TOMMY GUMINA

One of the few brave souls to follow Art Van Damme's lead and explore the jazz accordion. Gumina is best remembered for his innovative collaborations with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco on their quartet recordings of the early 1960s. Gumina joined Harry James' scaled-down band in 1951 and toured with James for the next two years. He then struck out as a soloist, recording several albums for Decca. In 1960, he joined with DeFranco to form a quartet that played both standards and original compositions by each. Although the group put out albums on Decca and Mercury, they had little commercial success, so by 1964, the two headed for greener pastures: DeFranco to lead the New Glenn Miller Orchestra, and Gumina to work in design and marketing for a major accordion maker. In 1968, Gumina founded Polytone Musical Instruments, which specializes in manufacturing and selling amplifiers designed for professional musicians. The name came read more...