Harry Cool

Harry Cool was an American dance band vocalist most commonly associated with Dick Jurgens And His Orchestra. He later went on to record under his own name as Harry Cool And His Orchestra and The Harry Cool Trio. Born June 28, 1913, in Minnesota, Cool's big break occurred when he replaced Eddy Howard as a vocalist with Dick Jurgens And His Orchestra. Cool was featured as a vocalist on the Jurgens hits "A Million Dreams Ago" and "The Bells of San Raquel." The 1942 recording ban imposed by the musician's union prompted Jurgens to disband his group, leaving Cool to lead his own dance orchestra, Harry Cool And His Orchestra, featuring vocalists such as Mindy Carson and Evelyn Stallings. By the early 1950s, Cool's dance orchestra had slimmed down to a more manageable size, The Harry Cool Trio, and was regularly playing nightclubs in the upper midwest. Around the time he married a Moline, Illinois, native named Martha Tummel (born Martha DeBruyne), he was performing regularly with his trio at Tony Moreno's Club Rendezvous in Moline, The Spot Bar in Moline, The Tahitian Room of The Plantation in Moline, and nearby Harbor Lights Supper Club in Galesburg, Illinois. Among his last known recordings was a 1952 single for the Moline-based Fredlo label, Ace in the Hole / A Cottage for Sale. With children and stepchildren to care for, Cool appears to have settled into a more stable line of work, managing a Chicago nightspot known as Mister Kelly's beginning in September of 1958. He was last employed as a maitre d' at The Grand Plaza Restaurant in Chicago. He passed away in Chicago on June 19, 1979.