The Leader of the Band
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Jerry and Gail Zink
Growing up in Oklahoma during the 1940s, Jerry Zink loved big band music so much that he learned to play the trombone and performed with numerous dance bands throughout high school and college. After he graduated from college, however, Jerry put away his trombone and did not play again for over 30 years.
With his trombone in the attic and his music career a distant memory, it seemed very unlikely that Jerry would one day find himself as the leader of a swing band in the mountains of North Carolina. But three decades after he last played, and nearly a thousand miles from his Oklahoma home, Jerry Zink retrieved his trombone from his attic in Flat Rock and resolved to re-learn the instrument that had given him – and his audiences – so much pleasure in his youth.
It was a decision that would ultimately delight the thousands of people who have enjoyed the music of the Hendersonville Swing Band for the past 28 years.
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Jerry, now age 90, grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma which was best known as the home of Phillips Petroleum Company. Jerry’s childhood home was just a few blocks from the home of Frank Phillips, who founded the company in 1905. Jerry remembers the annual Christmas party hosted by the Phillips family. “Mr. Phillips would bring Santa in and give a silver dollar to every child there,” Jerry recalls.
A young Jerry Zink (second from right) playing with the Ken Miller Band.
Eventually, The Zink family moved to Tulsa where Jerry attended high school and later the University of Tulsa where he got a degree in petroleum engineering. Although seemingly destined to be a part of the oil industry from an early age, Jerry always had a strong interest in music which started in grade school and continued into high school where he played the trombone. He was proficient enough that he joined the Musician’s Union during his senior year of high school.
Once in college, Jerry joined the university band but realized after just one semester that the academic rigors of an engineering degree and playing in the college band were not a good fit. He still had time, however, to play in several dance bands around town and it fueled his passion for big band music.
His favorite musician of that era was Stan Kenton. He was also a fan of Les Brown but admits that he wasn’t a fan of some of the most popular musicians of his day. “It may be sacrilegious to say, but I was never a big Glenn Miller fan,” he says with a laugh.
The music stopped in 1955, however, when he graduated from college and three months later enlisted in the Air Force. “The trombone went into my parents' attic and stayed there until about 1989.” The instrument may have been collecting dust, but Jerry’s love of music never left his heart – as he would more fully understand more than three decades later.
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Immediately after graduation, Jerry first spent three months in a Conoco training program before enlisting in the Air Force. After training in Florida and Oklahoma, Jerry served as co-pilot on a C124 Globemaster transport based out of Tachigawa, Japan. Missions often involved transporting servicemen stationed in Korea to Japan for R&R. “We would pick up nice sober servicemen in Korea and take them to Tokyo for a week. And then take a bunch of drunks back to Korea,” he recalls with a laugh.
During his tour in Japan, Jerry had one of the more interesting conversations of his life. In his words:
"Well, it was very close to Christmas and we were flying over the Sea of Japan one night and I heard an Air Force plane identify itself on the radio. I got to wondering so I got on the horn and asked them, “You’re not the plane carrying the Bob Hope Troop are you?”
Well, the other pilot radios back and says, ‘As a matter of fact I am. He's sitting right here. Would you like to talk with him?’ And of course, I did!
So I talked with Mr. Hope for probably 10 to 15 minutes and during the discussion, he told me where he'd been and what they had been doing. Mainly, he was telling me where they had been, who was in his troop, and how much he enjoyed entertaining the servicemen.
And then he said, ‘By the way, Jane Mansfield is sitting right here. Would you like to talk with her?’ Of course, I was a young man and I sure did! So, I talked with her for a little while as well."
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Jerry finished his enlistment in 1958 and returned to Conoco where he started work as a field engineer finding new oil prospects and determining what reserves were in various locations. One of his postings took him to the town of Carmi, Illinois. Carmi was a small town and the engineers regularly ate lunch at a coffee shop located in a local motel. As fate would have it, many of the young teachers in Carmi also met there for lunch.
