Wilbur Francis Hall, sometimes billed as Willie Hall (November 18, 1894 – June 30, 1983), was an American trombonist, violinist, and entertainer.

Early life

Hall was born in Shawnee Mound, Missouri.^[1]

Career

Hall was working in vaudeville when, in 1924, he was hired by Paul Whiteman. Hall stayed with Whiteman's orchestra until 1930, mainly featured as a trombone player (his speciality on this instrument was a lightning-fast rendition of Felix Arndt's Nola, which he also recorded in 1929). However, Hall was apt a playing several other instruments, conventional as well as unconventional. Amongst the latter was his ability to play melodies on a bicycle pump. Whiteman's main arranger Ferde Grofé even wrote a special feature number for Hall on this "instrument" called Free Air: Based on Noises from a Garage. Hall can also be seen playing his pump and novelty violin in the early color film The King of Jazz. This routine, called "Pop Goes the Weasel", partly resembles the earlier work by vaudevillian Little Tich.^[2]

After leaving Whiteman Hall toured as a solo act with the Publix circuit and then joined the Ken Murray Blackouts in Los Angeles. Later, he toured nationally and internationally with his wife, mixing music with comedy, He also appeared on television where he would reprise his violin bit from The King of Jazz on the Ken Murray and Spike Jones shows in the 1950s and on The Gong Show in the 1970s.

An act called "Wilbur Hall and Renée Fields" appeared in the variety program Eastern Cabaret on BBC Television December 12 and 17, 1938.^[3] The same month, an advertisement by Fred Collins' Agency in British newspaper The Era, known for its theatrical content, announced a forthcoming appearance in Dundee, Scotland by the same act, who may have been Wilbur and his wife.^[4]

Personal life

Hall died in Newbury Park, California.