Bob Florence – born May 20, 1932 in Los Angeles, California – was a pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader most associated with the big band genre. Florence was a child prodigy, learning to play the piano at the age of three and giving his first recital at the age of seven. He studied classical while growing up, but eventually gravitated towards jazz and big band. While attending Los Angeles City College, he studied arranging and orchestration. While there, he assembled a band with classmates including Tommy Tedesco, Herb Geller, and Dennis Budimir, all of whom would become in-demand studio musicians. After graduating college, he worked on arrangements for bands led by Harry James, Les Brown, and Louis Bellson. He released Meet the Bob Florence Trio, his first album as a leader, in 1958. He followed that up with his first big band release The Name Band (1959) and Bongos/Reeds/Brass (1960). He spent the next for years collaborating with trombonist Si Zentner, and was responsible for arranging the hit 1960 single "Up a Lazy River". Florence and Zentner then backed pianist and composer Martin Denny on his classic Exotica Suite, thus stumbling into the space age pop and exotica genres. Hired by to work as a full-time arranger at Liberty Records, he was able to work in several genres with a variety of artists including Sérgio Mendes, Budd Shank, Vic Dana, Bobby Vee and many others. His final two releases in the 1960s were the albums Here and Now! (Bold, Swinging Big Band Ideas) in 1964 and Pet Project: The Bob Florence Big Band Plays Pet Clark Hits in 1967. As a bandleader, arranger and composer, he worked in television with Dean Martin, Andy Williams, and Red Skelton. His arrangements earned him Emmy Awards for TV specials by Linda Lavin (1981) and Julie Andrews (1990). He revived his recording career in 1979 with the album Live Concerts by the Sea. Most of his recordings for the next three decades were recorded with a big band. His catalog included Magic Time (1984), Trash Can City (1987), With All the Bells and Whistles (1995) and the Grammy-winning Serendipity 18 (1999). Bob Florence died on May 15, 2008 of pneumonia.
