John Abbott (Abatematteo) – Guitar/Arranger/Copyist

Maurice Bialkin – Cello

Jack C. Bigelow – Trombone

George Brown – Viola

Gene Bruggeworth – Trumpet

Rudolph De Julius – Drums

Lucille Dixon – Bass

Roland Dupont – Trombone

Bert J. Hall – Saxophone

Alfred Hart – Violin

Bob Helm – Drums

Patrick Iarrusso – Trumpet

Alexander Intrator – Violin

Herman H. Lang – Bass

Lucile Lawrence – Harp

Frank Loscalzo – Drums

Robert Quine – Guitar

Vincent Royal – Clarinet

Art Ryerson – Guitar

Sam Samuels – Saxophone

Mongo Santamaria – Conga Drums

Herb Schoales – Bass Trombone

John W. Schust, Jr. – Organ

Leonard Sharrow – Bassoon

Jimmy Sigler – Keyboards

Vincent E. Smith – Trumpet

Brian A. Wayne – Drums

Ron Wolfe – Piano

Dennis M. Wyka – Drums

Maurice Bialkin

Maurice Bialkin, 91, a cellist and a member of 802 since 1936, died on Sept. 7.

Mr. Bialkin studied at Juilliard in 1933-36 and later studied with Percy Such.

He won the Naumburg prize in 1937 over Leonard Rose and, for winning the competition, performed solo at Town Hall the following year.

He performed the world premier of Vladimir Dukelsky’s cello concerto with the Paris Orchestra and later the CBS Symphony.

During his life, Mr. Bialkin performed numerous freelance gigs, recorded many albums as an ensemble player — including one with Tony Bennett — and played with the CBS Symphony, NBC Orchestra and Glenn Miller Army/Air Force Band.

He was first cellist with the Brooklyn Philharmonia and also played in the Galimir Quartet, Phoenix Quartet and Tameo Quartet.

Mr. Bialkin also performed in Broadway shows, including “Pippin,” “Two by Two” and “They’re Playing Our Song,” among many others.

He played on the “Show of Shows,” and the Ed Sullivan, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson shows.In the 1930’s and 40’s, Mr. Bialkin was musical director at the Tamiment resort in the Catskills, where Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, and Sid Caesar all came through.

He is survived by his wife Joyce, son Edward, daughter Karen Odaira and granddaughter Elizabeth.

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Lucille Dixon

Lucille Dixon Robertson, 81, a bassist and an 802 member since 1946, died on Sept. 23. She was the first woman to be elected to 802’s Executive Board. She also served on the Trial Board.

Ms. Dixon began playing bass in high school and she successfully auditioned for the All City High School Orchestra and studied under Fred Zimmerman of the New York Philharmonic for 15 years.

During her sophomore year at Brooklyn College, Ms. Dixon toured with the Sweethearts of Rhythm, one of the first all-female bands in the U.S. Following the tour, Earl Hines asked her to tour with his band.

In the late 1940’s, she started playing in New York City clubs. She formed her own band called the Star Lines, which ultimately became the Lucille Dixon band. She played the Club Harlem, 845 Club and the Savannah Club in Greenwich Village where she remained the business manager and leader of the house band for 12 years. Her band included such jazz giants as Taft Jordan, Tyree Glen, Fats Navarro, Buddy Tate, George Kelley, George Foster and Sonny Payne.

Ms. Dixon also performed in the classical arena. She successfully auditioned for the National Youth Orchestra where she played under Fritz Reiner and Otto Klemperer. She participated in the Dimitri Metropolis Competitions and was the principal bassist in the National Orchestral Association. She played with numerous symphony orchestras including the Boston Women’s Symphony, National Symphony of Panama, Bridgeport Symphony, Scranton Symphony, Westchester Philharmonic, Ridgefield Symphony and Orchestral Society of Westchester.

In 1964, Ms. Dixon and others formed the first integrated symphony orchestra in the U.S., the Symphony of the New World, which was made up of 40 percent musicians of color and 30 percent women. She was the company manager and bassist for about 10 years.

Ms. Dixon and her husband retired to Puerto Rico in 1996, but at the age of 79 she started playing again in Old San Juan at Carli’s Café Concierto Lounge owned by Carli Munoz, a well-known pianist. She recorded a CD this year, “Live at Carli’s, Vol. 1” with Carli Munoz, Gonzalo (Gonchi) Sifre and Eddie Gomez.

In her life, Ms. Dixon played with Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Eubie Blake, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry and Billie Holiday among with many others. She also played with many Latin musicians, such as Charlie Palmieri and Machito.

