Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992) was an American tenor saxophonist and bandleader from

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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States.

Career

During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands of Gene Krupa and Teddy Powell. In 1945 he was named best tenor saxophonist by ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine. He led a band which included Conte Candoli, Bennie Green, Boots Mussulli, Ed Shaughnessy, Jackie Cain, and Roy Kral. He led big bands in the 1940s and 1950s and formed the Big Four with Buddy Rich, Marty Napoleon, and Chubby Jackson. He was a sideman with Krupa through the 1960s, then worked in Las Vegas with comedian

Jackie Gleason Herbert John Gleason (born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One". He developed a style and characters from growin ...

. He died of lung cancer in 1992. His great-grandson is the musician MJ Lenderman.

Discography

* ''Stomping with the Sax'' (Crystalette, 1950) * ''Gene Norman Presents a Charlie Ventura Concert'' (Decca, 1953) * ''F.Y.I.'' (EmArcy, 1954) * ''In Concert'' (GNP, 1954) * ''An Evening with Charlie Ventura and Mary Ann McCall'' (Norgran, 1954) * ''Another Evening with Charlie Ventura and Mary Ann McCall'' (Norgran, 1954) * ''Jumping with Ventura'' (EmArcy, 1955) * ''An Evening with Mary Ann McCall and Charlie Ventura'' (Norgran, 1955) * ''Charlie Ventura's Carnegie Hall Concert'' (Norgran, 1955) * ''The New Charlie Ventura in Hi-Fi'' (Baton, 1956) * ''Plays Hi-Fi Jazz'' (Tops, 1957) * ''Crazy Rhythms'' (Regent, 1957) * ''Adventure with Charlie'' (King, 1957) * ''Here's Charlie'' (Brunswick, 1957) * ''East of Suez'' (Regent, 1958) * ''A Battle of Saxes'' (King, 1959) * ''Plays for the People'' (Craftsmen, 1960) * ''Live at the 3 Deuces!'' (Phoenix Jazz, 1975) * ''Aces at the Deuces'' (Phoenix Jazz, 1976)

As sideman

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 ...

, '' The Complete RCA Victor Recordings'' (Bluebird, 1995) * Gene Krupa, '' The Great New Gene Krupa Quartet Featuring Charlie Ventura'' (Verve, 1964)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventura, Charlie 1916 births 1992 deaths Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American saxophonists American conductors (music) American jazz bandleaders American jazz tenor saxophonists American male conductors (music) American male saxophonists American people of Italian descent Bebop saxophonists Deaths from lung cancer in New Jersey American male jazz musicians Swing saxophonists HighNote Records artists Brunswick Records artists EmArcy Records artists