Robert Sherwood Haggart was a dixieland jazz

Dixieland Jazz

Dixieland Jazz was a Canadian music television series which aired on CBC Television in 1954.-Premise:The series host was Trump Davidson, a cornet player. He also hosted a radio music series on CBC's Trans-Canada Network.-Scheduling:...

 double bass player, composer and arranger. Although he is associated with dixieland

Dixieland

Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...

 he was in fact one of the finest rhythm bassists of the Swing Era.

Haggart was a founder-member of the Bob Crosby

Bob Crosby

George Robert "Bob" Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group the Bob-Cats.-Family:...

 Band (1935), arranging and part-composing several of the band's big successes, including "What's New?

What's New?

"What's New?" is a 1939 popular song composed by Bob Haggart, with lyrics by Johnny Burke.It was originally an instrumental tune titled "I'm Free" by Haggart in 1938, when Haggart was a member of Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. The tune was written with a trumpet solo, meant to showcase the talents...

", "South Rampart Street Parade", "My Inspiration", and "Big Noise from Winnetka

Big Noise From Winnetka

Big Noise from Winnetka is a jazz composition co-written by composer and bass player Bob Haggart. It was first recorded in 1938 and featured Haggart and drummer Ray Bauduc, both members of a sub-group of the Bob Crosby Orchestra called The Bobcats....

".

He remained with the band until 1942. He then worked as a studio musician in New York and recorded with Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...

, Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

, Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

 and Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

; his arrangements can be heard on Ella's Decca

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 release "Lullabies of Birdland". During the 1950s, Haggart organised, with Yank Lawson

Yank Lawson

John Rhea "Yank" Lawson was a jazz trumpeter known for Dixieland and swing music....

, a regular series of small band recordings and also arranged many of the tunes for Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

's 1956-7 four-volume LP recreation set.

Bob Crosby

Bob Crosby

George Robert "Bob" Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group the Bob-Cats.-Family:...

 also used this ensemble as the core of many groups, including the band that recorded Haggart's arrangement of Porgy and Bess (1958). During the late 1960s he played frequently in bands organised by Bob Crosby.

He co-led, with Yank Lawson

Yank Lawson

John Rhea "Yank" Lawson was a jazz trumpeter known for Dixieland and swing music....

, The World's Greatest Jazz Band

World's Greatest Jazz Band

The World's Greatest Jazz Band was an all-star jazz ensemble active from 1968 to 1978.Dick Gibson founded the group at his sixth Jazz Party, an annual event. The group performed mostly Dixieland jazz and recorded extensively. It was co-led by Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart, and did early jazz...

 (1968–1978). From 1978 until shortly before his death, Haggart worked with own groups or as a free-lance musician in several jazz groups and toured all over the world. He wrote a tutor for double bass which has become a standard text.

Discography

With Randy Sandke

Randy Sandke

Randy Sandke is a jazz trumpeter and guitarist.In an interview with Larry Kart he said: "I got into jazz kind of chronologically, beginning with Bix and Louis, then Dizzy, Clifford Brown, Miles, and Freddie Hubbard. I also studied at Roosevelt University with Renold Schilke, a legendary teacher...

• The Music of Bob Haggart Featuring His Porgy and Bess Arrangements track 17 only (Arbors Records
  Arbors Records
  Arbors Records is an independent American jazz record label based in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded by the family team of Mat and Rachel Domber in 1989, initially devoted to the recordings of their friend Rick Fay.-History:...
  
  )