Inducted 2025

  If The Herb Pilhofer Story ever becomes a movie, this will be the key scene: In the Spring of 1945 after Germany’s surrender, the citizens of war-ravaged Nuremberg/Fuerth waited for the arrival of the Allied Troops. Among them were 14-year-old Herb Pilhofer, a classically trained pianist, and his mother. After a deafening silence, a Jeep came around the corner blaring the song “Goody Goody” …and so began Herb’s 80-year love affair with music, but particularly Jazz.

  From humble beginnings playing a tabletop keyboard called a tafelclavier, Herb soon taught himself jazz composition, arranging, improvisation, and he devoured jazz recordings while studying at the Nuremberg Music Conservatory. He formed his own combo and armed with abundant natural talent and motivation, he was soon featured nightly in an enlisted men’s service club in Nuremberg, as well as on a Sunday morning radio program, Herb’s Harmony Highlights, on The Armed Forces Radio Network in Europe.

  Herb dreamed of immigrating to America, loving jazz and the freedom America offered. In 1954, sponsored by a bass-playing Army Captain, he settled in the Twin Cities. One of his first gigs was a comedy of errors, right here in New Ulm. Booked to play piano for a week at Esser’s Bar as “Herb Pilhoser…direct from Germany”, guests wanted polkas and waltzes- and maybe a guy in lederhosen. He was told by the owner, “Kid, you don’t cut the mustard… you’re fired!” The next day he went to local radio station KNUJ and listened to German drinking songs, which he’d never heard in Germany. He transcribed and played them, mixed with some jazz standards, and made it through the week.

  Herb also enrolled in the Music Department at The University of Minnesota. Though thoroughly at home in an academic world which included such “serious” composers as Paul Fetler and Dominick Argento, Herb left evening studies and teaching assignments behind to further his jazz education.  In the 50’s and 60’s a jazz musician could make a living playing six nights a week at places like The White House, The Lipstick Lounge, Freddie’s and Herb’s Bar. For more than a decade, Herb headed one of the best jazz groups – trio, quartet, quintet, or octet-  depending on the venue – in the Upper Midwest.

  At the same time, he took his groups into the recording studio and released three well-received albums. His 1957 debut album, Jazz from the North Coast featured some of the best musicians the Twin Cities jazz scene had to offer. Pilhofer and his modern jazz group took over a significant part of the schedule at Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center Summer Jazz Series.

  His 1959 release Trio was dubbed “best of the lot” by Metronome Magazine. Leonard Feather singled out Herb as “thee best new piano talent of the year” in Downbeat Magazine. In 1960 the Herb Pilhofer Trio released the nationally-distributed album Jazz, released on Chicago’s Argo Records label.

   For Herb, it was a time of decision. The road to national recognition didn’t particularly interest him, so he stayed in the Twin Cities to raise his family, open to new opportunities. Advertisers and agencies began to seek him out to create music for radio and television. Big accounts like Pillsbury, Wrigley’s, 3M Company, Dairy Queen, Honeywell, Pan Am, Northwest Airlines and Dayton Hudson came his way.  Never pigeon-holed, at the same time, he wrote a three-part suite for his jazz quartet and The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.

  A man who has always thrived on taking risks and acting on gut instinct, Herb was immediately drawn to a new and very different project. The much-heralded Tyrone Guthrie Theater was about to open in Minneapolis and he was recruited as its first Music Director, despite having never seen a Shakespearean play. He subsequently helped design the Guthrie’s sound system, wrote the fanfare that was the Theater’s signature for over 50 years, and composed music for more than 15 productions over eight seasons.  From jazz to jingles to the mainstage, Herb displayed the same versatility and creativity that has distinguished his entire career.

