View source for Johnny Zell

{{short description|American trumpet player (born 1947)}}
{{BLP sources|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- For individuals; see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name                = Johnny Zell
| image                 = 
| alt             = 
| caption            = 
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| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = 
| alias               = 
| birth_date                = {{Birth date and age|1947|11|24}}
| birth_place = [[Fort Benning, Georgia]], U.S.
| death_date                =
| origin              = 
| instrument          = [[Trumpet]]
| genre               = 
| occupation          = [[Musician]] ([[trumpet]]er)
| years_active        = 
| label               = 
| website                 = <!--december 31, 2009, unclear ownership of [http://www.jazell.com jazell.com].  probably run by zell but no "about", etc. to verify.-->
}}

'''Johnathan Zell''' (born November 24, 1947) is an American [[musician]], best known as a [[trumpet]]er from ''[[The Lawrence Welk Show]]'', a musical, [[variety show|variety-show]] [[television program|television series]].<ref name="urlSearch Results">{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RDFB&p_theme=rdfb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0FE691A6565D4202&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Search Results |work= Redlands Daily Facts|access-date=2010-02-08 | date=October 17, 2003}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Zell was born at [[Fort Benning]], a [[United States Army]] [[Military base|post]] located southeast of the city of [[Columbus, Georgia|Columbus]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].

While growing up in [[Los Angeles]], California, he began studying music at an early age, starting first with the [[violin]] and later moving on to the trumpet.

His first attempt to [[audition]] for [[Lawrence Welk]] came when Zell was thirteen years old.  Welk's [[orchestra]] was playing at the [[Hollywood Palladium]] and when he asked if he could play a trumpet solo for him, Welk, although impressed with his talent and moxie, thought that he was too young but told him to see him again when he was a bit older and had more experience.{{Clarify|date=December 2009|reason=sentence needs recasting.  too many "he"s.  unclear who asked whom about playing a solo.}}

==Career==
After completing [[high school]], Zell played for the [[Freddy Martin]] and [[Russ Morgan]] bands before he got his [[conscription|draft]] notice. He served in the army from 1965 to 1968.

During his time in the army, he played for the [[North American Aerospace Defense Command]] (NORAD) band known as The Commanders along with [[Dave Edwards (musician)|Dave Edwards]] and [[Richard Maloof]], future Welk musicians.

In early 1968, while with the NORAD band, Zell had a second chance to audition for Welk.  Zell was asked to do a [[Television advertisement|television commercial]] for U.S. Army [[Military recruitment|recruiting]] and part of the job was to do an [[interview]] for the Welk show and to play trumpet for the band. After his performance on that show, Welk hired him into the band upon his completion of his military service which was nine months away.

From 1968 until the television series ended in 1982, Zell was one of ''The Lawrence Welk Show''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s most popular musicians and was often featured in trumpet solos, including "At the Cross", "[[Hot Lips]]" and "[[A String of Pearls (song)|A String of Pearls]]".

Zell was the protégé of Welk trumpet great [[Norman Bailey (musician)|Norman Bailey]], who gave Zell one of his trumpets, made of gold.

As a [[Born again (Christianity)|born-again Christian]], he was also involved in [[gospel music|gospel]] [[Christian ministry|ministry]], pursuing both [[Christianity|Christian]] and [[secular]] music, doing many [[concert]] dates and making albums. Later in life, Johnny became pastor of The Church of New Beginnings in Pacific City, Oregon, a position he held for over 17 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/tconb?lang=en |title=Pastor Johnny Zell Twitter page |accessdate=December 29, 2022}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Zell and his wife, Laura, lived in [[Oregon]].{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} He is the father of two children.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

==See also==
*''[[The Lawrence Welk Show]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.jazell.com jazell.com], Zell's site

{{Portalbar|Georgia (U.S. state)|Los Angeles|California|Oregon|Music|Television|Christianity}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zell, Johnny}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male trumpeters]]
[[Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Musicians from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Musicians from Oregon]]
[[Category:Lawrence Welk]]
[[Category:American performers of Christian music]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:20th-century American trumpeters]]
[[Category:United States Army Band musicians]]