Jazz On the Town with Peggy and Bill Lohr

H.B. ElliottSeptember 12, 2023

2 minute read

Peggy Lohr belting out a tune | Photos by Bart Marantz

Jazzy, snazzy, and razzle-dazzle are just a few words that describe the musical talents of jazz artists Peggy and Bill Lohr. In September, they will be performing music from the 1930s to the 1980s at local private events, a jazz show with their band at Stoney’s Wine Lounge in Dallas on Sept. 9, and then opening the Cabaret Season for the prestigious Sammons Center for the Arts in Dallas on Sept. 21 with their show “Howdy Hollywood,” celebrating Peggy’s newly published memoir of the same name.

At the Sammons show, Peggy will be sharing adventures from her book. Her tale is one of resilience and tenacity. It is the story of a Texas girl with a big dream and how she made it all come true. The complete title of Peggy’s new book is “Howdy Hollywood (Music, Movie Stars, and Mischief),” and you will experience all this and more. If you’ve ever wondered what the real life of a female singer is all about, this show is for you.

Bill and Peggy call themselves the original “La La Land” couple from the famous movie of the same name because they met just like the characters in that lovely film — at a jazz gig in Los Angeles in 1985. They fell in love, and the rest, as they say, was history.

When he met Peggy, Bill had just finished working with Al Jarreau, Carmen McRae, and Lou Rawls worldwide. They say that “it was love at first note!” Peggy worked for the world’s greatest songwriters, including Marilyn and Alan Bergman, Johnny Mandel, and Lalo Schifrin (of “Mission Impossible” fame). She was also singing on cruise lines to Alaska and Hawaii.

1 Lightroom Bill Peggy W — Jazz artists Peggy and Bill collaborating

Their stars aligned on that fateful January night, and they went on to have beautiful music careers together, including playing for the Oscars Governors Ball for several years in the early 1990s.

In 1994, Bill was Andy Williams’s conductor and pianist at the Moon River Theater in Branson, Missouri. So, Peggy, Bill, and their two young sons moved there for five years. After Andy, Bill and Peggy worked with the Lawrence Welk Theater and the stars of the Lawrence Welk Show.

In 1999, Bill, Peggy, and their sons moved to Dallas. Peggy was thrilled to be back in her hometown and introduce her talented husband to all the great musicians in the DFW scene. Bill and Peggy also added teaching to their resumes as their music careers continued here. Bill still teaches private piano lessons and wrote a book about his method called “Bass Motion, Chord Substitution, and Improvisation.” To learn more, visit the Jamey Aebersold Jazz website.

Each of Peggy and Bill’s shows fills the room with love and laughter, with songs everyone adores. Don’t be surprised if a costume or two might be involved, too, as Peggy loves to have a good time with her audiences.