  Years of experience in a recording studio stimulated his interest in putting together a state-of-the-art recording environment. Sound 80 Studios was founded in 1969 and moved to its new home, with five acoustically isolated studios stocked with the most advanced technology, in 1971. Mike Steele reported for the Minneapolis Tribune, “It’s a technological dream, a rocker’s paradise…a monument to recorded sound and an investment in the future of the recording industry”. Their full-page advertisement in Billboard Magazine on November 6, 1971 stated “Minneapolis is 1.2 miles from one of the country’s seven great recording studios”.

  In 1976 he released Olympus One, which Herb wrote, arranged, and produced at Sound 80. The title track was commissioned by the United States Olympic Committee to promote the Montreal Summer Olympic Games. Described by Michael Anthony, of the Minneapolis Tribune as “stunning in arrangement and performance and a joy to listen to”.

  Sound 80 recorded with more tracks and technology than any other studio, and the list of firsts and high-profile artists it boasted is astounding.  He owned the first Moog Synthesizer and Synclavier in the Midwest, which put him on the map as a worldwide musical technological wizard.

  Herb began working in collaboration with 3M in 1975, who had just invented multi-track digital recording. In the spring of 1978, 3M brought a prototype digital tape machine into Sound 80 (nicknamed “Herbie”). Through this collaboration, Sound 80 became the World’s First Digital Recording Studio, as heralded by Guinness. In the 15 years that the studio was in operation, artists such as Bob Dylan (Blood on the Tracks), Prince, Cat Stevens, Leo Kottke, John Denver, and Lipps Inc.’s Funkytown, recorded in the studio. Sound 80 recorded The Saint Paul Chamber’s Orchestra’s Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland, which became the first piece of digital classical music to win a Grammy Award in 1980.

  For Herb’s 1979 album, Spaces, he fronted 40-plus musicians to create what a reviewer called “a three-dimensional sound painting – a jazz landscape.” Consisting of six original and one co-written songs, it was also recorded on the new 32-track 3M Digital Mastering System.

  But Pilhofer the musician was at odds with Pilhofer the business executive. It was an identity crisis resolved only with the dissolution of Sound 80 and creation of a scaled-down operation in his Minneapolis home studio. With engineer/sound designer son, Eric, his new venture, Pilhofer Music, allowed him to experiment and write as challenging projects came his way, and maintain a better work and life balance. In addition to many advertising scores for agencies around the country and clients such as Mercedes, Audi, American Express, Discover Card, US West, Budweiser and General Mills, there were countless feature, documentary, and commercial film scores, including Oscar nominated Always a New Beginning.

  In 2001 at 70, after a 40-year detour, Herb was back on the jazz track with live performances by The Pilhofer Jazz Quartet at The Dakota Bar and Grill and the release of his new CD Full Circle. Gone were the synthesizers and lucrative commercial gigs. It was also a special opportunity to team up with his son Michael, a highly-regarded live and session jazz drummer. Full Circle was Herb doing what he was doing strictly for the sake of doing it… for his sake, and the music’s sake. With an immense sense of freedom he said, “Here’s what I love to do, folks. If you care to listen, I’ll do my damnedest.”

  Herb used this “retirement” to pursue his passions more intentionally. Rarely without a camera bag, he was drawn to photography early in life. Nature, landscapes, architecture and family were his focus, and he replied to the protests of his children, “Someday you’ll thank me for this…”, and he was- as usual- 100% right.  Frequent trips to Germany to see family and to share German culture with his American family was important to his soul. Adventuring to Africa, sailing in Lake Superior, and relaxing at the idyllic family retreat in Wisconsin inspired him.

  With an extraordinary life worthy of a biopic, and five back-up drives of photography, Pilhofer decided to put together a memoir for his family. For his 80th birthday, he delivered Das Buch, a lavishly illustrated, lovingly assembled scrapbook of his life that shows everything from his father (who died before Herb was born), to a centerfold family tree, and thousands of curated photos.

