Frank Hubbell born October 6, 1931

Frank Hubbell (October 6, 1931 - November 10, 2018) was an American jazz trumpet player best known for his work in dixieland, folk-jazz, and big band pop genres during the mid-20th century.

Following his service in the U.S. Navy during the Korean conflict, he graduated from the University of Miami. I could not find much about his early musical activities, but early in his career, Hubbell performed as a trumpet player with big band ensembles, including Anson Weeks and His Hotel Mark Hopkins Orchestra. Later he formed the jazz band Sun City Six prior to leading The Village Stompers.

The Village Stompers were an American Dixieland jazz group who came from Greenwich Village in New York City and consisted of Dick Brady, Don Coates, Ralph Casale, Frank Hubbell, Lenny Pogan, Al McManus, Don Steele, Mitchell May, and Joe Muranyi. The eight of them had gotten together in New York in 1963, initially as Frank Hubbell & the Hubcaps, who cut one single early that year, which vanished without a trace. Later that year, they reorganized as the Village Stompers and were signed to Epic Records, where they cut "Washington Square." 

                                  

The piece itself was a folk-like Dixieland tune, heavy on the banjo as well as the winds, and written by Bob Goldstein, a Philadelphia-born composer, actor, and comedy writer (who'd once collaborated with Woody Allen); in subsequent recordings, they would draw on more of Goldstein's work, both on his own and in collaboration with David Shire, who later achieved renown in the field of film music. The record's success, however, could be traced very specifically to the accessible folk-like arrangement provided by Joe Sherman, who had previously worked with Tony Bennett and the Ames Brothers, among other artists. "Washington Square" was released as a single in the mid-summer of 1963 and entered the charts in late September, hitting the number two spot in December of that year. 

By that time, the group had cut an album built on the same pattern, made up on Dixieland-style renditions of folk and folk-like material including "If I Had a Hammer," "Green Green," "Blowin' in the Wind," "Follow the Drinkin' Gourd," as well as a virtual repeat of the album's title tune "The Poet and the Prophet." Some of Sherman's arrangements included surprising little touches, such as the electric guitar that turns up in the middle of the swinging "Cold Steel Canyons" and as the lead instrument on "Blowin' in the Wind" (where the cornets, clarinets, etc. are pushed into the background for the first verse, before coming to the fore on the chorus). The Washington Square album peaked at number five nationally, an extraordinary achievement for a Dixieland band in that era, and a major success by the standards of Epic Records in those days. 

By that time, the group had gotten a massive amount of exposure on-stage, playing in venues such as New York's Basin Street East. The Village Stompers entered 1964 on a roll, with a Top Ten single and LP to the their credit, and it was here that they began running out of originality. They never found another unknown tune as catchy as "Washington Square," and the title of their second album, More Sounds of Washington Square, only reminded potential listeners of the lack of any significant follow-up, although this was also a very different kind of album as there were only three folk songs present and the rest drew on popular tunes ("Dominique"), blues, and other sources for a more traditional Dixieland sound and little chance of being mistaken for a folk revival release. 

They did score a minor hit with their version of "From Russia With Love" in the spring of 1964, which showed up on their next LP, and chalked up another small success with their rendition of the theme from the then-current musical Fiddler on the Roof. By that time, however, the focus of the music business had shifted thousands of miles to the east, to England, with the advent of the British Invasion. The group's easy-going, accessible sound made them popular with deejays, and subsequent singles, such as "The La-Dee-Da Song," "Oh! Marie," and "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" were played on the radio but never saw equivalent success in their actual sales. 

During the 60’s, Hubbell travelled with his band throughout the U.S. and toured Canada and Japan. They played concerts, nightclubs, colleges, hotels, etc., and made recordings for Epic, Atlantic and Phillips. Appearances on T.V. included The Tonight Show, The Jimmy Dean Show, Hootenanny, On Broadway Tonight and the Mike Douglas Show, and on trumpet, frequently opened for Louis Armstrong on the New Years Eve coast-to-coast radio broadcasts. 

A second album in 1964, Around the World, did passably well thanks to the presence of "From Russia With Love" and "Oh! Marie," but New Beat on Broadway sold more modestly despite the presence of "Fiddler on the Roof," and Some Folk, a Bit of Country, and a Whole Lot of Dixie, released in 1965, saw them recede to the level of a cult phenomenon. Two more albums, A Taste of Honey and Other Goodies and One More Time, they also backed Epic's top singer Bobby Vinton for his album Live At The Copa followed through 1966, and the group called it quits the following year. Around that same time, Epic released a greatest-hits album. 

Hubbell continued releasing music on Atco and Philips through 1968 as Frank Hubbell and the Stompers. Since the 70’s he was established mainly in Miami, but also throughout other areas in Florida. During the 1980,s and 1990's he led the Frank Hubbell Moonlighters. This band was broadcast many times over WKAT in Miami. Frank was also an active member of the Miami Elks Club where he played with his band every Monday night and brought fun, music and happy times to its members. His bands included some of the finest musicians. Hubbell played several instruments, but he was known for being an outstanding trumpet player.

Hubbell passed away peacefully in Florida on November 10, 2018 at the age of 87 and was laid to rest at the South Florida National Cemetery (Veterans cemetery) located in Palm Beach County in Lake Worth, Florida.

(Edited from AllMusic, Way Back Attack, Van Orsdel obituary & Chat GPT)