Will Bradley

Bradley was born Wilbur Schwitchenberg on July 12, 1912 in Newton, New Jersey and died on July 15, 1989.

Will Bradley will always be remembered most for his boogie-woogie orchestra of the early 1940s. Bradley himself, however, preferred to play ballads and had a long and successful career as a trombonist outside of his band. Bradley was a busy studio musician throughout the 1930s, working with such artists as Red Nichols, Eddie Cantor, Victor Young. Jacques Renard, Nat Shilkret, Andre Kostelanetz, Raymond Paige, Kate Smith, and Al Jolson. In 1935 Glenn Miller, who thought Bradley the best trombonist in the business, hired him to play in Ray Noble's American band, which Miller was organizing. He left Noble the following year, however, and returned to studio work. Bradley also played with Milt Shaw's orchestra in 1931, where he met drummer Ray McKinley.