Bob Simonds 90th Birthday at the OJE Elks Club Rehearsal, 2018.
Bob Simonds has been playing trumpet for a long time, and at the age of 90, he’s still going strong. Bob played many a gig in Kalamazoo as a member of the premier band in the area, The Bobby Davidson Orchestra. Bobby’s band played a lot of proms and every other kind of gig in the 50’s, 60’s 70’s and 80’s. Davidson, a drummer, also started the first Jazz Band at WMU back in the 60’s. Bob, still a fine soloist, has been a member of OJE for several years now, and recently celebrated his 90th birthday at an OJE Thursday night rehearsal at the Otsego Elks Club. Many area musicians owe a great deal to our old mentor and friend, Bobby Davidson, who is no longer with us. We’re very fortunate to have his old friend Bob Simonds in the band to fill that void.