Photo Gallery
The Bud Lincoln Orchestra (also known as the Brunswick Dance Orchestra), Philadelphia, PA - 1921 (Picture 1 of 2)
Personnel L to R: Bugs Boganoff, drums; Frank Whitman, piano; John "Fat" Dibert, banjo; Bud Lincoln, trumpet; Sammy Dibert, sax; Abe Lincoln, trombone
The Bud Lincoln Orchestra (also known as the Brunswick Dance Orchestra), Philadelphia, PA - 1921 (Picture 2 of 2)
Personnel and order L to R same as above
The NBC Orchestra under the direction of Sigmund Romberg
(Abe Lincoln in back row, fourth from left)
Aside from being a world class trombonist, Abe had a reputation for his unpredictable sense of humor. In the following photo, Abe is playing his horn while resting its slide on the floor. In order to do this, Abe would stand up as shown, rest the slide on the floor, then bob up and down to place the slide in the correct position(s) to play.
Abe's horn in the above photo is a New York Bach Stradivarius 12 bell mated to a Bach 16 slide, manufactured September 23rd, 1938.
Below is a more recent photo of this horn, along with the above pictured Harmon Mute and mouthpiece. Many thanks go out to Terry Priest of Hillje Music in San Antonio, TX for his masterful, restorative work on this historic instrument.
I also extent my gratitude to Terry's dad, the late Arnold Priest for his earlier restorative work on Abe's horn. Arnold was truly an artist and his skill with brass instruments was legendary. His son, Terry, continues that tradition to this day.
Abe was a virtuoso of the "wah-wah" Harmon mute and was known for his being able to make the horn "talk." Abe was frequently called upon to use the Harmon mute on everything from Pat Butram's radio program to Woody Woodpecker cartoons. In fact, Abe would frequently refer to his Harmon mute as his "money maker" mute.
Abe was also a skilled craftsman and was very adept at restoring vintage wall clocks and grandfather clocks. He would frequently apply these skills to modifying mouthpieces to suit him. Here is a an older New York Back 12 mouthpiece that Abe modified by turning down the shank in order to permit it to fit further into the horn; thus, getting a brighter sound.
The following photo was taken at the home of Frank Worth* during a jam session with members of his orchestra.
Personnel L to R: Paul Teonnings, bass: George Werth (Frank's brother), trumpet; Benny Gill; Unidentified drummer; "Pappy" Graham; Benny Cantor, clarinet (later owned Baxter Northup Music Co. in Sherman Oaks, CA); Abe Lincoln, trombone; Don Ferris, piano
*During the 1930's, Frank Worth, born in Hungary, changed his last name to "Werth." Many thanks go to Frank Worth's son, Franz, and to Abe Lincoln's son, A.J. Lincoln for providing additional information regarding this photo. For many years, the Blue Angel Jazz Club of Pasadena hosted annual jazz parties. The sessions were recorded and subsequently released as albums available via mail order. The photo below was taken in 1968 during one of these sessions. 