John Rhea Lawson, 3 May 1911, Trenton, Missouri, USA, d. 18 Febraury 1995.

      After playing the trumpet in various local bands, in 1933 Lawson joined Pollack, Ben's popular band.  When this group developed into the co-operative Bob Crosby band Lawson was one of its dominant musical voices.  He later played in the bands of Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, and then spent a quarter of a century, on and off, in the studios, making occasional jazz club and record dates.  Reunions with other veterans of the Crosby band eventually led to a partnership with Bob Haggart.  Their co-led band eventually evolved into the World's Greatest Jazz Band and when this group folded in the late 70s Lawson and Haggart continued to perform together well into the 80s.  A striking and aggressive player, Lawson dominated any of the dixieland-orientated jazz bands with which he played and drew admiration from such leading jazz artists as Louis Armstrong, with whom he appeared on record.