R.I.P. James “Jimmy” Loomis

Another great sixties R&B musician has passed away.  Jimmy Loomis, tenor sax, arranger and producer died on April 4th, 2024. We learned of his passing just a few weeks ago.  

Don Lehnhoff remembers Jimmy …

I got to know Jimmy best when we were roommates for 6 months on the road in early 1967 … a very long time ago that sometimes seems like yesterday. You get to know each other, living together like that from hotel to hotel, and it generates many memories and stories that space, and propriety, prevent me from exploring here. Suffice to say that Jimmy was a smart, talented, and interesting guy. 

Being 1967 and having quit college to go on the road, I knew I’d be drafted before long. Jim didn’t have that concern because he weighed 110 lbs. soaking wet, and so was underweight for the military. He would routinely get called in for an Army physical, and each time he’d prepare by losing a few pounds, just to make sure. 

Fans of the popular Baltimore band, Tommy Vann & the Echoes, might remember that Jimmy Loomis was the original tenor sax player in that band. He was only 18 years old at the time, which made it illegal for him to work in a drinking establishment. At some point this came to light and he had to leave the band.

Jimmy was a strong musician with strong ideas and strong ambition. He once told me that he had really wanted to study law and be an attorney, but musical talent and opportunity led him down a different path. 

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Sam Towers remembers Jimmy …

I first met Jimmy during the summer of 1967, while I was playing at Hollywood Park with Mike Jones and the Elegants.  Mike was moving on to a solo career, and Jimmy, on the road with Mitch Ryder at the time, had come back to Baltimore to produce Mike’s first solo recording.

Jimmy and I became friends, and played together with Mike Zack and “Puzzle” in the summer of 1969, before driving out to Hollywood together that fall and becoming salesmen at the very first Guitar Center. We weren’t there long before Jimmy found a gig as a record producer. I did some studio guitar for him before going on the road with a comedy/soul review in the fall of 1972. Jimmy eventually joined that same band, and we played together for another year.

We continued to drift in and out of each other’s lives, even after I moved to Michigan in 1974.  We last played together at the first R&B jam sessions for 1960’s soul players, held at Stinger’s bar and The Alcazar Ballroom in June of 2001. Jimmy later moved to Delaware, and I visited him twice there, the last time in 2008.  We lost touch after that.

Following are links to two of the songs recorded at the 1967 Mike Jones session in Philadelphia that Jimmy produced. “For Times Sake” was written by Jimmy and Frank Invernezzi, The second tune is an instrumental, “Ode to Otis,” arranged by Jimmy & Frank. The recording features Mitch Ryder’s rhythm section, with the substitution of Baltimore’s Tommy Thompson on bass.

“For Time’s Sake”
https://artweb.org/Music/MJ_ForTimesSake.mp3

“Ode to Otis”
https://artweb.org/Music/MJ_Ode2Otis.mp3

Jimmy Loomis, far left

Mitch Ryder band, rehearsal studio, 50th & Broadway, NYC
Jimmy is all the way on the right, on the small front barrell.

Jimmy at the first BaltimoreJam, 2001 at Stingers Bar.

R.I.P. Mike “Jones” Hodgeman

A great singer has passed on.  Mike Hodgeman, a.k.a. Mike Jones, gave up the ghost at a little after 6 PM on Friday, January 14th, 2025.  It is my opinion that he was the finest Baltimore singer that his generation ever produced; many others share this opinion with me.

I first met Mike in Stoneleigh Elementary school – he was in the second grade and I was in the first.  We both sang in the school choir and Mike was the choir’s soloist.  At that young age he sang with a clear soprano voice, like one of the Vienna Boy’s Choir singers – he sounded like an angel.

As our childhood years passed we saw one another almost every day.  We played in our first five bands together.  Mike and I always had a strong, emotional bond.  When I was just nineteen and the hospital called to come there immediately, that my father was near death, it was Mike that I called to go with me.

In 1961, we formed our first band, The RaVons, in my basement.  We practiced every chance we got, and soon had enough songs to play a gig.  I clearly remember the first song that Mike chose to learn – it was “Running Scared”, by Roy Orbison.  Mike hit all of Orbison’s high notes perfectly!  As time went on we learned Gene Pitney’s “I’m Gonna Be Strong,” Jerry Butler’s “The Walls Are Much Too Thin,” a bunch of Elvis tunes, and even the Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody”.  Mike aced them all!  He had that wonderful voice right from the start!

I had always known that Mike was a good singer, but at first, I really didn’t realize how special he was. That changed on the first occasion that I switched bands without him coming along. I missed that wonderful voice of his immediately.  After that, I was never satisfied with the quality of a new group’s vocals unless Mike was with us, and I always found a way to bring him into my new band.

