Jack Kramer

Jack Kramer has performed with and played trumpet for popular music icons of every era of music from the 1940’s through the 2000’s. He toured the Midwest with Vaughn Monroe (“Racing with the Moon”), the great 1940’s crooner, and played with the swing era’s greatest drummer, Gene Krupa. Jack also backed up the Four Diamonds (Little Darlin’) at the height of their fame in the mid-50’s. Later, as leader of the Jack Kramer Orchestra, he worked with other 50’s and 60’s giants like Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker (on the Jenny Jones show), Aretha Franklin, and the Temptations.

In the 1970’s, as trumpet player and leader of the horn rock band Second Coming (Mercury Records), he played and conducted for R&B legend Curtis Mayfield and also played on many of Curtis’s hit records, including “Superfly” and “Freddie’s Dead.” Second Coming opened at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles for label-mate Buddy Miles as well as for Bill Cosby. The band’s singles were produced by Jack Richardson, who also produced Guess Who, Alice Cooper and Poco.

In the mid and late 70’s, while the Jack Kramer Orchestra became one of the most popular private party bands in Chicago, Jack became the lead studio trumpet player for Mercury R&B recording artists the Ohio Players. Two of their records, “Fire” and “Love Rollercoaster,” were number one pop hits in the U.S., and another, “Who’d She Coo,” was a number one Billboard R&B hit. You can hear Jack’s trumpet in many films and TV shows which use hits by Curtis Mayfield and the Ohio Players on their soundtracks. Those films and shows include “Ladder 49,” “Walking Tall,” “Miss Congeniality 2,” “The Bernie Mac Show,” “Will and Grace,” and many more.

Since the 1980’s, the Jack Kramer Orchestra has remained the first choice for parties all over the Midwest as well as many events in New York and Las Vegas. For nine consecutive years, the band was flown to New York for the WABC Fall Premier event. One year, they actually performed at every Fall Premier party for the major TV stations in Chicago: CBS, NBC, ABC, and WGN-TV. The band also did a memorable pre-game rock concert at White Sox Park during which they performed (of course!) “Na-Na-Hey-Hey, Kiss Her Goodbye.” As a matter of fact, they have played at parties for all of our major league sports teams; and recently, they were on the bill with mega-star Alicia Keyes for Oprah’s Oxygen Network’s annual party.

But the most fun of all? RJ Express at the Village Tavern. Playing with Roger, Jerry and Bob is the greatest time and the best musical experience Jack could ever have. The band and the audience form a unique bond—there’s nothing like it—anywhere.