Trivia

When wife Mildred Bailey sang with Norvo's band in the mid-'30s, they were know as "Mr. and Mrs. Swing".

Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1991.

His son Kevin accidentally shot himself to death with a .45 in 1970 (at the age of 19).

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 454-456. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1992.

Jazz vibraphonist.

He started his career with a Marimba band in 1925 ("The Collegians'). He then worked in succession for Ben Bernie, Paul Ash and as a soloist in Paul Whiteman's orchestra. Norvo formed his first 12-piece big band in New York in late 1935 and continued as leader until 1944. In 1945 he disbanded his group to join Benny Goodman, switching from xylophone to vibraphone. He subsequently performed with Woody Herman, and in the 1950s was part of a seminal jazz trio, along with Tal Farlow and Charles Mingus.

Brother-in-law of Al Rinker.