Carl Charles Fontana (July 18, 1928 – October 9, 2003) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trombonist. After working in the big bands of

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roo ...

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

, and

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 ...

, he devoted most of his career to playing music in Las Vegas.

Career

Fontana was born in

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical ...

, United States. His first break into the professional jazz scene came in 1952, when he was hired to stand in for one of

's regular trombonists,

Urbie Green Urban Clifford "Urbie" Green (August 8, 1926 – December 31, 2018) was an American jazz trombonist who toured with Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Jan Savitt, and Frankie Carle. He played on over 250 recordings and released more than twenty albums a ...

. When Green returned, Herman kept Fontana on as a permanent member of the band. After three years with Herman, Fontana joined

's big band in 1954. In early 1955, he played briefly with Hal McIntyre and Chicago pianist and

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

executive, Sam Distefano at Sam's Miami nightclub, The Stut 'n' Tut. He later joined

's big band. Fontana recorded three albums with Kenton and worked with trombonist

Kai Winding Kai Chresten Winding ( ; May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of " More", the theme from the movie ''Mondo Ca ...

during this period. After 1958, Fontana rarely toured, but undertook a 1966 tour of Africa with Herman's band sponsored by the U.S. State Department. He primarily performed with house orchestras in Las Vegas during the 1960s, particularly

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...

's band (with Frank Rosolino). He also performed in bands backing Sammy Davis Jr.,

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, ...

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942), also known as Mr. Las Vegas, is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the United States from the mid-to-late 20th century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in ...

, and the

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 ...

orchestra. In the 1970s, he continued performing in house orchestras and lounges in Las Vegas. He also recorded with

Louie Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paolino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer ...

, Bill Watrous, and

Supersax Supersax was an American jazz group, created in 1972 by saxophonist Med Flory and bassist Buddy Clark as a tribute to saxophonist Charlie Parker. The group's music consisted of harmonized arrangements of Parker's improvisations played by a saxo ...

. It was not until 1975 that Fontana recorded an album as an ensemble co-leader. He shared the billing for this record, ''The Hanna-Fontana Band: Live at Concord'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the ...

) with drummer Jake Hanna. Fontana toured in Japan with this ensemble. In 1978, he was featured on the jazz trombone recording ''Bobby Knight's Great American Trombone Company'', with Charles Loper, Lew McCreary, Frank Rosolino, Phil Teele, and Bobby Knight. In the 1980s, he appeared regularly on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's ''Monday Night Jazz'' program. His first album as a headliner was ''The Great Fontana'' ( Uptown Jazz, 1985). In 2001, he joined The West Coast All Stars and played a concert in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany. He was joined by Conte Candoli,

Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone ...

Pete Jolly Pete Jolly (born Peter A. Ceragioli Jr., June 5, 1932 – November 6, 2004) was a two-time Grammy Awards, Grammy-nominated American West Coast jazz pianist and accordionist. He is known for his performance of television theme song, themes and ...

, Chuck Berghofer, and Joe LaBarbera. He was featured on the song "If I Only Had a Brain", from the movie ''The Wizard of Oz''. Fontana died October 9, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada, aged 75 after suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

References

External links

Carl Fontana at Jazz MastersCarl Fontana
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Profile by the Las Vegas Jazz Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Carl American jazz musicians American jazz trombonists American male trombonists Cool jazz trombonists Jazz musicians from Louisiana Musicians from Monroe, Louisiana Musicians from Las Vegas 1928 births 2003 deaths American people of Italian descent Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Nevada Musicians from the Las Vegas Valley Louisiana State University alumni Concord Records artists 20th-century American trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians World's Greatest Jazz Band members