[msb-alumni] Jazz Clarinettist Buddy DeFranco Dies at 91
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:01:46 -0500
BlankJazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, 91, dies Jazz clarinetist Buddy
DeFranco dies at 91 Associated Press PANAMA CITY, Fla. Renowned jazz
clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, who led the way on his instrument in the
transition between the swing and bebop eras, has died at the age of 91, his
family said Friday. DeFranco's family told the Associated Press that the
famed musician died Wednesday evening at a Panama City hospital. His wife,
Joyce, said he had been in declining health in recent years. DeFranco, who
began his professional career as a teenager in the late 1930s, made both
concert and recording appearances with many of the top singers and musicians
of his era, including Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Tony Bennett, Ella
Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum. "Buddy DeFranco
almost single-handedly was the clarinetist who moved the harmonic and
rhythmic language forward from where Benny Goodman left off into the much
more adventurous territory of bebop and beyond, while never forgetting his
roots in swing music," leading jazz clarinetist Ken Peplowski said in an
email to the AP. DeFranco performed at leading venues around the world and
was repeatedly recognized as the top jazz clarinetist in magazine polls
conducted by Downbeat, Metronome and Playboy. DeFranco's family asked that
contributions in his memory be made to the nonprofit Buddy DeFranco Jazz
Festival which is held each spring at the University of Montana in Missoula.
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