Tex Beneke

Tex Beneke was born in Texas and he began playing saxophone aged nine, going from soprano to alto to tenor and ultimately progressed to the saxophone.

His first professional work was with bandleader Ben Young in 1935 purely as a member of the band but he swiftly worked his way through to solo slots. He joined Miller three years later which is when his career really took off.

Gene Krupa knew that Glenn Miller was forming a band and recommended Beneke to Miller and on August 1, 1939, Tex Beneke solos on the recording the Glenn Miller band made of the Andy Razaf song, In The Mood".

Tex Beneke is listed in the personnel of the 1941 Metronome All-Star Band led by Benny Goodman who was considered to be one of the foremost band leaders of his time.

When Miller broke up the band in late 1942 to join the Army Air Force, Tex Beneke played with Horace Heidt before joining the Navy himself and leading a Navy band in Oklahoma.

Tex Beneke lead two bands in the navy and kept in touch with Glenn Miller while they were both serving in the military. By 1945, Beneke felt ready to lead his own orchestra and things spiralled from there.