  After turning 88, Pilhofer came full circle again, returning to his roots as a jazz pianist. With one bad ear and one bad eye, he had to soak his arthritic hands in wax each morning to play the piano. But Herb was feeling great about performing in public for the first time in 18 years, at Crooners Supper Club in Fridley, Minnesota. In two sold out shows, surrounded by family and friends, he felt the support of the Minnesota musical community, recognizing faces spanning decades. “At this point of my life, I look at playing for me as a way of staying alive”, he said while sitting at the Bösendorfer grand piano in his home. “I don’t need my picture in Time Magazine. Never have. If I can play and somebody likes it, that’s wonderful.”

  All professional accomplishments aside, without a doubt Herb feels the great achievement of his life is his family.  Holidays are filled with great conversation, laughter, delicious food, and always German bretzen. His six children, 10 grandchildren, two great grandchildren and 45 year relationship with his amazing wife, RoseMary, bring him his greatest joy and reflect his life well-lived. His most recent project is the compositions for his daughter’s wedding in May, some of which was done in the hot tub! For most of his 94 years, Herb Pilhofer’s innovative spirit, keen mind, and prolific & visionary musical career have made him a highly-respected pioneer in Minnesota’s music industry. He is humbled and honored to be a part of it.

Inducted 2022

Moore by Four was formed in 1986 at Ruby’s Cabaret in Minneapolis, and quickly established themselves as a fixture on the Twin Cities music scene. The group was made up of Music Director Sanford Moore and singers Yolande Bruce, Ginger Commodore, Connie Evingson and Dennis Spears. Their swing-era repertoire, high-‘80s fashion sense, and music-making ability propelled them to group and solo careers in cabarets, concert halls and theaters everywhere. Moore by Four’s high-energy stage presence, distinctive voices, close harmonies, precise vocal control and polish, pulsating rhythms, innovative arrangements, varied songbook, and unerring fashion sense made Moore by Four a must-see-and-hear during the 1980s and ’90s. Their grounding in gospel, early & contemporary jazz, pop, original compositions and new arrangements of the great standards from Broadway, Hollywood and the Cotton Club period provided a broad range to the group’s musical offerings. Led by Sanford Moore who arranged the music and played keyboards- they were cool. They were fun. And could they ever sing! Moore by Four enjoyed years of sold-out concerts The Guthrie and Fitzgerald Theaters, weekly gigs, benefits, corporate functions, colleges and universities, tours of Europe and Japan, jazz festival appearances, and performances with Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Connick Jr., Joe Williams, and Carmen McRae. They sang for The U.S. Olympic Committee, The Super Bowl, The Minnesota Twins, Vikings, and Timberwolves, former President and Mrs. Clinton, Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev, Vaclav Havel and The King and Queen of Sweden! They’re all so tremendously talented, the singers eventually moved on to individual careers in music and theater. SANFORD MOORE is always in demand as a Music Director, arranger, and pianist- very often with The Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul. YOLANDE BRUCE performs locally, nationally, and internationally, and has acted at The Penumbra, The Illusion, and Guthrie Theaters in St. Paul and Minneapolis. GINGER COMMODORE, a former Sounds of Blackness member (inducted to The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 1998), performs with her own quartet and has piled up theater credits with The Penumbra, Mixed Blood, Children’s Theatre, Park Square, The Minnesota Opera and Wonderlust (The Capitol Play Project) throughout the Twin Cities area. CONNIE EVINGSON has released several acclaimed albums and performs often at The Dakota and Crooners in the Twin Cities, singing everything from swing to “hot club” jazz, from The Beatles to Dave Frishberg. Connie has her own series at The Minneapolis Women’s Club and The Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. DENNIS SPEARS is an Ivey award-winning actor and long-time Penumbra Theatre company member. He’s also Artistic Director for The Legends Music Series at The Capri Theater in North Minneapolis (voted “Best Venue for Live Jazz” by Minnesota Monthly magazine). Spears has performed in theaters all over the Twin Cities (he was the Tin Man in Children’s Theater Company production of The Wiz) and at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He sings solo at The Dakota and Crooners. In 2013 Dennis was inducted as a solo performer into The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.

