Trumpet player Rowland Bernard “Bunny” Berigan was born in 1908 in Fox Lake, Wisconsin. A virtuoso, he rose to fame during the swing era and performed with many of the most important bands of that era including Benny Goodman, Hal Kemp, Paul Whiteman, Glenn Miller, and Tommy Dorsey before forming his own big band in the late 1930s. He was also a composer and his 1937 classic jazz recording “I Can’t Get Started with You” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.
Bunny Berrigan - Episode 1
Bunny's earliest influences were Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke. Early in his career he played with numerous territory bands before moving to New York in 1929. In New York he worked in recording studios, played with major radio orchestras, and performed in dance bands. A jack of all trades, Berigan was a great soloist, could play lead trumpet, could read any piece of music put before him, and was universally liked and admired.
| Composition | Artist | Year |
| Struttin' with Some Barbeque | Louis Armstrong and Hot 7 | 1927 |
| Potato Head Blues | Louis Armstrong and Hot 7 | 1927 |
| River Boat Shuffle | Bix Beiderbecke/Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra | 1927 |
| Goose Pimples | Bix Beiderbecke and New Orleans Lucky 7 | 1927 |
| Nothin' but the Blues | Bunny Berrigan and the Gene Gifford Orchestra | 1935 |
| King Porter Stomp | Bunny Berrigan and Benny Goodman | 1935 |
Bunny Berrigan - Episode 2
Berigan left the Goodman band after playing in the group for about a year. He soon formed his own group and in between performed with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra; his solos on the Dorsey hits "Marie" and the “Song of India” are considered some of his finest work. In 1937 when he was able to secure adequate financial backing, Berigan assembled a band to record under his name. He picked a little known Ira Gershwin/Vernon Duke composition, "I Can't Get Started" to record and it became his most memorable recording and also his theme song. The addition of his “reedy” vocal only adds to the charm of this important recording. Like Bix Beiderbecke, Berigan’s early demise at age 33 left a void in the trumpet world.
| Composition | Artist | Year |
| Sometimes I'm Happy | Bunny Berrigan and Benny Goodman | 1935 |
| A Fine Romance | Bunny Berrigan and the Billie Holiday Orchestra | 1936 |
| Honeysuckle Rose | Benny Berrigan Jam Session at Victor | 1937 |
| Blues | Bunny Berrigan Jam Session at Victor | 1937 |
| I Can't Get Started | Bunny Berrigan and His Orchestra | 1937 |
| Song of India | Bunny Berrigan and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra | 1937 |
| Marie | Bunny Berrigan and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra | 1937 |
| Black Bottom | Bunny Berrigan and his Orchestra | 1938 |