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Charlie Kennedy
He moved on to lead his own quartet before joining Krupa's big band from 1945 to 1948 and was the featured soloist on a number of recordings, including "How High the Moon," "Disc Jockey Jump" and "I Should Have Kept on Dreaming."
While living in the East, Kennedy also played with a number of other leading bands, including groups led by Charlie Ventura, Flip Phillips and Chico O'Farrill.
After moving to the West Coast in 1950, he played with Med Flory, Bill Holman's orchestra and, most notably, Terry Gibbs' Dream Band from 1959 to 1962.
He was also an active studio musician, playing on popular movies, including My Fair Lady and West Side Story.
A native of Staten Island, N.Y., he was born Charles Sumner Kennedy on July 2, 1927. He grew up in Weehawken, N.J., and started playing clarinet at age 8.
He played in school bands and orchestras and by the age of 18 had his first professional appearance when he joined Prima's band. Prima hired him right out of high school.
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Terry Gibbs Dream Band: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959
by Angelo Leonardi
«Non credo che ci sia mai stata una band migliore di questa, compresa la mia». Mel Lewis espresse queste parole per la mitica orchestra che il vibrafonista Terry Gibbs guidò in California tra il 1959 e il 1961 e fu chiamata “Dream Band" per l'entusiasmo che suscitò tra i fortunati che l'ascoltarono dal vivo. Giudizi così perentori non vanno mai presi alla lettera ma ascoltando queste inedite registrazioni non li giudicherete troppo esagerati. Stan Kenton espresse simili opinioni ...
Continue ReadingTerry Gibbs: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959
by Jack Bowers
In 1959, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and his recently formed big band set up shop at the Seville, a Los Angeles nightclub owned by Harry Schiller. Many of those early sessions were taped, at Gibbs' request, by famed recording engineer Wally Heider before being left on a shelf and forgotten. After two weeks at the Seville, Gibbs and the band moved to a second club, the Sundown. The band was successful, drew large crowds, and was soon recording, first for Norman ...
Continue ReadingTerry Gibbs: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959
by Richard J Salvucci
Someone once asked Terry Gibbs how it was possible that if you took his side men, or some subset of them, and put them together in another band, they never quite sounded as good. Gibbs replied, modestly, that it was all in the arrangers. He got the best arrangers, like Bill Holman, Marty Paich and Med Flory. Others did not. And so the story went. It would have been tempting to ask if, perhaps, Gibbs had ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Kennedy Alto Saxophonist Played in Gene Krupa's Big Band Dies
Source:
Michael Ricci
Charlie Kennedy was in many bands and, as a studio musician, played on the scores for West Side Story and My Fair Lady.
Charlie Kennedy, a talented alto saxophonist who was best known for his association with Gene Krupa's big band in the 1940s, has died. He was 81. Kennedy died April 3 of pulmonary disease at his home in Ventura, according to his daughter Lorraine Sutton.
The best years of Kennedy's career were the 1940s, when he played with ...
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Music
Charlie Kennedy
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
Born: July 2, 1927
Died: April 3, 2009
