FORT PIERCE FOLKS
“The auditions were at Nola Studios and when I walked in,
I saw there were at least 50 to 60 alto sax players waiting to audition,”
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Hull said. “So, I went in just wanting to see if I could
do it and it was a big name at that time...I figured, why not?”
When it was Hull’s turn to audition, he played three tunes
and recalled that Tex said, “Alright everybody, let’s a take
break.”
“’Take a break?’ I thought. There were at least 40 more
people waiting to audition!” Hull said. “Then it clicked; he
wanted me.”
Having been in the business for many years, Hull said
that he knew this meant he had gotten the gig. He recalled
running to the phone booth to call his wife and fill her in on
everything that had just happened.
“As soon as I told her I was at the audition, she said ‘When
are you leaving?’,” Hull said. “She knew this was what I loved
and what I wanted to do. I finally caught my big break.”
At this time, he had four (of what would later be eight)
children. Hull left his job as a buyer and traveled around the
United States with the band for six months. He then felt that
being away from home and family was not where he wanted
to be. The traveling was brutal; every day was either spent at
a hotel or riding on the tour bus.
After he arrived back home, he tried his hand working in a
factory, but that lasted one day as he did not enjoy the work.
Hull had learned a good amount about the music business
and decided to start his own band, The Jazz Giants. The
group had 18 players, both young and old. The Jazz Giants
played at the famous Newport Jazz Festival among other
venues and did fairly well gigging around the east-coast.
Hull later took on a job to be booker and agent for entertainment
acts. During that time, he formed a string quartet with a
rock-rhythm section and named them The Disco Strings.
“Big band singer and entertainer, Vic Damone, heard The
Disco Strings and incorporated us into his show,” Hull said.
“That’s how I got started in Las Vegas.”
Hull lived in Las Vegas for three years and worked on
the road with Damone as well as at the Sahara Hotel as the
conductor for the house band and The Disco Strings. After
Damone went on tour with singer Lena Horne, Hull received
a call from someone who showed interest in having him work
as the entertainment director for a new cruise line called
Scandinavian World Cruises based out of Miami.
“I did that for eight years and then the people at Royal
Caribbean saw the kind of work I was doing and asked me
to come on board there,” Hull said. “They wanted me to help
them expand their entertainment programs.”
Hull played a main part in laying the groundwork for
Royal Caribbean’s entertainment programs. He worked for
them as entertainment director and show producer for more
than 18 years, retiring at age 72.
Upon retirement, Hull started to take courses in creative
writing at Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay
campus in North Miami. These courses sparked an interest in
writing and inspired Hull to self-publish several books. One
of his books, Chasing the Muse, is a personal music memoir
and his latest book, Brainwave, is a medical thriller and was
released in July 2019.
“I’ve found great fun in not only writing but joining and
facilitating writer’s groups during my retirement,” Hull said.
“I really don’t feel 90. Between being a musician and a writer,
you gotta stay sharp.”
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