Danny Barcelona | Drummer with Armstrong, 77
Danny Barcelona, 77, a drummer who traveled the world with Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars and played on such Armstrong recordings as "Hello, Dolly," has died.
Danny Barcelona, 77, a drummer who traveled the world with Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars and played on such Armstrong recordings as "Hello, Dolly," has died.
Mr. Barcelona died April 1 of cancer at a nursing facility near the Monterey Park, Calif., home he shared with his wife of 50 years, his daughter Dana Barcelona-Bonner said in San Gabriel.
He was born in Hawaii and was affectionately called "the little Hawaiian boy" by Armstrong. In the early 1950s, Mr. Barcelona started his own sextet, the Hawaiian Dixieland All Stars, which toured the Hawaiian Islands and Japan.
Mr. Barcelona, who joined Armstrong's All-Stars in 1958 and traveled worldwide with the band, played on more than 130 recording sessions and soundtracks with Armstrong, including his hits "Hello, Dolly" and "What a Wonderful World."
The band broke up after Armstrong's death in 1971. Mr. Barcelona then became a fixture at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, playing with the Bernie Halmann Group. He moved to Monterey Park in 1979.
- Associated Press