Gail and Jerry on their Wedding Day
During one of those lunches, a mutual friend introduced Jerry to Gail. Gail was a young teacher who had grown up in New Harmony, Indiana and gotten her Teacher’s Degree from Oakland City College in Indiana. The young couple enjoyed each other’s company and romance bloomed. During their courtship, however, Gail took another job and moved to the Chicago area. Realizing what he was missing and wanting to get her back, Jerry soon proposed, and the couple was married in 1960.
To this day, if someone asks Jerry about how he and Gail met, he offers up a partial explanation with a twinkle in his eye. “Oh, we met in a motel,” he answers.
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After their wedding, the Zink’s embarked on a long and varied adventure in the oil business. They started in Enid, OK where Jerry worked in reservoir engineering. That was followed by a stint in Oklahoma City where Jerry got involved in the early efforts to employ computers in the oil business. “Next thing I knew, I was writing programs for computer systems.” Their next stop was Houston working for Petroleum Engineering Services. Throughout all the moves, Gail continued to teach 5th grade at each stop.
Then in 1977, an opportunity arose that would take the midwestern couple farther from home than they might have ever imagined. Conoco was preparing to build an oil platform in the North Sea which would require a central computer system for surveillance and control of the platform. Jerry was chosen to be part of the design team and he and Gail headed for a two-year posting in London.
The experience in London was so enjoyable that the Zinks accepted a second posting in Aberdeen, Scotland where they lived for six more years. Jerry credits Gail’s adventurous spirit for making all the career moves possible. “After about three years in any one place, she would say, ‘When are we moving again,’” Jerry says with a smile. Gail chimes in, “I loved to travel. I was ready to go.”
At this point during the interview, the conversation pauses for a moment and Jerry looks at his wife of nearly 64 years and says, “You couldn’t find a person easier to get along with than Gail.”
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Jerry’s Aberdeen assignment was his last with Conoco. He retired from the oil business in 1985 and he and Gail needed to find a place to enjoy the next phase of their lives. While still in Scotland, they met a real estate broker representing various retirement communities in the States. One option discussed was the Glen Cannon community outside of Brevard, NC. The couple continued their research after they returned to Texas. They purchased a copy of the Rand McNally Places Rated Retirement Guide and the number one location listed was Brevard. Number three was Asheville. The Zinks resolved to look for themselves.
Western North Carolina was a logical consideration given that Jerry and Gail loved to hike and the area reminded them of their favorite haunts in the Scottish Highlands. After renting in Hendersonville for a while, a realtor introduced them in 1987 to a brand-new development in Flat Rock called Claremont. The property had once been part of Judge Mitchell Kings’s Argyle estate. Indeed, the lot the Zinks eventually purchased includes a cistern in the woods which once provided fresh water to generations of the King family.
Happily ensconced in their mountain home, the new residents of Flat Rock spent a fair amount of time hiking and getting to know their new home. But Jerry soon decided he needed a new hobby. That was the point where his life came full circle, and he retrieved his old trombone out of storage. It had been 33 years, but Jerry’s passion for big band music – and much of the skill - remained.
Wanting to brush up on his skills, Jerry headed for Tempo Music in downtown Hendersonville and asked if there was anyone in town who taught trombone. They recommended a fellow named Kieg Garvin and Jerry arranged a time for a lesson. Garvin had a number of instruments in his studio and Jerry remembers asking him if he played the trombone much. As it turned out, Garvin had been a featured soloist in the US Army Band and performed all over the world - from the Paris Opera House to Carnegie Hall. Jerry just shakes his head now, “And I asked him if he was a trombone player.”
After working with Garvin for a while, Jerry inquired as to whether he thought there would be any place for Jerry to play. Garvin laughed and told Jerry, “I tell you what. You get up to speed and you will find plenty of places to play.” Garvin was right. Since that time Jerry estimates he’s played with 15-20 different musical groups in the area over the course of the past 35 years.
