Page Cavanaugh

Page Cavanaugh, an experienced pianist and vocalist, rose to prominence alongside his trio—guitarist Al Viola and bassist Lloyd Pratt—throughout the second half of the 1940s. He began piano lessons at age nine and acquired his first professional seasoning with the Ernie Williamson band in 1938-1939. During military service he met Viola and Pratt; once discharged, the group’s buoyant swing, modeled on the Nat King Cole Trio, and their hushed vocals turned them into favorites from the mid- through late 1940s, yielding best-sellers such as “The Three Bears,” “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home,” and “All of Me.” The trio appeared onscreen in A Song Is Born and Romance on the High Seas. Cavanaugh remained active in the Los Angeles area for five decades, directing the septet known as the Page 7 in the early 1960s and resuming regular performances with his trio—once again including Al Viola—from the late 1980s onward. While his earlier RCA sessions are scarce, he recorded for Star Line in 1989.