Didier Deutsch is a French-born record producer who has produced more than 600 titles in fields as varied as pop, jazz, big bands, classical, soundtracks and Broadway shows. He was nominated for a Grammy in 1995 for his production of the 12-CD “Frank Sinatra: The Columbia Years (1943–1952) – The Complete Recordings,” and again in 2001 or the Columbia/Legacy 26-CD set, “Soundtrack For A Century.”
Deutsch was born in 1937 in Arcachon, France, and arrived in New York City in 1962. Initially after his arrival, he wrote professionally for a wide range of magazines and newspapers, including After Dark, Essence, and The New York Times, with a special emphasis on the theater, movies, and music. In 1973, following some years in public relations in the private sector, Deutsch became publicity director at CTI Records, the jazz label created by producer Creed Taylor. After that Deutsch held various publicity and managerial positions at Tappan Zee, RCA, WEA International, and Atlantic. During this time Deustch simultaneously began working for Legacy, the reissue label controlled by Columbia Records, now Sony Music.
Over the years, Deutsch has produced recordings by many artists signed to both Columbia and Epic (Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Jerry Vale, Rosemary Clooney, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, etc.). On many of those, he wrote the liner notes that helped put these recordings into their proper historical perspective.
Among his many other achievements, Deutsch lists “The Great American Composers,” a 28-volume collection of the classic tunes written by the best Tin Pan Alley songwriters – Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, and the Gershwins, among many others, representing more than 800 selections, for Columbia House and “The Best Of Broadway,” a multi-volume series surveying the songs written for the stage and screen, for Time-Life.
In addition to his activities as a record producer, Deutsch continues to be a presence on Broadway, each season reviewing the new musical productions for the German publication “Musicals” and for the French-language “Opérette/Théâtre Musical.” A recognized theater critic, he has been covering the Broadway musical scene for more than 45 years.

Richard Sawicki (1927-2017) was born in Ranshaw, Pennsylvania. He was Cole Porter’s physical therapist and a musician. He served in the US Army during World War II.

Jan August was born Jan Augustoff in New York City, the youngest of five children. Jan’s parents, having paid for music lessons for the four older siblings who lacked any musical aptitude, chose not to repeat the mistake with their youngest. Jan learned to play the piano by ear as a child; as an adult he learned to read and arrange music. He mastered the xylophone, vibraphone and Solovox as well as the piano. In 1946, his instrumental recording of “Misirlou,” a Greek folk song, sold more than 1,000,000 records.
As a young man, Jan performed as a pianist with the Paul Specht Band in Greenwich Village nightclubs. In the 1930’s, Paul Whiteman invited him to play in his orchestra; Jan also performed with Ferde Grofé. With the musical shift from jazz to swing in the 1940’s, Jan returned to performing solo in clubs. His style attracted the attention of Irving Gwirtz of Diamond Records, who signed him to a recording contract. He received union scale wages of approximately $35 for his recording of “Bob-a-Loo”; the recording of “Misirlou” reached the Top Ten on the charts and launched his career.
Jan hosted and performed on radio, notably a 15-minute weekly broadcast on the Mutual Radio Network from 1947-1948. In 1948 and 1950, he appeared on "The Toast of the Town" and from 1949-1951 he accompanied singer Roberta Quinlan on her NBC variety show. Later he hosted "Jan August’s Revere Camera Show". In 1949, he served as the subject of a 9-minute film short entitled "Audition for August" with Kitty Kallen. In the 1950’s, Jan signed a recording contract with the Mercury label recording instrumental versions of popular hits laced with Latin rhythms. He also toured with his own orchestra in the United States and Canada. After arranging and recording more than 140 songs, Jan retired in 1967. He died of heart disease about a decade later.
Shortly before Jan's death, a musician performing under the name Jan August made the news in Florida, but it was an imposter.

Phil Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was a singer, songwriter, jazz musician, actor and comedian, best remembered for his voice work; he provided the voices for “Baloo” in Disney’s The Jungle Book and “Little John” in Disney’s Robin Hood. Born Wonga Philip Harris in Linton, Indiana, Harris grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. Beginning in the late 1920s, he worked as a drummer in an orchestra he formed with Carol Lofner in San Francisco. When the partnership ended, he continued to perform with his own band. In the mid-1930s, Harris became musical director of The Jell-O Show starring Jack Benny. Although responsible for singing and leading the band, Harris had a quick wit and comic timing that insured his inclusion into Benny’s comic ensemble.

Phil Harris and Alice Faye married in 1941; it was a second marriage for both of them. Although insiders predicted the union would not last more than six months, the marriage lasted fifty-four year, until Harris’s death in 1995. In 1946, the couple began co-hosting a Sunday night comedy-variety show titled The Fitch Bandwagon, sponsored by F. W. Fitch Co., a hair products manufacturer located in Des Moines, Iowa. The show’s premise, to showcase big bands, shifted as the popularity of Harris and Faye’s family skits grew in popularity. In 1948, Rexall, a pharmaceutical company, became the show’s sponsor and its title changed to The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show. The couple played themselves in the weekly situation comedy that included two young actresses playing the couple’s real-life daughters. The show featured Harris as a bumbling, slightly vain husband and Faye as his loving, but sharp-tongued wife. During each episode, Faye and Harris sang a couple of songs. Generally, Faye performed ballads and Harris sang swing numbers. The show ended in 1954.

The couple continued to work, separately and together, until Harris’s death.