All Around Town

Throughout its lifetime, the Warren Durrett Orchestra was a presence at the major spots in town. Warren and his Orchestra played anything from proms and school dances to Jazz Festivals.

"You knew what his expectations were. He didn’t go around and tell everybody, but everybody wanted it to sound good. Some of the guys in the band said when things got a little intense or hard, 'Swing and Sweat with Warren Durrett.' It wasn’t a negative thing, it was that we were cooking tonight." -Richard Wilson

"He had six violins whenever he could sell them. He often did that and arranged for those people. He’d get the violin players out of the symphony, so he knew quite a few of the symphony players, because they actually played with him." -Jan Durrett

In 1966, Warren was looking for a player to replace Dan Overholt on Trumpet II. He had heard of a man out of Wichata called Richard Wilson, and when the chance came, Warren hired him. Trouble came when the Richard Wilson he hired was "nervous and unimpressive on stage." Only later did Warren find out that he had hired the wrong Richard Wilson. He immediately hired the correct Richard Wilson. Afterward, Mr. Wilson was a stable player in the trumpet section for 21 years, and his checks were forever paid to Richard A. Wilson.