b. Nathaniel Lester Lanin, 26 August 1907, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 27 October 2004, New York City, New York, USA. Lanin was born into a large and very musical family. His grandfather was a band leader in Philadelphia as was his father, Benjamin Lanin. As many as six of his brothers also became band leaders, most famously Sam Lanin.
After starting out on piano and drums as a very small child, Lanin briefly considered a career outside music but by his early teens was playing in bands led by his brothers and was also working as a band booking agent. He led his own f...