Herb Morand

1905 – 1925

The half-brother of vocalist Lizzie Miles, trumpeter and vocalist Herb Morand (1905-1952) began playing trumpet at age 13 and toured regionally with Nat Towles before moving to New York in 1926 to work with Miles and the bandleader Cliff Jackson. He returned to New Orleans to play with Chris Kelly but relocated to Chicago in 1929, where he recorded with the Dodds brothers (Johnny and Warren) in the Beale Street Washboard Band. During the 1930s he was a member of the Harlem Hamfats and in the early 1940s he performed with pianist Meade “Lux” Lewis and the drummer Jimmy Bertrand. After returning to New Orleans again, throughout the 1940s he led his own bands, worked with George Lewis, and recorded as a leader for American Music in 1949 and for the New Orleans label in 1950.