Inducted 2017

From Mankato, Jim McGuire became enamored with the guitar in the 1960s, and later became passionate about jazz and classical music. He taught guitar for more than 40 years and his many compositions for classical guitar have received frequent performances and some have been recorded by internationally recognized artists. Jazz-wise Jim has performed with Dave Brubeck, Charlie Byrd, Clark Terry, to name a few. He performs in The Jim McGuire Jazz Trio in Southern Minnesota into the mid-2020s.

(1928- )

Inducted 2004

Les Fields of Rochester, Minnesota was born in Cresco, Iowa, a town near the Turkey River. His musical history began at the age of five, playing a drum in the kindergarten rhythm band. Piano lessons in the third grade held his interest for only a year until the coronet took over in the fourth grade. Les played with orchestras from Lanesboro and Rochester, including the Mayo Clinic’s 22-piece big band, The Notochords. An event in 1968 changed his life: when someone forgot to hire a band for a Rochester Bank’s Christmas party, Les was called and he rounded up six top-notch musicians to play. That band was the debut of the Turkey River All Stars. Les Fields has gone on to be called “The Godfather of Jazz” in his hometown of Rochester.

Indducted 2001

Since 1966, Twin Cities-based Barbary Coast Dixieland Band has set thousands of toes tapping at major nightclubs, The Minnesota State Fair, The Ordway Theatre, and over the airways of WCCO Radio. Audiences have been entertained by the band’s music at scores of meetings, conventions, and trade shows. The foremost of Minnesota’s corporations and visiting groups have enjoyed the band’s performances of traditional jazz.

(1923-2016)

Inducted in 1996

Percy grew up in a musical family in St. Paul. His father played French horn and his mother was a pianist. At age 11 Percy began to play clarinet, later expanding to alto, tenor, and soprano saxophone. After high school and while attending University of Minnesota, Percy found himself in the U.S. Army playing in a jazz & big-band group. Percy’s music experience included jazz band combo leader and arranger for over 50 years. Since 1960, he taught private music lessons, presented grade school programs, and conducted jazz workshops and concerts in colleges. In 1987, Percy was inducted into the Minnesota Jazz Hall of Fame. “I have endeavored to uphold the highest standards of musicianship, leadership and professional recognition,” said Percy Hughes.

Jeanne Arland Peterson was Minnesota’s most formidable female jazz singer and pianist. She was the staff vocalist for WCCO radio for about 20 years, starting in 1940. After the death of her husband Willie Peterson in 1969, Jeanne took over the job as organist for the Minnesota Twins games. Peterson became the leader of a very musical family. Her album Wish features duets sung with her daughter Patty Peterson. Jeanne worked as a soloist and with small combos playing at nightclubs, receptions, parties, and trade shows. She was named to The Minnesota Jazz Hall of Fame in 1986. Peterson was a member of the all-female group called Women Who Cook! and performed in the Soviet Union in 1988. Jeanne and her children were all inducted as a Family to The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2019.

(1920-1991)

Inducted 1991

Trumpeter Red Wolfe put Minnesota on the map in the jazz world. His playing career started at age 11 in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. In 1991 he celebrated his 60 years in the music business. His warmth and humanity made him a favorite with everyone. In 1937 Red started playing professionally in Minneapolis and jazz hotspot, Mendota, Minnesota. He served in the Navy as a
bugler in WWII, and worked for the Minneapolis Star & Tribune. Red took early
retirement in 1978 to devote full time to music. He played jazz festivals throughout the Midwest and did concert tours and special bookings. As an educator, Red and other musician friends brought their music to more than 100,000 school children teaching them how and why jazz music began. He was the founder of the Echoes of Ellington Band that presented a historical journey into the music of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which was popular internationally in the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s.