Milt Bernhart (May 25, 1926 – January 22, 2004) was a
West Coast jazz
West Coast jazz refers to styles of jazz that developed in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. West Coast jazz is often seen as a subgenre of cool jazz, which consisted of a calmer style than bebop or hard bop. The music relied rel ...
trombonist who worked with
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...
,
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
, and others. He supplied the solo in the middle of Sinatra's 1956 recording of ''
I've Got You Under My Skin
"I've Got You Under My Skin" is a song written by American composer Cole Porter in 1936. It was introduced that year in the Eleanor Powell musical film ''Born to Dance'' in which it was performed by Virginia Bruce. It was nominated for the Aca ...
'' conducted by
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many vocalists at Capitol Records, including ...
.
Biography
Bernhart (occasionally spelled Bernhardt) began on tuba, but switched to trombone in high school. At 16 he worked in
Boyd Raeburn
Boyd Albert Raeburn (October 27, 1913 – August 2, 1966) was an American jazz bandleader and bass saxophone, bass saxophonist.
Career
He was born in Faith, South Dakota, United States. Raeburn attended the University of Chicago, where he led a ...
's band and later had some "gigs" with
Teddy Powell
Teddy Powell (born Teodoro Paolella; March 1, 1905 – November 17, 1993) was an American jazz musician, band leader, composer, and arranger. Some of his compositions were written under the pseudonym Freddy James.
Born in Oakland, California, P ...
. After time in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
he worked, off and on, with
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...
for the next ten years. He is perhaps most associated with Kenton, but in 1955 he had his first album as a leader. In 1986 he was elected President of the Big Band Academy of America.
Although known as "mild-mannered" or humorous, his brief period with
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 ...
was one area that brought out his ire. He indicated working with Goodman was "the bottom", except for basic training in the Army, of his first 23 years of life. He called Goodman a "bore" and claimed he did nothing about the treatment
Wardell Gray
Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist.
Biography
Early years
The youngest of four children, Gray was born in Oklahoma City. He spent his early childhood years in Oklahoma b ...
faced at a segregated club in Las Vegas. He even alleges that he quit because Goodman publicly humiliated Gray in front of an audience.
Bernhart died of
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood.
Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...
Maynard Ferguson
Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...
* ''
Jam Session featuring Maynard Ferguson
''Jam Session featuring Maynard Ferguson'' is an album by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in early 1954 and released on the EmArcy label.Maynard Ferguson Octet'' (EmArcy, 1955)
* '' Dimensions'' (EmArcy, 1956)
* ''Around the Horn with Maynard Ferguson'' (Emarcy, 1956)
* ''Stratospheric'' (Mercury, 1976)
With
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...
A Presentation of Progressive Jazz
''A Presentation of Progressive Jazz'' is a 1948 jazz album by pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton.
Background
The album features performances recorded in 1947 and originally released on the Capitol label as four 78rpm discs, reissued as a 10-in ...
'' (Capitol, 1947)
* ''
Innovations in Modern Music
''Innovations in Modern Music'' is an album by pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton with his "Innovations" Orchestra featuring performances recorded in 1950 and originally released on the Capitol label.Vosbein, PStan Kenton Discographyaccessed Apr ...
'' (Capitol, 1950)
* ''
Stan Kenton's Milestones
''Stan Kenton's Milestones'' is an album by pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton compiling performances recorded between 1943 and 1947 and originally collected on the Capitol Records, Capitol label as a 10-inch LP in 1950 then reissued as a 12-inch ...
Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the tota ...
Shorty Rogers
Milton "Shorty" Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994) was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arra ...
* ''Shorty Rogers and His Giants'' (RCA Victor, 1953)
* ''Collaboration'' (RCA Victor, 1955)
* ''The Big Shorty Rogers Express'' (RCA Victor, 1956)
* ''Shorty Rogers Plays Richard Rodgers'' (RCA Victor, 1957)
* ''Jazz Waltz'' (Reprise, 1962)
With
Pete Rugolo
Pietro Rugolo (December 25, 1915 – October 16, 2011), known professionally as Pete Rugolo, was an American jazz composer, arranger, and record producer.
Life and career
Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily. His family emigrated to the ...
Howard Rumsey
Howard Rumsey (November 7, 1917 – July 15, 2015) was an American jazz double-bassist known for his leadership of the Lighthouse All-Stars in the 1950s.