Mike and I played together in five more bands after the RaVons. Those bands were:
The Dynamics – 1963 & 1964
Gary & the GTO’s – 1964 & 1965
The DuKays – 1965 & 1966
Mike Jones & the Elegants – 1966 & 1968
Puzzle – the first half of 1969

In later years, after I had moved to Michigan, I still came back to Baltimore to visit regularly, and I always saw Mike, and went to hear him if he was playing somewhere.  I last saw Mike at the Admirals reunion in Towson on 5-27-2017. In a way, a part of me died along with Mike, but in another way, both Mike and my love for him still live on in my heart.

From start to finish, Mike’s professional singing career bands were:
The RaVons, 1961-63
The Dynamics, 1963-64
Gary & the GTO’s, 1964-65
The Dukays, 1965
The Majestics, 1965-66
Mike Jones & the Elegants, 1966-1968
The Mike Jones Band, 1968-69
Puzzle , 1969
And the Echoes, 1969 to early ’70s
Gabriel, early 1970s
Celebration, 1973-74
Abilene Road House, mid to late 1970s
The Admirals, 1980 until retirement

~—OBITUARY—~

Mike with Sam in the RaVons

Mike in the Dynamics

Mike with the Majestics

Mike and Sam in the Elegants

Mike at the first Baltimore Jam, Stingers Bar, 2001

Mike and Sam at the Maryland Entertainment Hall of Fame induction

R.I.P. Mike MARCELLINO

Drummer Mike Marcellino died on September 5, 2022. I only knew Mike from The Elegants at Hollywood Park (1967-68), and I still remember meeting him on break at the bar one night. Nice guy. Good drummer. Baltimore musician Barry Sachs knew him well and offers the following:

“I remember Mike playing drums in The Elegants at Hollywood Park. I also worked with him in The Upsetters at The Rhapsody Club, Majic, and at The Howard Place in Ellicott City. I considered him one of my best friends going all the way back to the ‘60s. He was a bandmate of mine in numerous small groups around Baltimore where we would pick up one nighters from time to time. 

Mike was also a very excellent hair stylist and barber. I remember back in the ’80s driving to his shop in the Harundale Mall [Ritchie Hwy, in Glen Burnie] all the way from Reisterstown and spending hours talking and just hanging out. Even up to this year, I would drive down from Westminster just to get a haircut and catch up with him. One of Mike’s favorite groups was “The Average White Band” and I know his phone ring tone was “Pick up the Pieces.”  I will surely miss him and his great sense of humor.

~ Barry Sachs

The Elegants (L-R): Sam Towers, Tommy Thompson, Mike Hodgeman, Mike Marcellino, Jerry Treffinger

R.I.P. Paul Cridler

In Honor of Paul Cridler, by Randolph Fillmore

Paul Cridler played trumpet with The Mello Men, The Admirals, the Majestics, the Zim Zimarel big band, and in the Towson State College Hank Levy Jazz Ensemble. He died May 14, 2022, in Portland, Maine at the age of 73.

Paul was a 1966 graduate of City College. After graduating from Towson University in 1970 he taught music in the Baltimore County school system at Dumbarton Middle School, Stemmer’s Run Middle School, and Ridgely Middle School, among others.

Paul’s first musical mentor was his father, “Jack” Cridler, who played cornet in local bands and who “coached” the trumpet section of the Mello Men in that 15-piece dance band’s early years—from its formation in September, 1962, when Paul was just 14.

“I was often in awe of Paul’s playing,” recalls Mello Men trombone player, Lynn Summerall. “He was truly excellent…”

Over the years, Paul became an in-demand trumpet player, with a fine, warm tone on both trumpet and fluegelhorn. He was skilled at jazz improvisation and played alongside Baltimore’s best. He doubled on flute (In the Ivan Bowser tradition) and was a gifted singer, both lead and back-up, in many of the groups he was with.

During his last days, Paul must have read about the April 12, 2022 death of his good friend Doug Bull. Before Paul died, he wrote on his Facebook page that it had been an “esteemed honor” to play next Doug in the many groups in which they played together.

Having played in The Mello Men trumpet section alongside Paul from 1962 to 1965, I have to say the same in parting – it was an “esteemed honor,” Paul.

RIP, my friend.

