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- Born: December 14, 1911, Belgrade, NE
- Died: 1988
- Genres: Jazz
- Instrument: Sax (Baritone)
Biography
Although he started out as a clarinetist, it was on much lower-pitched horns that Chuck Gentry made his bread and butter. Gentry is one of the rare jazz gentry whose name shows up in credits complete with a military ranking--he was a seargent in the unit that made up Glenn Miller's Air Force Band from 1943 through 1944. At that time Gentry had been a professional musician for about a decade, beginning when he was hired for bandleader Ken Baker's Los Angeles outfit. Prior to that he had played clarinet in the school band in Sterling, Colorado and had kept up his musical interests throughout an initial career stab at becoming a teacher.By the late '30s blackboards were the last this on his mind as he began checking out both baritone and bass sax parts in the reed section of the Vido Musso ensemble. From here he went to even bigger bands, Harry James for two years beginning in 1940, Benny Goodman for about a fourth that amount of time beginning in the summer of 1941 and then Jimmy Dorsey until Uncle Sam demanded a change of procedure. After the war he was busy with Artie Shaw, Jan Savitt and then another short stint with Goodman. From about 1947 Gentry began to work more and more in the studios, eventually becoming almost a part of the scenery in certain Los Angeles recording factories. Much of the pop material he appeared on is high quality, including Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra sides. He should not be confused with the guitarist of the same name. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
