Fran Frey

Fran Frey (b. Indiana, December 3, 1903 - December 1, 1962) – Vocalist, alto saxophonist, songwriter, composer, and bandleader. In the early 1920s, Fran Frey, who was from Washington, Indiana, performed with the American Harmonists, a well-known house band at Indy’s Colonial Theatre on North Illinois Street. Later in the decade, Frey went to New York and joined George Olsen and his Music, a popular dance band that performed in Broadway productions, recorded prolifically, and played radio shows. In addition to playing alto saxophone in the band, Frey’s baritone vocals were featured on twenty-six recordings with Olsen’s band in the mid to late 1920s. At the same time, Frey was featured in a vocal trio in the Broadway show Good News, which ran for about eighteen months. After the Olsen group broke up around 1930, Frey performed and recorded with a variety of groups while he also tried to record songs (some of them originals). During the 1930s, he was able to record six sides on his own with Columbia. He also appeared as a vocalist on recordings with Ben Selvin, Bunny Berigan, the Boswell Sisters, and Victor Young, and as an alto saxophonist with the band of Leo Reisemanand. Also in the 1930s, he sang on Jack Benny’s radio show. Although little is known about his life following WWII, many of his vocal performances are currently available on youtube.com, and some of his recordings are included on various compilation CDs of the Charleston Era and of songs by Rodgers and Hart.