Chuck Peterson

During the swing era, Chuck Peterson gained modest notice as a trumpeter chiefly through his traded phrases with Ziggy Elman on Tommy Dorsey’s well-known 1942 recording “Well Git It.” After performing on French horn and trombone in high school, he changed to trumpet. Local jobs led him into Hank Biagini’s band and then into the Artie Shaw Orchestra from 1937 to 1939, where he took occasional solos. He next appeared with the orchestras of Tony Pastor, Tommy Dorsey on and off from 1939 to 1942, and Woody Herman. Once military service ended, Peterson returned to live in his native Detroit. Although he recorded with Woody Herman’s First Herd in 1946 and with Benny Carter in 1949, the trumpeter—who never headed a session of his own—chose the security of a settled home life and remains largely forgotten today.