Worthy-pedia
Betty O'Hara (May 24, 1925 - April 18, 2000) was a West Coast multi-instrumentalist active from the era of the Second World War until the mid-1990s, when she was in her late sixties. In addition to playing cornet, trumpet, bass trumpet, flugelhorn, slide trombone, valve trombone, euphonium (single- and double-bell models), O'Hara was also a vocalist, composer, and arranger.
Immediately after leaving high school, she joined The Victory Sweethearts, an "all-girl" band put together by bandleader Freddie Shaffer for USO tours. After the war, O'Hara moved from touring with Shaffer to work with Big Band leader Al Gentile in Hartford, Connecticut. Eight years later, she left the big band to join the Hartford Symphony, where she was first or second trumpet from 1955 to 1960. It was during her years in Hartford in the 1940s and 1950s that O'Hara met and played with trumpeter Dick Cary, with whom she would record decades later. Cary moved to California in 1959, and a year later, O'Hara also made the move.
Move to California
In 1960, Betty married fellow musician Barrett O'Hara, a well-regarded bass trombone player, and moved to California. The West Coast location allowed her to work in music production for the television industry, and also to form new musical connections, any of which were lasting and which led to recording opportunities and club dates.
1980s & 1990s
O'Hara's versatility, as both singer and player of so many instruments (Los Angeles Times jazz critic Leonard Feather said of her, "If it has valves, Betty O'Hara will play it"), plus the ability to compose and arrange, meant she was in demand as a side player for recording sessions and live performances. She appeared on more than fifteen recordings from 1968 onward, including some compact discs released after her death. Beginning in the 1980s, revived appreciation of women instrumentalists who played in World War II era "all-girl" bands led to new opportunities for O'Hara, especially performing live with other female musicians.
O'Hara helped found what would become the 17-piece orchestra "Maiden Voyage," which once performed Betty's composition "Not Bad for a Girl" for Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show." Later, O'Hara, along with flugelhorn player Stacy Rowles (a "Maiden Voyage" alum and daughter of pianist Jimmy Rowles), founded and played with the women's ensemble "Jazz Birds."
While enjoying increased visibility with "Maiden Voyage" and "The Jazzbirds," O'Hara also began to make her mark in writing and performing for the television industry. Income from her work as a studio musician helped to fill in gaps between paid gigs and allowed her to do pro bono projects, including judging applicants for the Classic Jazz Festival young-artist scholarships.
In the 1990s, O'Hara joined Bill Vogel's Sunset Society Swing Orchestra, which played weekends at Casey's Tavern in Reseda, California. The orchestra performed what O'Hara called "obscure tunes out of the '20s." During other weekend gigs, O'Hara played music of both the 1920s and 1930s with pianist Bob Ringwald (father of actor and singer Molly Ringwald, who led regular appearances of the group The Great Pacific Jazz Band at LGT Vegas in Mission Hills.
The Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festival often featured O'Hara as a guest artist. She also served as a judge for the yearly panels which awarded Festival scholarships to young musicians. In addition to the Classic Jazz Festival performances, O'Hara also played at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
In the early 1990s, O'Hara joined a group of celebrated musicians to play with saxophone and clarinet player Rick Fay. Fay had a long career with the Walt Disney company before he made his first recording, "Endangered Species," in 1993. On that recording, O'Hara played cornet, flugelhorn, euphonium, and bass trumpet, as well as providing vocals. Her 68th birthday was just weeks away during the "Endangered Species" recording sessions on May 2nd and 3rd, 1993.
Television
O'Hara was a busy studio musician, recording theme and background music for a number of television programs. Her work is heard in the themes for the popular 1980s television shows "Hill Street Blues" and "Magnum, P.I."
Family
O'Hara was married to Barrett O'Hara, also a musician, and had three children. Her son Jon O'Hara is a Los Angeles-based music journalist, bassist, and percussionist.
Discography
Betty O'Hara, A Woman's Intuition. Sea Breeze, 1999. CD.
Betty O'Hara, Horns Aplenty. Delmark, 1985. CD.
Bud Freeman, California Session. Jazzology, 1999. CD.
Various, Blue Angel Jazz Club Pasadena 1968, Vol. 2. LP.
Dick Cary's Tuesday Night Friends, Catching Up. Klavier Records, 1999. CD.
Dick Cary & His Tuesday Night Friends, Playing Dick Cary Originals. Arbors Records, 2008. CD.
Lenny Carlson, In The Mud re-released version. ITI Records, 2012. CD.
John Allred, In the Beginning (as guest on the track "Stompin' at the Savoy"). Arbors Records, 2006. CD.
Sources
"IWBC Pioneer: Betty O’Hara," International Women's Brass Conference. http://www.myiwbc.org
Los Angeles Times obituary. May 10, 2000.
Tucker, Sherrie. Swing Shift: All-Girl Bands of the 1940s, Duke University Press, 2000, p. 341.
"50 Years and Still Playing : Betty O'Hara, who plays a variety of brass instruments, says she never thought she'd be a professional musician so long," by Zan Stewart. Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1993.
Feature on "Maiden Voyage" in Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1990. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-26/entertainment/ca-477_1_jane-ira-bloom
"Lady Be Good" site filled with interviews with female musicians. http://kaydray.com/LadyBeGood/interviews.html
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