Don Lusher Big Band

Gordon Douglas Lusher entered the world on 6 November 1923 in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England, and departed on 5 July 2006 in Cheam, Surrey, England. Raised amid constant music-making, he absorbed the sounds of Salvation Army ensembles in which his grandfather, father and mother all performed as instrumentalists and vocalists. He took up the trombone during his school years and continued to develop his skills after enlisting at eighteen, managing to play with local Salvation Army groups wherever his postings allowed. A wartime concert by Geraldo And His Orchestra, whose trombone section included Ted Heath, crystallised his postwar ambitions, and in 1947 he purchased a second-hand instrument, left the army and began working with a group fronted by a fellow serviceman in Tenby, Wales. Brief spells followed with Joe Daniels And His Hot Shots, whose sudden collapse left him seeking new employment, and with Lou Preager at the Hammersmith Palais before he moved on to Maurice Winnick’s outfit at Ciro’s Club. Those experiences led to formative stints alongside the Squadronaires and, most significantly, the Ted Heath band, whose American tour exposed him to wider international audiences.

By the 1960s Lusher ranked among Britain’s foremost trombonists and regularly accompanied leading figures such as Frank Sinatra on the road. He subsequently directed large ensembles for selected television and radio broadcasts as well as occasional concerts, a pattern that persisted into the early 1990s. Parallel to these activities he gained recognition as a teacher, conducting workshops and masterclasses across the United States, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom. He maintained strong ties to his brass-band roots, appearing and recording with such ensembles throughout his life. Renowned for technical precision, his smooth and clearly articulated approach served as a model for players in every musical sphere. During the 1990s he fronted the Ted Heath tribute orchestra at a series of well-attended reunion events, and in 2003 he received the OBE for Services To The Music Industry.