A skillful swing pianist who chose to spend much of his career in the studios, Milt Raskin was a strong asset to several swing era big bands. He started on saxophone, switched to piano when he was 11 and studied at the New England Conservatory in the early 1930's. After having some local radio jobs, Raskin moved to New York, played a bit with Wingy Manone in 1937 and then joined Gene Krupa's new big band (1938-39). He had stints with Teddy Powell, Alvino Rey, Krupa again and most prominently with Tommy Dorsey (1942-44). After finishing up with TD, Raskin moved to Los Angeles and became a busy studio musician and musical director. Although he sometimes recorded in jazz settings in the 1940's and 50's (including with Artie Shaw, Billie Holiday, Wingy Manone and Georgie Auld), Milt Raskin was largely lost to the lucrative but anonymous world of the studios; he never led a jazz recording session of his own. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi