Our Director

Dean Pratt has been collecting LPs, CDs, books, air checks, and tapes about jazz, big bands, and the Swing Era all of his life. A trumpet player who has been on the road with the best of the big bands, and the leader of his own big band in Manhattan, he is  frequently called upon by authors and scholars for information about the genre; and interviewed as an authority in the field by such networks as NPR. His vast personal jazz archive also serves him in assisting clients in their search for those who may owe them royalties.

Dean has served as producer, compilation producer, and liner note author for a number of Buddy Rich CDs, including the legendary drummer’s reissues on Pacific Jazz/Blue Note. He has as well acted as conductor, music coordinator, and liner note author for  projects by DMP Records, in which he also made his debut as a vocalist. He is producer, conductor, and liner note author for his own CDs: Groovy Encounters, published by Amosaya Records; and 16 Men & A Chick Singer Swingin’: Pratt Brothers Big Band Featuring Roberta Gambarini, published by CAP Records.

Dean has also assisted universities with the cataloguing and indexing of their collections of scores dating from the Big Band Era.

Photo above: Dean Pratt (far right) on Buddy Rich’s “Killer Force” big band.