Charlie Spivak (c. February 17, 1904 – March 1, 1982) was an American

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

, best known for his

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 ...

in the 1940s.

Early life

According to his immigration record, Sender Spivakovsky was born around 1904 in the village of Trilisy,

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire (1796–1917), Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–18; 1918–1921), Ukrainian State (1918), and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–19 ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). He arrived with his family at Ellis Island on 31 August 1910 (age 6), bound for

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

to meet his older brother. By the time of the 10 January 1920 census (age 15), his family

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

his name into "Charlie Spivak". As a Ukrainian-Jew, recorded details of Spivak's birth are unclear. Later sources place it in 1907. His personal papers claim the latter scenario.Spivak personal papers
libguides.furman.edu. Accessed December 18, 2022. He learned to play trumpet and played in his

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

band, going on to work with local groups before joining Johnny Cavallaro's orchestra.

Big band era and style

He played with Paul Specht's band for most of 1924 to 1930, then spent time with

Ben Pollack Benjamin "Ben" Pollack (June 22, 1903 – June 7, 1971) was an American drummer and bandleader from the mid-1920s through the swing music, swing era. His eye for talent led him to employ musicians such as Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Mil ...

(1931–1934), the brothers Tommy and

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peopl ...

(1934–1935), and

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 3 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United S ...

(1935–1936). He played on " Solo Hop" in 1935 by

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

and the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band that was formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most pop ...

. He spent 1936 and 1937 mostly working as a studio musician with

Gus Arnheim Gus Arnheim (September 4, 1897 – January 19, 1955) was an American pianist and an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being " I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. ...

, Glenn Miller,

Raymond Scott Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist and record producer. Known best in his time as a composer of production music, Scott is today regarded as an early ...

's radio orchestra, and others, followed by periods with

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

(1938),

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 ...

(1938–1939), and

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 ...

(1939). Finally, with the encouragement and financial backing of Glenn Miller, he formed his own band in November 1939. Though it failed within a year, he tried again shortly afterwards, this time taking over the existing band of Bill Downer and making a success of it. Spivak's band was one of the most successful in the 1940s, and survived until 1959. He scouted top trumpeter Paul Fredricks (formerly of

Alvino Rey Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader. Career Alvin McBurney was born in Oakland, California, United States, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Early i ...

's Orchestra) just as Fredricks left the service at the end of World War II, in 1946. Fredricks was instrumental in the band's success in the coming years as it reached its peak.
The Big Band Almanac
' (revised ed.; paperback), by Leo Walker ''(né'' Leo Edward Walker; 1910–1995),

Da Capo Press Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional offi ...

(1989), pps. 380 & 381; Popular recordings during the 1940s included: * "This Is No Laughing Matter" (vocal by Garry Stevens) (1941) * "I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen" (vocal by Garry Stevens)( 1942) * "My Devotion" (vocal by Garry Stevens) (1942) * "

You Belong to My Heart "You Belong to My Heart" is the name of an English-language version of the Mexican Bolero song "Solamente una vez" ("Only Once" in English). This song was composed by Mexican songwriter Agustín Lara and originally performed by singer Ana María Go ...

" (vocal by Jimmy Saunders) (1945) * "

It's Been a Long, Long Time "It's Been a Long, Long Time" is a big band-era song that was a hit at the end of World War II, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. Background The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person welcoming home their spouse a ...

" (vocal by

Irene Daye Irene Daye (January 17, 1918, Lawrence, Massachusetts – November 1, 1971, Greenville, South Carolina) was an American jazz singer. Early life Daye began her career at age 17 by singing in Dan Murphy's Musical Skippers big band while still ...

) (1945) * " Oh! What It Seemed to Be" (vocal by Jimmy Saunders) (1946) * " I Love You (For Sentimental Reasons) (vocal by Jimmy Saunders) (1946) * " Linda" (vocal by Tommy Mercer) (1947) Spivak's experience playing with jazz musicians had little effect on his own band's style, which was straight dance music, made up mainly of ballads and popular tunes. Spivak himself (known as "Cheery, Chubby Charlie") had been noted for his trumpet's sweet tone and his strength for playing lead parts, rather than for any improvisational ability. He was also known as "The Man Who Plays The Sweetest Trumpet In The World". A number of the band's musicians were to make names for themselves, including drummer Dave Tough, bassist Jimmy Middleton, trumpeters

Les Elgart Lester Elliott Elgart (August 3, 1917 – July 29, 1995) was an American swing jazz bandleader and trumpeter. Early years Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Elgart grew up in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey with his brother Larry. They were exposed ...

and Paul Fredricks, saxophonist Don Raffell, trombonist

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 ...

, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, and singers June Hutton and

. (Daye and Spivak married in 1950.). Riddle was also responsible for many of the band's arrangements, together with

Sonny Burke Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. Early life and career Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania to Francis P. Burke and Rhoda Nihany, Burke grew up in D ...

. The late Manny Albam also arranged for the Spivak band.

Later career

When the Spivak orchestra broke up, he went to live in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where he continued to lead a band until illness led to his temporary retirement in 1963. On his recovery, he continued to lead large and small bands, first in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, then in South Carolina. In

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

in 1967, he led a small group featuring his wife as vocalist. She died in 1971 after a long illness with cancer. During this time, Spivak was also resident band leader for a restaurant-nightclub, "Ye Olde Fireplace", in

. He played trumpet in the dance band that included a drummer, saxophonist, bass player and pianist. The band played standards from the big band era, but also took requests from the audience. Spivak continued to play and record until his death in Greenville in 1982, shortly after his 75th birthday.

Family

Spivak first married Freda Braverman in 1932. The marriage ended in divorce in 1947. He subsequently married his vocalist,

, in 1950.Spivak personal papers
libguides.furman.edu. Accessed December 18, 2022. He married Wilma (Dubby) Hayes in 1974 - the third marriage for both of them. She is still alive in Roanoke, Alabama. Spivak's eldest son, Joel A. Spivak, was a television and radio broadcaster primarily in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

areas. Spivak's younger son, Steven Glenn Spivak, is a public relations manager in northern California. Spivak's stepson, Kevin Ingram, lives in Greenville, South Carolina. He is the owner of The Charlie Spivak Orchestra.

Discography

* 1958: ''Pinciana'' (Design) * 1977: ''Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra 1943–46'' (

Hindsight Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they were. After an event has occurred, people often believe ...

) * 1985: ''Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra'' ( Ranwood) * 1993: ''For Sentimental Reasons'' (Vintage Jazz Classics) * 2002: ''Dance Date'' ( Collectors' Choice) * 2005: ''What's Cookin' Charlie '41–'47''

References

External links

Charlie Spivak
— biography from ''Solid!'' *
Charlie Spivak recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

Charlie Spivak Musical Collection - Furman University Special CollectionsAlphabetical List of Charlie Spivak Scores - Furman University Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spivak, Charlie 1982 deaths American male trumpeters American big band bandleaders Jewish American musicians American jazz bandleaders American jazz trumpeters Dance band bandleaders Dance band trumpet players Nightclub owners Abbey Records artists Jewish jazz musicians 20th-century American trumpeters 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 20th-century American Jews 1907 births