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Don Neely - Royal Society Jazz Orchestra | Bandleader
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From Sourced Network Productions, it’s the Hot Jazz Network, with host, George Cole.
Welcome, welcome everybody to the Hot Jazz Network podcast. My name is George Cole and I'm your host. Today, we're interviewing, or having a conversation with, the one and only, Don Neely, bandleader of the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra.
San Francisco jazz legend, Turk Murphy, discovered Don’s band and offered them a regular engagement at his famous club, Earthquake McGoon’s. The RSJO’s popularity continued to swell, and Don and his band were featured in numerous national and local television, newspaper and magazine stories.
S.F.Chronicle’s Herb Caen, frequently wrote of the band’s appearances and that newspaper’s Society Columnist, Pat Steger noted the many social events at which the R.S.J.O. performed.
Another milestone for Don came with a long-running engagement on Nob Hill, at the Mark Hopkins Hotel, in the Peacock Court, where most of the famous big bands had played during the 1930’s. Don and the band recreated a long and successful series of Tea Dances with live radio broadcasts simultaneously transmitting over two radio stations. More attention from the public followed which led to an amazing period of non-stop work and travel.
Don and the orchestra starred in an hour-long PBS television special, a superb production recreating an authentic Art Deco night club, with their San Francisco fans making up the dancing audience.
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