Toni Aubin

Toni Aubin (née Maria Antoinette Rubio; 22 September 1927 – 10 February 1990) was an American jazz vocalist who sang with big bands in the 1940s.

For Tony Aubin (1907–1981), the French composer, see Tony Aubin.

Toni Aubin
Background information
Birth name	Maria Antoinette Rubio
Born	(1927-09-22)September 22, 1927 Antioch, California, U.S.
Died	February 10, 1990(1990-02-10) (aged 62) San Joaquin, California
Genres	Vocal jazz, swing
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1947–1950
Labels	Black & White
Associated acts	Earle Spencer

Toni Aubin (L) Art Pepper (R)

Career

Aubin is most known as a featured singer with Earle Spencer and His Orchestra,[1] with whom she began performing in 1949. Before that, from about 1946 to about 1947, she toured with the Louis Ohls Orchestra[lower-alpha 1] out of Arkadelphia.

In 1947, Aubin, while singing with the Louis Ohls Orchestra,[2] shared featured billed with Art Pepper, who, at the time, was arranger and saxophonist with the orchestra.[2] Aubin had also sang with the Phil Carreon Big Band out of Los Angeles.

Pseudonym

Her stage name is that of the French composer Tony Aubin.

Family

Both of Aubin's parents – Mike Rubio (né Miguel Rubio Peña; 1882–1933) and Frances Espinosa Rubio (1891–1985) – were born in the Andalusia region of southern Spain and immigrated to the United States in 1913.[3] Aubin (Maria Antoinette Rubio) was married from 1947 to 1949 to Howard Ansley Phillips (1929–2010), who played baritone saxophone Louis Ohls from about 1947 to about 1949, then with the Spencer Orchestra in 1949.[4] She gave birth to a girl in 1951, but gave her up for adoption (identity and whereabouts unknown). She also had a son, Ian Charles Phillips (born 30 Sep 1949 Pasadena, California), whom she raised.

In 1954, she married Jack Stanley Lanning (1923–2000), they had 4 more children, 2 sons and 2 daughters. They remained married until her death.

Discography

1. Earle Spencer and His Orchestra (78 rpm)[5]
   Recorded February 7, 1949, Hollywood, California
   1. "Box Lunch" ("At the Factory"), Paul Nelson (arranger)
   2. "Sunday afternoon,"
      • Toni Aubin (vocalist)
      • Seely, Blackburn (w&m)
      • Paul Nelson (arranger)
      audio on YouTube

   Black & White 875

   1. Matrix No.: BW 733-1
   2. Matrix No.: BW 732-1

   "Sunday Afternoon" has been re-issued in the following compilations:

   1. The Almost Forgotten Pioneer of Modern Big Band Jazz Earle Spencer And His Orchestra
      1988: IAJRC 41 (LP)
   2. The Almost Forgotten Pioneer of Modern Big Band Jazz Earle Spencer and His Orchestra
      2011: Essential Media Group LLC (CD)
   3. Earle Spencer and His New Band Sensation of the Year 1946 – Complete Black & White Reocrdings 1946–1949
      Fresh Sound (Sp) FSR 2501 (2 CDs)
      OCLC 19638188, 25051047, 982192542

Notes and references

Notes

1. Louis Moritz Ohls, Jr. (1923–2004)

References

1. American Big Bands, by William Franklin Lee III, PhD (1929–2011), Hal Leonard Corporation (2005), p. 307; ISBN 0634080547; ISBN 9780634080548
2. "Louis Ohls" (advertisement), Arkansas Gazette, February 23, 1947, p. 57
3. "US Census, 1930," (database), FamilySearch, "Mike Rubio, Antioch, Contra Costa, California"
   Citing enumeration district (ED) 25, sheet 6A, line 12, family 207, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 114; FHL microfilm (fka GS No. – GS = Genealogical Society of Utah) 2339849 (registration/login for FamilySearch is required, but free)
4. "A Successful Failure:
   Bad Breaks Broke Orchestra Leader Louis Ohls, But He's Back in Arkansas Thumbing His Nose at Hollywood"
   By Roberta Martin (née Cook; 1913–1980), Arkansas Democrat Sunday Magazine, May 1, 1949, p. 5
5. The Jazz Discography Online, Tom Lord (ed.), Lord Music (retrieved January 22, 2018); OCLC 182585494, 690104143