Randy Brooks was a phenomenal musician. At the age of 12, he was the winner in a competition of 2000 young trumpet aspirants. Two years later, he was asked to join Rudy Vallee's popular radio show. There Randy dazzled audiences with his superb classical trumpet solos. His real fame began when he joined the world famous Les Brown orchestra. When he started his own band, he set a long-run record at New York's famous Roseland Ballroom. However tragedy struck in 1950 when he suffered a cerebral stroke which left him partially paralyzed and unable to perform. Randy was married to fellow bandleader Ina Ray Hutton who led an all female big band. On the show today I divided it into two parts. The first half has music by the band of Randy Brooks and the second half has some recordings by the band of Ina Ray Hutton. I hope you enjoy this look at two great bandleaders from the swing era. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com