R.I.P. Doug Bull

“Bullish” on Trumpet,
Gentle by Nature

Info and Remembrance by Randolph Fillmore

I was rehearsing with the Tampa Community Concert Band and playing a medley of “Chicago” tunes. It got me to thinking about Doug Bull and his flawless rendition of the iconic trumpet solo on “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”

Later that night I received an email from Don Lehnhoff and Sam Towers with the news that Doug had died the day before, on April 12, 2022, after a battle with cancer.

I first met Doug in 1961 at Dunbarton Junior High in Towson. I played baritone horn back then, and Doug played first trumpet in the Dumbarton school band (directed by trombonist Carlton Wood). He played a solo on “Memories of You” that was incredible—he was probably 14 or 15 years old, and I thought he was the best trumpet player I had ever heard. I switched back to trumpet with the (never realized) goal of playing just like Doug Bull. My new idol.

Doug graduated from Towson High School in 1964.

I played trumpet with Doug in the 1969 Armstrong brothers version of the Majestics. Doug and Paul Cridler also played trumpet with the Majestics in the early 1970s. In the 1970s, Doug also played in the then Towson State “College” Jazz Ensemble, under Hank Levy — he was part of a stellar trumpet section with Paul Cridler and Gil Rathel.

Before and after his stint in the U.S. Army, Doug played with the Lafayettes, the Admirals, the Majestics (that’s Doug at the end of the line), and the Princetons. He taught music in Baltimore County for many years at Parkville Junior High, Loch Raven Senior High, and Hereford Senior High, before taking a position as head of music at Casper College in Casper, Wyoming in 2007.
Doug was always a helper. Always a teacher. Always a leader.
Always a trumpet player. 

Douglas Bull Conducting “Imaginarium”

https://youtu.be/zT8jMlVOxvw

Postscript – Courtesy Casper College, Casper, Wyoming

Douglas Bull received a B.S. degree in Music Education and Trumpet Performance from Towson University in Maryland. Graduate work at Towson University, seminars, private study, and performances led to an Advanced Professional Certificate in 1979. He studied with Dominic DiGangi of the Baltimore Symphony, Raymond Moore, Donald Tyson, and Emerson Head.

In the late 1960s he was also solo/principle/lead trumpet with U.S. Army Bands in Europe. In the early 1970s he played with the Hank Levy Jazz Ensemble at Towson University.

While pursuing a professional performance career he played or recorded for: The Baltimore Symphony, Wyoming Symphony, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Tom Jones, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Streisand, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Rosemary Clooney, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Spinners, Phil Collins, The Ice Capades, Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus, musicals, original cast albums, five Presidential Inaugurations, movie soundtracks, and commercials, among many others.

For his work as a conductor in Musical Theater, he won multiple Critic’s Choice Awards for Best Musical Direction and Show of The Year. In addition, he taught in Baltimore County Schools for 21 years, generating over eighty music scholarships for his students. He eventually moved to Wyoming where he taught high school instrumental music generating another 75+ music scholarships.

In 2006 he accepted a position at Casper College. He was an Endorsing Artist for the New York Trumpet Company and continued to perform professionally, conducting clinics and guest soloing.

R.I.P. Walt Anderson

I received word yesterday (Sunday, 3/6/22) that Walt Anderson had died that morning. That’s all the information I have. After Tommy Vann’s death just weeks ago, another Echo of the past. Walt was many things, including a helluva guitar player. I was with and the Echoes for a short time circa 1972 and only knew him for that brief period, but he was a helluva player. 

Going back again to Hollywood Park I see Walt, standing stage right, quiet … focused. Also singing backup – they all sang.

At the time I knew Walt he was going to school for air traffic control. I thought that was interesting.

With Tommy and Walt both going out more or less together, it seems a good time for a shout out to those Echoes still standing, From early Hollywood Park on, and going strictly from memory (so correct me if I’m wrong), here are those Echoes still with us:

• Gary Loomis
• Jimmy Loomis
• John Piluk
• Walt Caldwell
• George “Doc” Dochterman
• Rody Barthelmes
• Mike Hodgeman

When Randy Fillmore and I cooked up BaltimoreJam 20 years ago I never envisioned becoming the Grim Reporter, but that seems to be my current role. I try to pay a small tribute as the inevitable occurs. If I didn’t personally know our departed brother or sister I depend on those who did to provide a few details of their story. And as each new year rolls around and the In Memory list continues to grow, I find myself thinking about a much younger person I might enlist to keep the list going forward … and eventually add me to it. 

Goodbye, Mr. Anderson.

R.I.P. Tommy Vann

You’ve probably heard by now that Tommy (Stauch) Vann, the man who epitomized Baltimore bands and club entertainment in the 1960s and beyond, died January 21, 2022 of a kidney ailment at the age of 83.