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The Hendersonville Swing Band in 2005
Jerry started with the Asheville Community Band and played there for about a year before Jim Stokes, band director at Hendersonville High School, started a community band in Hendersonville. Jerry joined and became one of the band's charter members.
Jerry also played in the UNC-Asheville Jazz Band for about a decade. It was there that he says he learned how to play swing music. In the early 90s, there was also a local band called The Stardusters that lost its trombone player and invited Jerry to play with them. One thing led to another, and Jerry found himself serving as the band’s director. “I don't think they ever elected me director but, all of a sudden, those things happen,” Jerry recalls.
Jerry allows that fellow band members – many of whom were music majors and ex-band directors themselves - will still tease him about a lack of formal musical training. But with his characteristic dry wit, he simply tells the doubters that he got the gig because he was a petroleum engineer. Obviously.
The Stardusters gradually added musicians and in 1996 they became the Hendersonville Swing Band. Their first performance was as a pre-concert for the Hendersonville Community Band – with Jerry Zink as trombonist and the leader of the band. The rest is, as they say, history. “I've played in the band ever since then. We've always called it a rehearsal band. It started as a band that gets together just for fun.” Since 1996, Jerry estimates the band has played three to five performances a year for the public, various charitable organizations, and area retirement homes.
In addition to his role as a band leader, Jerry serves as an informal emcee for performances. He provides “patter” between numbers to share additional details about the music played and punctuates the performances with humorous interludes. When asked what kind of humor, he smiles and offers up a favorite joke used during past performances:
A minister, a priest, and a rabbit walk into a blood bank to donate. A nurse looks down at the rabbit and asks, “What blood type are you?” To which the rabbit replies, I suppose I’m a typo.
Jerry finishes his joke and beams. Gail, who has no doubt heard the joke a hundred times still laughs and smiles with delight at the man she married 63 years ago.
Jerry leading a recent rehearsal of the Hendersonville Swing Band
Tommy Brendel, who has been with the Hendersonville Swing Band for about eight years, credits Jerry with being the glue that holds everything together. “Jerry is the band. He is the initiator of what we do. He's a consummate musician. When we rehearse, he doesn't let us get away with playing sloppy.” Tommy adds Jerry’s sense of humor also makes him a very effective leader. “When Jerry wants something done, he does it in a kind way. He does it with his dry Midwestern humor.” Tommy concludes, “Jerry is a really good man who is full of life. With a love for his music.”
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At age 90, Jerry Zink no longer feels he has the “chops” it takes to play the trombone the way he would prefer, and he has settled into the role of band leader exclusively. He has no regrets, however, and enjoys the opportunity to keep alive the music that defined his youth. “It’s been a great run,” says Jerry
He particularly enjoys spending time with his friends in the band during rehearsals and performances. “My day might be going a little slow in the morning but when I am with the band it puts me on a high.” Jerry also credits music for his good health and longevity. “Having a hobby that you are passionate about keeps you busy and part of a social network.” Jerry and Gail are still avid walkers and enjoy walking in downtown Hendersonville almost daily.
Although it seems hard to believe, Gail Zink never heard her husband play for the first 27 years of their marriage. Jerry has made up for lost time, however, and together they’ve had the opportunity to make a beautiful life and beautiful music together in their adopted hometown of Flat Rock. When I ask Gail, what she thought when she heard Jerry play for the first time, she smiles and says, “I thought it was pretty cool. I’m really proud of him.”
Gail is proud ... and thousands of music enthusiasts who've heard Jerry and his bands revive musical memories of a bygone era are very grateful he decided to pull that old trombone out of storage.
The Hendersonville Swing Band – directed by Jerry Zink – will play its next concert on February 29th as a fundraiser for Interfaith Assistance Ministry at Blue Ridge Community College. You can find more information about the performance and purchase tickets at www.iam-hc.org/40th-anniversary-concert
The Hendersonville Swing Band
