Musician. He was best known for playing the National Anthem at the Dallas Cowboys football games for 22 years. He also led dance and show bands in and around Dallas for 50 years. Though widely recognized in jazz circles as a master of the trumpet and cornet, Loy, who always played the anthem solo, was featured before Super Bowl V in Miami, where the Cowboys lost to the Baltimore Colts. Loy was once the answer to a “New York Times” crossword puzzle clue, "Cowboy trumpeter." He received his first trumpet at the age of nine. In 1947 he enrolled at Southern Methodist University to study music. He graduated in 1955, after taking two years out to serve in the U.S. Air Force. While in college at SMU, Loy began playing with bands in and around Dallas, including a Dixieland band called the Cell Block 7 that was booked on the old Ed Sullivan Show. When playing in the Cell Block band in 1953, he met Jack Ruby while playing at Ruby's Vegas Club in Dallas. Later, Ruby would gain notoriety as the assassin of Lee Harvey Oswald. In 1958 Loy, playing French horn, recorded an album with West Coast musicians Jimmy Rowles, Don Bagley, Shelley Manne and Paul Horn that was reviewed favorably in "Downbeat", "Metronome" and "Time" magazines. From 1961 until 1974, Loy was featured with Ed Bernet and the Dixieland 7, a legendary band that held forth at a popular Dallas nightspot called The Levee. Throughout his career Loy also headed bands under his own name, playing dances, shows and concerts not only locally bit throughout the Midwest and western sections of the United States. His bands were featured at Dallas clubs such as the Railhead, The Paradise, Union Station, Cirrus Lounge in the Doubletree Hotel, and Dick's Last Resort. For the past several years, Loy had fronted a band that played Tuesday nights at the Bavarian Grill, a German restaurant in Plano. This past August, Loy was featured at a series of jazz concerts in Scotland. Shortly after he returned to Dallas, he became ill. He played his regular Tuesday night at the Bavarian for the last time in mid-September. He is featured prominently in "The Jingle Book", by Ken Deutsch, which traces the history of the recording business in Dallas. He died of pancreatic cancer.
Musician. He was best known for playing the National Anthem at the Dallas Cowboys football games for 22 years. He also led dance and show bands in and around Dallas for 50 years. Though widely recognized in jazz circles as a master of the trumpet and cornet, Loy, who always played the anthem solo, was featured before Super Bowl V in Miami, where the Cowboys lost to the Baltimore Colts. Loy was once the answer to a “New York Times” crossword puzzle clue, "Cowboy trumpeter." He received his first trumpet at the age of nine. In 1947 he enrolled at Southern Methodist University to study music. He graduated in 1955, after taking two years out to serve in the U.S. Air Force. While in college at SMU, Loy began playing with bands in and around Dallas, including a Dixieland band called the Cell Block 7 that was booked on the old Ed Sullivan Show. When playing in the Cell Block band in 1953, he met Jack Ruby while playing at Ruby's Vegas Club in Dallas. Later, Ruby would gain notoriety as the assassin of Lee Harvey Oswald. In 1958 Loy, playing French horn, recorded an album with West Coast musicians Jimmy Rowles, Don Bagley, Shelley Manne and Paul Horn that was reviewed favorably in "Downbeat", "Metronome" and "Time" magazines. From 1961 until 1974, Loy was featured with Ed Bernet and the Dixieland 7, a legendary band that held forth at a popular Dallas nightspot called The Levee. Throughout his career Loy also headed bands under his own name, playing dances, shows and concerts not only locally bit throughout the Midwest and western sections of the United States. His bands were featured at Dallas clubs such as the Railhead, The Paradise, Union Station, Cirrus Lounge in the Doubletree Hotel, and Dick's Last Resort. For the past several years, Loy had fronted a band that played Tuesday nights at the Bavarian Grill, a German restaurant in Plano. This past August, Loy was featured at a series of jazz concerts in Scotland. Shortly after he returned to Dallas, he became ill. He played his regular Tuesday night at the Bavarian for the last time in mid-September. He is featured prominently in "The Jingle Book", by Ken Deutsch, which traces the history of the recording business in Dallas. He died of pancreatic cancer.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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