Pete Daily

Pete Daily (b. Portland, Indiana, May 5, 1911 – d. 1986) – Multi-instrumentalist (primarily cornet/trumpet with secondary work on baritone/slide trombone and the bass saxophone). Born in Portland, Indiana, and raised in Hammond, young Peter Daily explored the jazz scene of the Chicago area early on and landed a gig with Jack Davies’ Kentuckians when he and a friend ventured across the state line to the Cottage Inn in Calumet City, Illinois. While playing the cornet and the bass saxophone, he recorded several records with the Kentuckians at Gennett in 1930. For the next twelve years, he worked around Chicago playing in groups with Frank Melrose, Bud Freeman and Boyce Brown. In 1942, he moved to California and played briefly in Ozzie Nelson’s band; however, he spent most of his remaining professional years as the front man in Dixieland groups. Following military service in WWII, he founded the Chicagoans, a California-based group that recorded several records with Capitol. In the 1960s, he spent some time playing the valve trombone back with an Indiana-band led by Smokey Stover. His long career came to end in 1979, when a serious stroke limited his playing abilities.