Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Walt Yoder was born on April 21, 1914 in Hutchinson, Kansas. A piano player from age ten, he switched to bass as a teenager. Early in the 1930s he worked in the bands of Joe Haymes, Tommy Dorsey, and Jimmy Dorsey.

Yoder played with Woody Herman in the Isham Jones band in the middle of the 1930s. After this ensemble dissolved in 1936, Herman formed a new group with five of Jones’s former sidemen, including Walt. He remained with Herman through 1942 and played with him again in 1947-48.

Following his tenure with Herman, Yoder played with Ben Pollack, Russ Morgan, Bob Crosby, and Red Nichols. He did some works as a bandleader and in the studios near Los Angeles later in his life, playing into the 1970s.

Double bassist Walt Yoder,  best known for his association with Woody Herman, died on December 2, 1978 in Los Angeles, California.

More Posts: bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music