Firehouse Five Plus Two

The Firehouse Five Plus Two was an American Dixieland jazz band, popular in the 1950s, consisting of members of the Disney animation department. The leader and trombonist, Ward Kimball, was inspired to form the band after spending time with members of the Disney animation and sound department and finding that they had a lot in common as jazz aficionados. The lunchtime chats escalated into a full-on lunchtime jam session as Kimball, an amateur trombonist, and animator Frank Thomas, a pianist, found they "sounded pretty good all by ourselves." The band went by two other names, the Huggajeedy Eight and the San Gabriel Valley Blue Blowers. The "Firehouse" motif came from a 1916 American LaFrance fire engine that Kimball restored for the local Horseless Carriage Club, and the "Five Plus Two" from the band's original lineup of seven.

The band was also formative in creating the Good Time Jazz label under their fellow aficionado Lester Koenig, who managed all the band's releases from 1940's The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story, Volume 1 to 1970's Live at Earthquake McGoon's. Walt Disney approved of the band, letting them play at the company's Christmas parties, at Disneyland, and other social functions, on the single condition that they never fully leave their jobs at the studio.

Birth and Death Data: Died Ceased 1972

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: Musical group

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 80039 10/7/1949 Muskrat ramble Firehouse Five Plus Two Musical group  
Decca 80040 10/7/1949 South Rampart Street parade Firehouse Five Plus Two Musical group  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Firehouse Five Plus Two," accessed December 24, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/108058.

Firehouse Five Plus Two. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/108058.

"Firehouse Five Plus Two." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 24 December 2025.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/108058

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