His first major Baltimore band, “Tommy Vann & the Echoes,” was the house band at Hollywood Park in the mid-1960s, where they were managed by Park owner George Mihalos. They packed the place, and gained a following that led them to recording and other opportunities.

Tommy Vann was a good singer and band leader, and he had put together a unique group of talented musicians featuring solid musicianship, good vocal harmony, lots of stage personality (with a nod to George “Doc” Docterman), and a handsome front man with a sweet voice in Vann. Part of the uniqueness of their sound was the presence of Mickey Reed on vibraphone, an instrument more commonly associated with jazz. Another unique aspect of the band was an outstanding drummer named Walt Caldwell, at a time when multi-racial bands were not common in Baltimore.

Reed’s tragic death in a car accident in the ‘60s really shook the band. Not long after that fatal accident the band and Vann had a falling out and parted ways. The band remained together and struck out on their own as “and the Echoes.” 

Tommy, with his talent and reputation, put together another band of exceptional musicians to form “Tommy Vann & the Professionals“. I saw them at Club Venus the night guitarist Dale Coleman showed off his new electric 12-string in a scintillating cover of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.” 

For many of us of a certain age, Tommy Vann’s passing marks the end of an era; a golden era of music, entertainment, and night life that we’ve been remembering, exploring, and celebrating here together for the past 20 years. 

Time marches on but memories stay put, at a given place and time. For me the Tommy Vann place was Hollywood Park, and the time was whatever night you were there to hear him sing.

TOO YOUNG

Farewell Mr. Vann.

R.I.P. Al Crawford

I’m writing this today to pay tribute to an unsung hero of the 1960s Baltimore music era. Al Crawford died peacefully on September 17, 2019, surrounded by family and friends in Plano, Texas, after a long fight with kidney and heart failure. He was just one week shy of his 77th birthday.

Al loved the music, and the musicians who were playing it in that dynamic era of Baltimore music we talk about here. He didn’t play a musical instrument, so instead he played finance, and marketing … and friendship.

I met Al when I joined the Dynamics in 1963. We rehearsed in the basement of his house off Dulaney Valley Road. He was our great cheer leader and manager. He booked our gigs and connected us to a University of Maryland fraternity where we played a number of very “memorable” parties. He was, as Dynamics trumpet player Don Barto put it, “A big man with a big smile, and a big heart.”

In later years, Al pitched in to help me put on the various Baltimore Jams. He handled the money so I could handle the rest, and in 2002 when the balance of payments came up miserably short, he personally underwrote the event.

I have flippantly said of “Big Al” that he was the only band manager I ever had who didn’t cheat me out of money, but he didn’t do it to be a business manager, honest or otherwise. He did it for the same reason we all played it … for the love of the music and love of the band. Along with everybody else who ever knew him I’m sure, I will miss Big Al.

R.I.P. Bill Holland

Bill’s name isn’t the most familiar among Baltimore musicians, but throughout his days at Parkville High School he was the tenor sax player in The Poker Chips, a band of teenagers that set a standard as young professionals.

We just learned of Bill’s death which occurred this past August following a bout with cancer. He leaves behind his son, Andres, whose place in Bill’s life was a story in itself. Bill and Andres attended the last Jam in 2012 … it was great to see them.

We didn’t like saying we were “old friends,” lest the “old” be applied to our age rather than the length of our friendship, so we referred to each other as our “friendship of long duration.” Goodbye old friend.

Jay Stermer Killed by Drunk Driver

Jay Stermer, founding member and keyboardist/arranger for the Admirals, was killed by a drunk driver while walking his dogs just after midnight on Saturday, December 23, 2017. He was killed when a rear-ended car was flung into him. Jay was 74 years old.

Jay Stermer, a Wellington High School parent who plays music and sound effects during Wolverine baseball games, is seen in 2008. (Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post)

Palm Beach Post news story.

To the best of my knowledge there was not another musician out of the Baltimore band scene of the 1960s who was more well known and more respected than Jay Stermer.

I never knew Jay personally, but I knew who he was from the time I was in Jr. High School. I can only speak to his reputation — I’ll leave it to those who knew him to comment — but that reputation was one of a driving musical force behind arguably the most successful and popular band to come out of that era of Baltimore music.

For me, personally … when I was about 12 years old I saw the Admirals at their regular Sunday gig at Beaver Springs. They were up in the loft of the pavilion playing music everyone wanted to hear, in the way everyone wanted to hear it, and having a lot of fun doing it. My desire to “play in a band” came straight from the Admirals that day.

It’s all the more sad to lose Jay in this tragic way.