Albert Streit, 91; led Al Raymond Band for years

Albert Raymond Streit, 91, formerly of Broomall, head of the Al Raymond Band for 45 years, died of pneumonia Saturday, Feb. 5, at Elder Care Western in Chandler, Ariz.

Mr. Streit, who performed at inaugural balls for two presidents, learned how to play the trumpet when he was 9. By the time he was 15, he was playing professionally with big bands while attending Frankford High School.

During World War II, he was in Army bands in Colorado, Panama, France, and Germany, where he played at USO shows starring Jack Benny, and entertained Gens. Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S. Patton.

After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree from Temple University, as well as a master's degree in music and English there.

He met his future wife, Florence VanNote, when he was playing in a band at Chez Vous ballroom in Upper Darby. They married in 1951, and in 1953 he established the Al Raymond Band.

While performing with his band on weekends and in the summer, he was band director and taught instruments at Darby High School for eight years. For a year, he was band director at Sun Valley High School before joining the faculty of Beverly Hills Junior High School in the Upper Darby School District. He directed the band and taught music at Beverly Hills, and also taught music in the district's elementary schools.

When he left teaching in 1978 to become a full-time band leader, Mr. Streit told The Inquirer that big bands appealed to all age groups.

"We play high school proms. At first, the kids kind of glare at us. We must look like a bunch of old fogies," he said. But after the band has played for a bit and performed Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington, he said, the students would start dancing, and "when it's over, they run up to shake our hands."

Mr. Streit led a band of 10 to 17 musicians or a combo of three to six, depending on a client's needs and budget. He often sang with his band as well as playing the trumpet, and always had a female vocalist, said his son, Craig.

The Al Raymond Band regularly performed at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City and his combo played for 41 years, until 2007, at the Convention Center in Cape May. His musicians played at weddings and corporate events, and appeared on local television programs including The Larry Ferrari Show and Al Alberts Showcase. For four years in the 1980s, the band was part of the New Year's Eve celebration on AM Philadelphia on 6ABC.

Mr. Streit also hosted radio shows with his son, who is also a trumpet player. He was especially proud to have played at the inaugural balls for Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton, his son said.

Over the years, Mr. Streit used grants from the Music Performance Trust Fund to recruit prominent musicians for concerts, and produced more than a dozen albums. In 1987, he produced an album featuring the clarinetist Buddy DeFranco.

"I had reached a point where I wanted to do one artistic thing in my life," Mr. Streit told The Inquirer. "Nobody's featured a jazz clarinet with a straight-ahead band for a long time. This would be a venture that would give me a lot of personal satisfaction."

In 1999, Mr. Streit published Swinging Big Bands Into the Nineties. He updated the book in 2001, and it was reissued as Swinging Big Bands Into the Millennium.

His son led the Al Raymond Band from 1997 until moving to Arizona in 2009. Mr. Streit and his wife had moved to Arizona two years earlier to be near their daughter, Lisa Marie Carbutt.

In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Mr. Streit is survived by two grandchildren.

Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, at the Frank C. Videon Funeral Home, 2001 Sproul Rd., Broomall. A funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 14, at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 145 W. Springfield Rd., Springfield, Delaware County.