Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992)[1] was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Career

During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands of Gene Krupa and Teddy Powell.[2] In 1945, he was named best tenor saxophonist by DownBeat magazine.[2][3] He led a band which included Conte Candoli, Bennie Green, Boots Mussulli, Ed Shaughnessy, Jackie Cain, and Roy Kral.[2] He led big bands in the 1940s and 1950s and formed the Big Four with Buddy Rich, Marty Napoleon, and Chubby Jackson.[2] Ventura was a sideman with Krupa through the 1960s, then worked in Las Vegas with comedian Jackie Gleason.[2]

Ventura died of lung cancer in 1992.[2] His great-grandson is the musician MJ Lenderman.[4]

Discography

As leader

  • 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

References

  1. ↑ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (1st ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 409. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kelsey, Chris. "Charlie Ventura". AllMusic. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  3. ↑ DownBeat Poll Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Groundwater, Colin (November 17, 2023). "MJ Lenderman Does Not Have Mamba Mentality". GQ. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Ventura