Edwin Thomas Shaughnessy (January 29, 1929 – May 24, 2013) was a

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

and jazz drummer long associated with

Doc Severinsen Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) ...

and a member of

The Tonight Show Band The Tonight Show Band refers to the house band on the American television variety show ''The Tonight Show'', which has created an important showcase for jazz on American television. The Tonight Show Band has changed in form and composition since ...

on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

''.

Biography

Shaughnessy was born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

and grew up in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

area, working in the 1940s with

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing (13 August 191914 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 so ...

Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an United States, American jazz Trombone, trombonist and singer. He led both of his bands himself and was a sideman for Paul Whiteman's orchestra. From 1946 to 1951, he played ...

, and Charlie Ventura. In the 1950s he worked in the Charlie Ventura,

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

and

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

bands. In the 1960s he played for

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

prior to joining The Tonight Show Band. He was the drummer on '' Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith'' in 1962 which featured big band arrangements by

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

, including the pop hit "Walk on the Wild Side" which peaked at #21 on the ''Billboard'' chart. Shaughnessy recorded extensively throughout his career and was known for his drum competitions with

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

. Although best known as a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

drummer, Shaughnessy also performed small group work with

Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and R ...

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

, Mundell Lowe,

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz record producer, saxophonist, and composer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'' and Dave B ...

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

Shirley Scott Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues, and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ". Life and career Scott was born in P ...

Jack Sheldon Beryl Cyril "Jack" Sheldon Jr. (November 30, 1931 – December 27, 2019) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and actor. He performed on ''The Merv Griffin Show'' and participated in episodes of the educational music television series ''Scho ...

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

, and many others. For several years Shaughnessy was a member of the house band at Birdland and other New York clubs. In the early 1970s he was doing similar work in Los Angeles and is credited with discovering

Diane Schuur Diane Joan Schuur (born December 10, 1953), nicknamed "Deedles", is an American jazz singer and pianist. As of 2015, Schuur had released 23 albums, and had extended her jazz repertoire to include essences of Latin, gospel, pop and country musi ...

, whom he introduced at the 1976

Monterey Jazz Festival The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz ...

. Shaughnessy played in an early incarnation of the "Sesame Street" orchestra along with percussionist Danny Epstein, reed player Wally Kane, and, on occasion, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. Shaughnessy was married to Ilene Woods, the original voice of

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

, who died in 2010. He died of a heart attack in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States.Trigger Alpert * '' Trigger Happy!'' ( Riverside, 1956) With

* '' The Soulful Moods of Gene Ammons'' (Moodsville, 1962) With George Barnes *''Guitars Galore'' (

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, 1961) With

* '' Basie Swingin' Voices Singin''' (

ABC-Paramount ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! Records, Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquire ...

, 1966) with the Alan Copeland Singers * '' Broadway Basie's...Way'' (

Command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

, 1966) * '' Hollywood...Basie's Way'' (Command, 1967) * '' Basie's Beat'' ( Verve, 1967) * '' Half a Sixpence'' ( Dot, 1967) With

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

* '' Cloud 7'' (Columbia, 1955) With

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

* '' The Other Side of Abbey Road'' (A&M, 1970) With Stephen Bishop * ''

Bish Bish, stylized as BiSH, was a Japanese alternative idol girl group who was founded in 2015 by their manager Junnosuke Watanabe. The group was conceived as a successor to Bis, an idol group managed by Watanabe that disbanded in 2014. They dis ...

'' (ABC, 1978) With

Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombone, valve trombonist, Jazz piano, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public ...

* '' The Dual Role of Bob Brookmeyer'' (

Prestige Prestige may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films *Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband *The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...

, 1954) With

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz Vibraphone, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused ...

* '' The Groovy Sound of Music'' (

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

, 1963) With

Teddy Charles Teddy Charles, born Theodore Charles Cohen (April 13, 1928 – April 16, 2012) was an American jazz musician and composer, whose instruments were the vibraphone, piano, and drums. Career Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Mas ...

