Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Firehouse Five Plus Two
The Firehouse Five Plus Two was an American Dixieland jazz band, popular in the 1950s, consisting of members of the Disney animation department. The leader and trombonist, Ward Kimball, was inspired to form the band after spending time with members of the Disney animation and sound department and finding that they had a lot in common as jazz aficionados. The lunchtime chats escalated into a full-on lunchtime jam session as Kimball, an amateur trombonist, and animator Frank Thomas, a pianist, found they "sounded pretty good all by ourselves." The band went by two other names, the Huggajeedy Eight and the San Gabriel Valley Blue Blowers. The "Firehouse" motif came from a 1916 American LaFrance fire engine that Kimball restored for the local Horseless Carriage Club, and the "Five Plus Two" from the band's original lineup of seven.
The band was also formative in creating the Good Time Jazz label under their fellow aficionado Lester Koenig, who managed all the band's releases from 1940's The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story, Volume 1 to 1970's Live at Earthquake McGoon's. Walt Disney approved of the band, letting them play at the company's Christmas parties, at Disneyland, and other social functions, on the single condition that they never fully leave their jobs at the studio.
The formative members of the band, as listed in the liner notes for The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story.
Later, other Disney artists and professional jazz musicians joined in:
Timeline
In addition to many singles, the band recorded at least thirteen LP records, starting in 1949. The last album, Live at Earthquake McGoon's, was recorded in 1970 in San Francisco. This list includes only 12” LPs. The first four ltems are reissues of previously released 78 rpm records and 10” LPs. They have subsequently been re-released on CD and remain available.
(* also released as a 4-record album)
In early Pogo comic strips, former Disney animator Walt Kelly featured a band called "The Firehouse Five Glee and Pilau Society". One 1950 Sunday strip featured a caricature of Ward Kimball as "Kimbo Cat".
Hub AI
Firehouse Five Plus Two AI simulator
(@Firehouse Five Plus Two_simulator)
Firehouse Five Plus Two
The Firehouse Five Plus Two was an American Dixieland jazz band, popular in the 1950s, consisting of members of the Disney animation department. The leader and trombonist, Ward Kimball, was inspired to form the band after spending time with members of the Disney animation and sound department and finding that they had a lot in common as jazz aficionados. The lunchtime chats escalated into a full-on lunchtime jam session as Kimball, an amateur trombonist, and animator Frank Thomas, a pianist, found they "sounded pretty good all by ourselves." The band went by two other names, the Huggajeedy Eight and the San Gabriel Valley Blue Blowers. The "Firehouse" motif came from a 1916 American LaFrance fire engine that Kimball restored for the local Horseless Carriage Club, and the "Five Plus Two" from the band's original lineup of seven.
The band was also formative in creating the Good Time Jazz label under their fellow aficionado Lester Koenig, who managed all the band's releases from 1940's The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story, Volume 1 to 1970's Live at Earthquake McGoon's. Walt Disney approved of the band, letting them play at the company's Christmas parties, at Disneyland, and other social functions, on the single condition that they never fully leave their jobs at the studio.
The formative members of the band, as listed in the liner notes for The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story.
Later, other Disney artists and professional jazz musicians joined in:
Timeline
In addition to many singles, the band recorded at least thirteen LP records, starting in 1949. The last album, Live at Earthquake McGoon's, was recorded in 1970 in San Francisco. This list includes only 12” LPs. The first four ltems are reissues of previously released 78 rpm records and 10” LPs. They have subsequently been re-released on CD and remain available.
(* also released as a 4-record album)
In early Pogo comic strips, former Disney animator Walt Kelly featured a band called "The Firehouse Five Glee and Pilau Society". One 1950 Sunday strip featured a caricature of Ward Kimball as "Kimbo Cat".