, where he became one of the finest of the studio arrangers/leaders, with a world-wide reputation.

      [ Maynard Ferguson -Canadian Band, 1944-1949 ]
b. May 4, 1928, Montreal, Canada, d. Aug 24, 2006, Ojai, CA, USA (kidney and liver failure due to an abdominal infection).
(See also Ferguson's entry in American Bands Database
Maynard was a child prodigy. He attended Montreal High School but quit at age 15 to pursue a career in music. At age 11, he soloed with the Canadian Broadcasting Company Orchestra and by age 13 he received public acclaim as soloist with that orchestra.

When he dropped out of school (at 15) he joined his brother Percy's Dance Band playing dates in and around Montreal. The pianist in that orchestra was future jazz great Oscar Peterson. By the time he was 16 Maynard would lead his own Jazz and Dance Band, having taken over brother Percy's aggregation. Percy now played under Maynard's direction.

This 'Maynard Ferguson Orchestra' served as a warm-up act for many of the top American Orchestras. This writer recalls hearing Maynard's Canadian Orchestra on several occasions at the now defunct Crystal Ballroom, at Crystal Beach Amusement Park in Ontario, Canada, a twenty-five minute drive from Buffalo, NY.

In 1949 he dissolved this band and moved to the United States where he played in the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet and Stan Kenton. The rest is history.
This Maynard Ferguson entry is by courtesy of Mr. Chas. Steiger

      [ Paul Firman Orch. ], (40's)
This orchestra was active in the 1940's. Paul's sidemen included Jimmy Reynolds on trumpet; Doug Kemp on sax, and Bill Isbister on piano. Isbister and Kemp later led bands of their own.

      [ Gene Fogerty Orch ], (30's)
A 1930's orchestra.
No further information currently available.

      [ Robert Farnon Orch. ]
b. July 24, 1917 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, b. Toronto, Ont, Canada, d. April 23, 2005, Guernsey, England, UK. (died in his sleep.)
né: Robert Joseph Farnon
Composer/arranger/pianist/leader/vocalist
In the 1930's, Farnon, worked first as a musician playing his trumpet in a number of Toronto-based big bands. He was soon heard on the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission's orchestras led by Percy Faith, and Geoffery Waddington. Between 1937 and 1943, Farnon was a 'regular' on the long-running CBC radio series 'The Happy Gang'. During 1944-1945 (World War II), he commanded and led the Canadian Army Band of the Allied Expeditionary Force, which toured Europe with 'The Army Show'.

When he received his service discharge at the end of W.W.II, he remained in England, where he found work as a conductor, composer and arranger for the BBC. In addition, he did some composing for the British film studios, and also wrote vocal arrangments for such well-known singers as Vera Lynn, Lena Horne and Frank Sinatra. Currently (July 2004) Robert is living in the Channel Islands, UK, still active as composer, conductor, and arranger. He is the brother of Brian Farnon and Dennis Farnon, the ex-brother-in-law of Rita Oehmen, and the uncle of actress Darleen Carr.

      [ "Shorty" Fortin Orch. ]
b. Dec 10, 1916, Sudbury Ontario, Canada.
né: Edwin William Fortin
Early on in his career, Shorty played Guitar and sang with local bands in Noranda Rouyn Quebec. (In private conversation, he has mentioned a radio broadcast in Rouyn where he had to sit on a step ladder and sing through a megaphone!!) Starting in 1949, Shorty's own group played at the 'Radio Hotel' in Rouyn Quebec until Shorty went to Montreal in 1950. At that time the members of the orchestra were George Hartrick, Piano, Max Friedman, Tenor Sax (Max was involved with the RCAF bands in World War 2), Bobby Head, Drums and TiJean Pelletier on Bass.

Cliff MacKay of "Happy Gang" fame came to Rouyn with a small group (Jimmy Reynolds on Trumpet) and had Shorty come down to Toronto where he recorded four vocal tracks. At one point, Norm Amadio, when he was just 17 years of age, came down from Timmins to play with the band. Benny Winestone played Tenor Sax with the band for several months as well. (reeds/flute, Benjamin "Benny" Winestone, b. Dec. 20, 1906, Glasgow, Scotland, His father was a Cantor; his pianist brother was killed in a 1941 London air raid.) Rouyn was a wide open town and, because of Ontarios liquor laws, weekends found many Ontario people coming over to visit the clubs in Rouyn and Arntfield, Quebec. The 'Charlebois Club' in Rouyn also featured many name artists.

Shorty worked as a vocalist and MC in many of the clubs in Montreal and in Miami Florida. During WW2 he was in the Canadian Army and sang with a British Army band opposite the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He met Miller and Johnny Desmond who both said 'see you around after the war!'

During WW II, Shorty saw a good deal of action in Belgium and Holland. By the late 1950s, the BigBands era had come to an end, and he left the music business, moved to Toronto, and went into the Insurance business. Currently (2005) Shorty lives in Fort Erie, Ontario, where he is a staunch member of the Canadian Legion.