Sauter played mellophone, trumpet, and drums, and had attended Columbia University and Juilliard; Finegan had studied at the Paris Conservatory.
In 1957 the 20 members of the band played 90 instruments, including flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, bass clarinet, and harp.
[1] A June 7, 1952, article in the trade publication Billboard described the new group as "a creative band, which will combine dance music as well as mood interpretations.
"[2] Their first chart appearance was with "Doodletown Fifers", their version of a Civil War tune called "Kingdom Coming and the Year of Jubilo".
[4] Because the group played in dance halls rather than concert venues, they encountered little success on the road, and quit touring in 1955 after having accrued much debt.