Bunny Berigan: Elusive Legend Of Jazz

Plot

The accomplishments of seminal jazz trumpeter Bernard Bunny Berigan have secured his place in the annals of American musical history. In his short lifetime, Berigan performed more than 600 recordings and achieved national as well as international success. He served as a direct link between Louis Armstrong and those who developed form his roots - Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Wynton Marsalis and others. Berigan and his soaring trumpet catapulted the Benny Goodman band, along with the rest of the country, into the Swing Era and assured Goodman's coronation as the King of Swing. Berigan's uninhibited jazz style inspired and dominated every group with which he played, including the bands of Hal Kemp, Paul Whiteman and Tommy Dorsey. His great technical skills and instant reading ability made him a coveted studio player for such vocalists as Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, and Lee Wiley.