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PHOTO BY JOHN LARSON

BIG BRASS. Ozzie Fuhrmann and some of his band mates play during a recent gig at Mandolin Café.

Getting back in the swing of things

By John Larson

Ozzie Fuhrmann is playing the music he loves, the music of his youth – the big band swing that was the most popular form of music in America in the 1930s and 1940s. In his late 80s, Fuhrmann recently began playing saxophone again after 40 years away from music.

Fuhrmann started playing clarinet in a junior high school band when he was growing up in Chicago. In high school he switched to baritone sax because it was the only instrument available. “It was almost as big as me,” he said with a laugh.

Later he switched to bassoon, although he did not know how to play it. A bassoon player with Chicago Civic Orchestra lived a few blocks away, and Fuhrmann knocked on his door and convinced the man to give him lessons.

After high school he played in big bands around Chicago, and also formed his own combo. For several years his group was the house band every weekend at a restaurant. “That almost paid for my home,” he recalled.

He joined the U.S. Army during World War II and served in the South Pacific. Later he was transferred and played in a military band.

His first wife used to catch many of his gigs back in the day. After she died in 1966, he hung up his saxophone. His only musical endeavor for the next four decades was singing in church choirs.

Fuhrmann did accounting work for Weyerhaeuser for many years. He remarried and began a successful career restoring furniture. He lived in Chicago and Southern California, moving back and forth several times.

His second wife grew up in Kelso and had lived in Tacoma earlier in her life. In 2002 the couple moved to Federal Way.

Fuhrmann was singing at a dinner for senior citizens when a woman who played saxophone asked if he played. That conversation led him to buy a sax and begin playing with Puyallup Concert Band, a group he still performs with.

A member of that group suggested Fuhrmann start a big band. Eventually he did, getting a few people together to practice old standards in his garage.

Most of the members of what became Ozzie Fuhrmann Swing Band are also in Puyallup Concert Band. One is trumpet player Doug Konop. When practices shifted to Konop’s home, they began looking for more members. The band expanded both in size and age range, with two college students the youngest members.

“It is the music that brings us together,” Konop said. “This is as much a history lesson as a band practice. I learn so much from the older musicians. For a younger musician this is very fascinating.”

The group recently played a members’ reception at Museum of Glass. Their main gig right now is the first Monday of each month at Mandolin Café. Konop said they are looking around for other venues to play.

Ozzie Fuhrmann Swing Band plays Mandolin Café in Tacoma at 7 p.m. Nov. 3.

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