Sax at Disneyland

The legendary Wayne King, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Bill Elliot pose at Disneyland near Tomorrowland as they prepare to play in the Disneyland Big Band Festival, June 14, 1964. This photo is part of the UCLA Library Digital Archives.

For all you sax fans out there, here's a closeup of Bill's instrument. Wonder what the letters are in his pocket?



Individual portraits of the quartet from different gigs at Disneyland. Wayne King:



Count Basie from September 1978 at the Plaza Gardens:



Duke Ellington from August 1965:



Bill Elliott from August 27, 1965 in FauxD©:



Not enough sax for you? How about this March 1981 image of the Firehouse Five playing on East Center Street:



Hope you've had enough sax for today!

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my main website.

A Mousker & Mary Poppins Screen Tests

Once again, The Ulyate family comes through with some more cool stuff. Today's post shows The Mousker that Lloyd and Bill Elliott received. As Holly relates:

The Elliott Brothers were also an important part of Disneyland's Big Band Festivals which began in 1961. Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich-they all graced the Carnation Plaza Gardens bandstand as well as other locations around the park. Sometimes multiple bands were booked for one weekend, sometimes one band would be booked for an entire week. The festivals were wildly popular with park goers! Lloyd and Bill both received Mouskers from Walt in appreciation of their contribution to the event. (A Mousker was Walt's version of an Oscar statue).



Meanwhile, I discovered yesterday that The Punchy Players have been at it again. Here's their version of The Mary Poppins Screen Tests:



See more vintage & current Disneyland Plaza Garden photos on my Disneyland Plaza Garden web page.