Jazz Musician, Composer. Barely out of his teens when he was discovered in a burlesque club by Glenn Miller while he was playing with his brothers in a family act, he joined the hugely popular Glenn Miller Orchestra and recorded some of the orchestra's best-known hit recordings, among them "String of Pearls" and "In the Mood", remaining with the ensemble from 1938 to 1942 when he left to serve in the United States Army during World War II. After his service and into most of the 1950s and 1960s, he was an active studio musician on the staff of ABC, performing on recordings, film and television scores composed by the likes of Henry Mancini, Pete Rugolo, Neal Hefti, Nelson Riddle and others. He also played in the ABC Orchestra, performing under the direction of Andre Previn, Leonard Bernstein and Arturo Toscanini. While his playing career continued, he earned three degrees from UCLA — a bachelor's in 1958 (graduating magna cum laude), a master's in 1961 and a doctorate in 1975. He taught there as well, and played a significant role in starting the university's highly regarded jazz education program in 1958. His involvement with electronic musical instruments began in the 1950s, when he was drawn to the sound of the theremin, with its sliding notes - although he did not like the instrument's playing technique which required the performer to control it by waving one's hands. Working with inventor Bob Whitsell, he designed the Tannerin, an instrument that was initially called the electro-theremin, which was played closer to that of traditional keyboard instruments. The Tannerin was prominently heard on the albums "Music for Heavenly Bodies" and "Music From Outer Space" as well as the television series 'My Favorite Martian' and the 1964 thriller, 'Straight-Jacket', but the best known performance by the instrument was on the Beach Boys' hit "Good Vibrations," where it is played by Tanner, who also played on two other Beach Boys tracks, "I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times" and "Wild Honey". A decade after he began teaching, his overflowing classes were averaging 1,600 students a week and when he retired from teaching in 1981, he donated his record collection of 10,000 jazz albums and recordings to UCLA. Tanner, who wrote three books about his musical experiences, 'A Study of Jazz', 'Sideman: Stories About the Band' and 'Every Night Was New Year's Eve' inspired by his on-the-road years with the Miller Orchestra, died of natural causes.