Biography
Born in Brawley, California, United States, Rumsey first began playing the piano ...
* ''Sunday Jazz a La Lighthouse Vol. 1'' (Contemporary, 1953)
* ''Sunday Jazz a La Lighthouse Vol. 2'' (Contemporary, 1953)
* ''Jazz Rolls Royce'' (Lighthouse, 1958)
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 ...
* ''
The Cincinnati Kid
''The Cincinnati Kid'' is a 1965 American drama film directed by Norman Jewison. It tells the story of Eric "The Kid" Stoner, a young Depression-era poker player, as he seeks to establish his reputation as the best. This quest leads him to chal ...
Mannix
''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...
'' (Paramount, 1968)
* ''
Bullitt
''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American action thriller film directed by Peter Yates from a screenplay by Alan Trustman, Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleiner and based on the 1963 crime novel ''Mute Witness'' by Robert L. Fish. It stars Steve McQueen, Ro ...
'' (Warner Bros., 1968)
* '' Rock Requiem'' (Verve, 1971)
With others
* Van Alexander, ''The Home of Happy Feet'' (Capitol, 1959)
*
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
and
Bud Shank
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...
, ''
The Man with the Golden Arm
''The Man with the Golden Arm'' is a 1955 American independent drama film noir directed by Otto Preminger, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren. Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang and Darren Mc ...
'' (Decca, 1956)
*
Harry Betts
Harry Betts (September 15, 1922 – July 13, 2012) was an American jazz trombonist.
Background
Born in New York and raised in Fresno, California, he was active as a jazz trombonist and played with Stan Kenton's orchestra in the 1950s. He can be h ...
, ''The Jazz Soul of Doctor Kildare'' (Choreo, 1962)
*
Buddy Bregman
Louis Isidore "Buddy" Bregman (July 9, 1930 – January 8, 2017) was an American arranger and conductor.
Biography
Bregman was born in Chicago. His father was an executive in the steel industry. His uncle was songwriter Jule Styne. He spe ...
, '' Swinging Kicks'' (Verve, 1957)
* Les Brown, ''Les Brown's in Town'' (Decca, 1965)
* Frank Capp, ''Percussion in a Tribute to Glenn Miller'' (Kimberly, 1963)
*
June Christy
June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued ...
, ''June Christy Recalls Those Kenton Days'' (Capitol, 1959)
*
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccin ...
, ''Clap Hands! Here Comes Rosie!'' (RCA Victor, 1960)
*
Pete Candoli
Walter Joseph "Pete" Candoli(June 28, 1923 – January 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton and worked in the studios of the recording and television industries.
Career
A native ...
, ''Blues, When Your Lover Has Gone'' (Somerset/Stereo-Fidelity, 1961)
*
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music.
Darin started ...
, ''From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie'' (Capitol, 1964)
* Bobby Darin, ''Venice Blue'' (Capitol, 1965)
*
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician.
At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...
, ''
It's All Over but the Swingin'
''It's All Over but the Swingin'' is a 1957 album by Sammy Davis Jr., arranged by Jack Pleis and Morty Stevens.
Track listing
# "Guess I'll Hang My Tears out to Dry" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne) – 4:43
# " But Not for Me" (George Gershwin, Ira ...
'' (Decca, 1957)
*
Buddy DeFranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s.
...
, ''Cross Country Suite'' (Dot, 1958)
* Dean Elliott, ''College Confidential'' (Chancellor, 1960)
*
The Four Freshmen
The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends close and open harmony, open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the Barbershop music, ...
, ''Four Freshmen and 5 Trombones'' (Capitol, 1955)
*
Gilbert & Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic ...
, ''The Coolest Mikado'' (Andex, 1961)
*
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert; March 29, 1940 – June 5, 2023) was a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer and songwriter. She gained international attention in the mid-1960s following her recording of the song " The Girl f ...
Glen Gray
Glenn Gray Knoblauch (June 7, 1900 – August 23, 1963), known professionally as Glen Gray, was an American jazz saxophonist and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra.'' The Mississippi Rag'', "Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra," George A. ...
Carolyn Hester
Carolyn Sue Hester (born January 28, 1937) is an American folk singer and songwriter. She was a figure in the early 1960s American folk music revival.
Biography
Hester's first album was produced by Norman Petty in 1957. She made her second a ...