* ''New Directions'' (Prestige, 1953) * '' Collaboration West'' (Prestige, 1953) * '' Word from Bird'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 1957) * '' Jazz In The Garden At The Museum Of Modern Art'' ( Warwick Records, 1960) With Jimmy Forrest * '' Soul Street'' ( New Jazz, 1962) With

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

* ''

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

'' ( Solid State, 1969) With

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

* ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'' (Atlantic, 1958) With Honi Gordon * '' Honi Gordon Sings'' (Prestige, 1962) With

Johnny Hodges Johnny Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on sop ...

* '' Mess of Blues'' (Verve, 1964) with Wild Bill Davis With

Etta Jones Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Her best-known recordings are "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene Ammo ...

* '' From the Heart'' (Prestige, 1962) * '' Lonely and Blue'' (Prestige, 1962) With

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

* '' Golden Boy'' (Mercury, 1964) With

Hubert Laws Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist, piccoloist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 50 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop ...

* '' Crying Song'' ( CTI, 1969) With

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

* '' Black Coffee'' (Decca, 1953) With Mundell Lowe * '' The Mundell Lowe Quartet'' (Riverside, 1955) * '' Guitar Moods'' (Riverside, 1956) * '' New Music of Alec Wilder'' (Riverside, 1956) * '' Porgy & Bess'' (

RCA Camden RCA Camden was a budget record label of RCA Victor, originally created in 1953 to reissue recordings from earlier 78rpm releases. The label was named "Camden", after Camden, New Jersey where the offices, factories and studios of RCA Victor and its ...

, 1958) * '' TV Action Jazz!'' (RCA Camden, 1959) * '' Themes from Mr. Lucky, the Untouchables and Other TV Action Jazz'' (RCA Camden, 1960) * ''Satan in High Heels'' (soundtrack) (Charlie Parker, 1961) With

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

* ''

'' (Columbia, 1956) With Mary Ann McCall * ''Melancholy Baby'' (Coral, 1959) With Kathy McCord * '' Kathy McCord'' (CTI, 1970) With

Helen Merrill Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21, 1929) is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording ''Helen Merrill (album), Helen Merrill'' (with Clifford Brown on EmArcy), was an immediate success and associat ...

*''American Country Songs'' (Atco, 1959) With

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song " Midnight at the Oasis" and h ...

* ''

'' (Reprise, 1973) With

* '' Impressions of Phaedra'' (

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

, 1962) * '' Happenings'' with

Hank Jones Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians have described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts h ...

( Impulse!, 1966) With Joe Newman * '' Joe Newman with Woodwinds'' (

Roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...

, 1958) * '' Joe Newman Quintet at Count Basie's'' ( Mercury, 1961) With

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Music of Latin America, Lati ...

* '' Between Broadway & Hollywood'' (

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, 1963) With

* '' For Members Only'' (Impulse!, 1963) * '' Roll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands'' (Impulse!, 1966) With Ed Summerlin * '' Ring Out Joy'' (Avant-Garde, 1968) With

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

* '' Color Changes'' ( Candid, 1960) * '' Clark Terry Plays the Jazz Version of All American'' (Moodsville, 1962) With

Cal Tjader Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, often described as the most successful non-Latino Latin music (genre), Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, especially small group mod ...

*'' Several Shades of Jade'' (Verve, 1963) *'' Warm Wave'' (Verve, 1964) With

Chuck Wayne Chuck Wayne (February 27, 1923 – July 29, 1997) was an American jazz guitarist. He came to prominence in the 1940s, and was among the earliest jazz guitarists to play in the bebop style. Wayne was a member of Woody Herman's First Herd, the f ...

*'' The Jazz Guitarist'' (Savoy, 1956)

References

External links

*
Pictures and biography
*
Ed Shaughnessy Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaughnessy, Edwin 1929 births 2013 deaths Swing drummers Bebop drummers American jazz drummers Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey The Tonight Show Band members American male drummers Drummers from New Jersey