The StarDusters Big Band

Jim Daley

A native of Akron, Ohio, and son of a 1940’s local big band leader, Jim Daley started on the alto saxophone at the age of 8. His fondest memory of high school was performing in the 17 piece Dance Band. Upon his return from the US Army in 1968, Jim played regularly with several local Akron night club groups prior to joining the Akron Big Band in 1988. Jim moved to Charlotte in 1995, and retired in 2000 as the Manager of Corporate Engineering Purchasing at General Tire. He ended a long career as a men’s fastpitch softball pitcher in 2006 at the age of 61, and was the pitching coach for the UNC Charlotte 49ers College Women’s Softball Team from the 1997 through the 2008 season. Along with the StarDusters, Jim also plays with the “Strictly Dixie” Charlotte Dixieland Band and Charlotte’s Oasis Temple “Nostalgia” big band.

Jim and his wife Diane reside in Pineville, and have two grown children and four grandchildren.