She is survived by her brother Arthur, sons Augustus and Ernest, daughter Pamela, daughter-in-laws Barbara and Sherri, son-in-law Robert, grandchildren Sonia, Adrian, Lindsay, Alberto, Andrew, Sydney and Ernest, great-grandson Jayden, nephew Douglas, grandnephews Michael, Angela and Douglas Jr., sisters-in-law Elena and Rosa and brother-in-law Ken.

(UPDATE: March 6, 2023: A profile of Lucille Dixon was published in 2023 in honor of Women’s History Month by KNKX public radio.)

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Roland Dupont

Roland Dupont, 94, a trombonist and an 802 member since 1938, died on Sept. 7.

Mr. Dupont attended Thayer Academy and the New England Conservatory. He played with the Ray Noble Orchestra, where the other trombone player was Glenn Miller.

In New York he played at the Rainbow Room with the Rubie Newman Society Orchestra.

In the 1930’s and 40’s he met all the big names in swing and played at Radio City Music Hall and the Paramount. Later, he got into radio and was the performer on the Philip Morris theme song.

On television, he appeared on the Kate Smith Show with the Ray Bloch band. He performed on the Lucky Strike Hit Parade under Raymond Scott and on “Your Show of Shows” with Sid Caesar. Mr. Dupont also performed on the Milton Berle show, the Ed Sullivan show and the Jackie Gleason show. He performed with Nat King Cole and was a staff musician for NBC and CBS.

He is survived by his son Donald, daughter Lorraine Nielsen, grandchildren Lisa, Judy, Billy, Don and Michele, and great-grandchildren Robert, Campbell, Hayley, Julia, Sara and Patrick.

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Alfred Hart

Alfred Hart, 75, a violinist and an 802 member since 1970, died on June 19.

Mr. Hart began his musical career at the age of nine. A native of Romania, Mr. Hart studied at the Bucharest Conservatory with Lupu Nitzulesco, the noted Romanian teacher and collaborator with George Enesco.

Before coming to the U.S. in 1970, Mr. Hart performed extensively in Romania and Italy. In Europe, he was a member of the Romanian Radio Symphony, the Bucharest State Opera Orchestra, the Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra and the La Scala Opera Orchestra.

In the U.S., he performed with the New York City Opera and the Met Opera.

Mr. Hart continued his solo recital career in the U.S. with frequent appearances in the Donnell Library concert series and the Fairleigh Dickinson recital series in New York as well as performances at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Hart was concertmaster of the Bronx Symphony Orchestra and the Music Outreach Orchestra for some 30 years.

He is survived by his wife

Florentina, son Arthur and grandchildren Michelle, Alexander, Daniel and Faith.

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Leonard Sharrow

Leonard Sharrow, 89, a bassoonist and an 802 member since 1934, died on Aug. 9.

Mr. Sharrow grew up in New York City. His father Saul was a violinist in the New York Symphony and New York Philharmonic, and his younger sister Frances became an accomplished pianist.

He began playing violin as a young man but discovered the bassoon as a teenager at New York’s DeWitt Clinton High School and quickly made it his instrument. He graduated from Juilliard in 1935.

Mr. Sharrow’s first professional position was as principal bassoon with the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. In 1937 he joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini. He was one of the youngest members of the orchestra, sharing the stage with his father who was a violinist in the orchestra.

As a soldier in World War II, Mr. Sharrow was a member of the orchestra for “This is the Army,” Irving Berlin’s Broadway musical that toured the country by train, making one-night stands from New York to California, where the musical was made into a film with Ronald Reagan.

After the war, he joined the Detroit Symphony for a season, then was invited to return to New York as principal bassoonist for the NBC Symphony, where he stayed until 1951.

He then became principal bassoonist for the Chicago Symphony, first under Rafael Kubelik and later Fritz Reiner.

In 1953, Mr. Sharrow participated in the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, France.

In 1964, he moved from Chicago to Bloomington, Indiana to join the faculty of Indiana University, where he taught until 1977, also touring as a member of the American Woodwind Quintet. He also played chamber music and made solo appearances in Europe.

Mr. Sharrow also taught at Juilliard, Carnegie Mellon University, and many other schools.

At the age of 62, Mr. Sharrow joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Andre Previn, where he stayed until his retirement in 1987.

In 1985, Mr. Sharrow performed in Stockholm as solo bassoonist with the World Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mr. Sharrow appears on numerous recordings. His 1948 RCA recording with Toscanini as soloist on Mozart’s bassoon concerto is still well-known today. Mr. Sharrow also edited a number of major works for bassoon.

He is survived by his son Neil, daughter-in-law Polly Campbell, sister Frances Nelson and granddaughters Emily Louise and Sally Sharrow.

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