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Rusty Dedrick

American swing and bebop jazz trumpeter, arranger and composer. Born July 12, 1918 in Delevan, New York Died December 25, 2009 in Summitville, New York. Dedrick first heard the siren song of Jazz when a Buffalo music store played a Louie Armstrong record. He was mesmerized and though he didn't own a record player he left the store with the album under his arm and a dream. He jumped into music and pursued it at Fredonia College, tutored by composers Paul Ceston and Stefan Wolpe. He worked with Bill Borden, Dick Stabile, Red Norvo, Claude Thornhill, Ray McKinley, Urbie Green, Lionel Hampton and others, and as a freelance (1950s and 1960s). He was an arranger and composer for Don Elliott, Maxine Sullivan, Lee Wiley and others. In 1971 Dedrick joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music eventually became its director of jazz studies.