Wilbur Hall

Wilbur Francis Hall (November 18, 1894 – June 30, 1983), sometimes billed as Willie Hall, was an American entertainer, trombonist, and violinist born in Shawnee Mound, Missouri. He appeared on Broadway in 1931 in the revue The Laugh Parade.

Hall was active in vaudeville before Paul Whiteman hired him in 1924. He remained with Whiteman's orchestra through 1930, serving primarily as a trombone player. His signature trombone showcase was an exceptionally fast performance of Felix Arndt's Nola, which he also committed to record in 1929. Beyond the trombone, Hall demonstrated proficiency on a range of instruments, including unconventional ones. Among his novelty specialties was playing melodies on a bicycle pump, a skill that Whiteman's principal arranger Ferde Grofé incorporated into a dedicated feature number titled Free Air: Based on Noises from a Garage. Hall's pump playing and novelty violin work are preserved in the early color film The King of Jazz, in a routine called "Pop Goes the Weasel."

Following his departure from Whiteman's orchestra, Hall toured as a solo act on the Publix circuit before joining the Ken Murray Blackouts in Los Angeles. He subsequently toured both nationally and internationally alongside his wife, Irene Hall, a London-born performer who worked under the stage name Renée. The act was billed as "Wilbur Hall and Renée Fields" and appeared in the BBC Television variety program Eastern Cabaret on December 12 and 17, 1938. That same month, an advertisement placed by Fred Collins' Agency in the British theatrical newspaper The Era announced an upcoming engagement by the act in Dundee, Scotland.

Hall's television appearances included reprisals of his violin routine from The King of Jazz on the Ken Murray and Spike Jones programs during the 1950s, and a later appearance on The Gong Show in the 1970s. He died on June 30, 1983, in Newbury Park, California.