An excellent trumpeter of the bop and cool eras who largely faded out in the 1960s,
Don Fagerquist only had two sessions as a leader, a half-date for Capitol in 1955, and an excellent outing for Mode (reissued on V.S.O.P.) in 1957.
Fagerquist was a key soloist with
Gene Krupa (off and on during 1944-1950),
Artie Shaw's Orchestra, Gramercy Five (1949-1950), and
Woody Herman's Third Herd (1951-1952). He was with
Les Brown in 1953 and a major soloist with
Dave Pell's Octet (1953-1959). From 1956 on,
Fagerquist worked as a staff musician for Paramount films although he still recorded jazz now and then with
Pete Rugolo,
Mel Tormé, and
Art Pepper, among others. ~ Scott Yanow