Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
GRAAS, John
GRAAS, John. (Dubuque, IA, Oct. 14, 1924-Apr. 13,1962). Musician. As a student at DUBUQUE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL , Graas occasionally refused to leave the practice room to attend his other classes. At the age of seventeen, however, he was named the principal French horn musician with the Indianapolis Symphony. After several years with the Claude Thornhill orchestra and leading a service band during World War II, Graas moved to the Cleveland orchestra from 1945 until 1946. Frustrated by the lack of freedom, Graas moved to the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1947 to 1948.
His skill caught the eye of jazz great Stan Kenton who signed him up for two years of touring. An exhausted Graas settled in Hollywood in 1950 and found work with television orchestras. While experimenting with jazz on the French horn, he helped score several movies and appeared weekly on the Liberace program. He died of cancer after the release of two records, the prized "Jazz Lab I" and "Jazz Lab 2" by Decca Records.