Dudley Fosdick

Dudley Fosdick (b. Liberty, Indiana, 1902 – d. June 17, 1957) – Mellophonist. Educated at Northwestern University and Columbia University, Dudley Fosdick is one of the only well-recorded soloists of the mellophone, which is similar to a French horn. In 1922 and 1923, he played in a small group called the Hoosiers led by his brother Gene Fosdick. By 1927, he had settled in New York with fellow musicians Tommy Gott, Don Voorhees, and Roger Wolfe Kahn. Late in the decade, he was an invaluable sideman on recordings of Red Nichols and His Five Pennies. His playing on recordings by Miff Mole and the Molers from the same time period left trombone players baffled, because they couldn’t imitate his sound and style (thinking he was playing a slide trombone). In the 1930s, he joined Henry King and His Orchestra before joining Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians, whom he played with for about ten years starting in 1936.