Buddy DeFranco

Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (born February 17, 1923 in Camden, New Jersey) is an American jazz clarinet player.

DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman — were fading in popularity. While most jazz clarinet players did not adapt to this change, DeFranco successfully continued to play clarinet exclusively, and was one of the few bebop clarinetists.

In 1950, DeFranco spent a year with the famous Count Basie Septet. His small combo in the early 1950s included jazz modernist Sonny Clark on the piano and guitarist Tal Farlow. He was bandleader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1966 to 1974. He has also performed with Gene Krupa, Charlie Barnet, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and many others, and has released dozens of albums as a leader.

Discography

• Mr. Clarinet (as the Buddy DeFranco Quartet) with Art Blakey, Milt Hinton, Kenny Drew, 1953
• Generalissimo with Harry "Sweets" Edison, Bob Hardaway, Jimmy Rowles, Barney Kessel, Curtis Counce, Alvin Stoller, 1958
• Live Date! with Herbie Mann, Bob Hardaway, Victor Feldman, Pete Jolly, Barney Kessel, Scott LaFaro, Frank DeVito, 1958
• Blues Bag with Victor Feldman, Curtis Fuller, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Freddie Hill, Victor Sproles, 1964
• Free Fall with Victor Feldman, John Chiodini, Joe Cocuzzo, Victor Sproles, 1974
• Like Someone in Love with Tal Farlow, Derek Smith, George Duvivier, Ronnie Bedford, 1977
• Jazz Party: First Time Together with Terry Gibbs, 1981, Palo Alto Records
• Hark with Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Martin Drew, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, 1985
• Holiday for Swing with John Campbell, Terry Gibbs, Todd Coolman, Gerry Gibbs, 1988
• Born to Swing! with Al Grey, Lin Biviano, Dave Cooper, Denis DiBlasio, Donald Downs, Pete Jackson, Larry McKenna, George Rabbai, Joe Sudler, Tony Desantis, Dom Fiori, Wendell Hobbs, Tony Vigilante, Zeigenfus, Brian Pastor, John Simon, 1988
• Chip off the Old Bop with Jimmy Cobb, Keter Betts, Joe Cohn, Larry Novak, 1992
• Buenos Aires Concerts Live album with Jorge Lopez Ruiz, Ricardo Lew, Jorge Navarro, 1995
• Mr. Lucky, Live album with Albert Dailey, George Duvivier, Ronnie Bedford, Joe Cohn, 1981/1997
• Buddy DeFranco & Oscar Peterson Play George Gershwin with Herb Ellis, Oscar Peterson, Marty Berman, Ray Brown, Nick Dimaio, Jack Dumont, David Frisina, Louis Kievman, Dan Lube, Rickey Marino, Murray McEachern, Dick Noel, Richard Perissi, Mischa Russell, Marshall Sosson, Bobby White, Kurt Reher, Eudice Shapiro, Sam Caplan, Julie Jacobs, Henry Hill, 1998
• Gone with the Wind with Todd Coolman, Jerry Coleman, 1999
• Do Nothing Till You Hear from Us with Dave McKenna, Joe Cohn, 1999
• Cookin' the Books with Butch Miles, John Pizzarelli, Martin Pizzarelli, Raymond Louis Kennedy, 2004
• Wailers with Harry "Sweets" Edison, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Rowles, 2006
• Nobody Else But Me

External links

• Official biography