Lanin, Lester (1911– )

US band leader and contractor. In 1937 Lester formed his own dance band in Philadelphia, playing strict-tempo danceable music, often known as ‘society-style’ because of the fashionable people who preferred it. He played at many US presidential inaugural balls, beginning with that of Dwight D Eisenhower, as well as at British royal weddings and other fashionable events. By 1978 he employed some 1,650 musicians in 45 bands as the Lester Lanin Music Corporation; he remained active into the 1990s. His recordings on various labels were also hits.

Lanin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By the late 1940s he had emerged as the most prominent of the Lanin brothers, and he was asked to play at so many occasions that he had begun to contract out a series of bands under his name, performing himself at the most important events.