, ''Carolyn Hester'' (RCA, 1973)
*
Al Hirt
Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java (instrumental), Java" and the accompanying album ''Honey in the Horn (album ...
, ''Horn a-Plenty'' (RCA Victor, 1962)
* Jonah Jones/Glen Gray, ''Jonah Jones Quartet/Glen Gray Casa Loma Orchestra'' (Capitol, 1962)
* Bob Keene, ''Bob Keene & His Orchestra'' (GNP, 1954)
* Bob Keene, ''Solo for Seven'' (Andex, 1958)
*
Carol Lawrence
Carol Lawrence (born Carolina Maria Laraia; September 5, 1932) is an American actress, appearing in musical theatre and on television. She is known for creating the role of Maria on Broadway theatre, Broadway in the musical ''West Side Story ( ...
, ''This Heart of Mine'' (Choreo, 1962)
*
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 ...
, ''In the Name of Love'' (Capitol, 1964)
*
Nellie Lutcher
Nellie Rose Lutcher (October 15, 1912 – June 8, 2007) was an American R&B and jazz singer and pianist, who gained prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Lutcher was most recognizable for her diction and exaggerated pronunciation a ...
with Russell Garcia, ''Our New Nellie'' (Liberty, 1956)
*
Junior Mance
Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. (October 10, 1928 – January 17, 2021), known as Junior Mance, was an American jazz pianist and composer.
Biography Early life (1928–1947)
Mance was born in Evanston, Illinois. When he was five years old, Mance st ...
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...
''The Music from Peter Gunn'' (RCA Victor, 1959)
*
Johnny Mandel
John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...
Billy May
Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet (TV series), The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad (TV series), T ...
, ''Bill's Bag'' (Capitol, 1963)
* Billy May, ''Today!'' (Capitol, 1966)
* Lyle Murphy, ''New Orbits in Sound'' (GNP, 1958)
*
Vido Musso
Vido William Musso (January 16, 1913 – January 9, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist.
Biography
Musso is a fairly obscure figure in the history of jazz and big band music. He relocated with his family from Carini, Sicily to the U.S. in Ju ...
, ''The Swingin'st'' (Modern, 1956)
*
Anita O'Day
Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self-proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...
, ''Anita'' (Verve, 1956)
*
Ruth Olay
Ruth Olay (July 1, 1924 – September 3, 2021) was an American jazz singer who was born in San Francisco, the daughter of a Rabbi and a professional chorister mother. Moving to Los Angeles while still an infant, Olay became a fixture in Hollywood ...
, ''Olay! The New Sound of Ruth Olay'' (Mercury, 1959)
* Perez Prado, ''Havana, 3 A.M.'' (RCA/BMG 1990)
*
Frankie Randall
Frankie Billy Randall (September 25, 1961 – December 23, 2020) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1983 to 2005. He was a three-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA and WBC titles between 1994 and 199 ...
, ''Sings & Swings'' (RCA Victor, 1965)
*
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, ...
, ''The Swinging Buddy Rich'' (Norgran, 1954)
*
Johnny Richards
Johnny Richards (born Juan Manuel Cascales, November 2, 1911 – October 7, 1968) was an American jazz arranger and composer scoring numerous sound tracks for television and film. He was a pivotal composer/arranger for cutting edge, adventur ...
, ''Something Else by Johnny Richards'' (Bethlehem, 1956)
*
Tony Scott
Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer.
He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...
/Milt Bernhart, ''Untitled'' (RCA Victor, 1985)
*
Tak Shindo
Takeshi "Tak" Shindo (, November 11, 1922 – April 17, 2002) was an American musician, composer and arranger. He was one of the prominent artists in the exotica music genre during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Shindo also founded a dance band ...
, ''Brass and Bamboo'' (Capitol, 1960)
*
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
Bobby Troup
Robert William Troup Jr. (October 18, 1918 – February 7, 1999) was an American actor, jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the composer of the rhythm and blues standard " (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and for the role of D ...
, ''Bobby Troup and His Stars of Jazz'' (RCA Victor, 1959)
*
Walter Wanderley
Walter Wanderley (; born Walter Jose Wanderley Mendonça, May 12, 1932 – September 4, 1986) was a Brazilian organist and pianist, best known for his lounge and bossa nova music and for his instrumental version of the song '' Summer Samba'' wh ...
, ''The Return of the Original'' (Ancora, 1972)
* Stanley Wilson, ''The Music from M Squad'' (RCA Victor, 1959)