Willie Dennis

Willie Dennis (née William DeBerardinis, January 10, 1926, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – July 8, 1965, New York City) was an American jazz trombonist^[1][2][3][4] known as a big band musician but was also an influential bebop soloist.^[5] He died in an automobile accident in New York, 1965.^[6]

Career

After working with Elliot Lawrence,^[7] Claude Thornhill,^[8] and Sam Donahue,^[9] Dennis also performed with Charles Mingus,^[10] appearing on two of Mingus's more successful albums in 1959, Blues & Roots^[11] and Mingus Ah Um.^[12] In 1953, Dennis recorded Four Trombones^[13] (released in 1957) for Mingus's Debut Records. The other three trombones were J. J. Johnson,^[14] Kai Winding^[15] and Bennie Green.^[16]

The fullest recorded example of Dennis's solo work, however, is on a little-known 1956 Savoy disc by English pianist Ronnie Ball^[17] (like Dennis, a student of Tristano,^[18]), All About Ronnie,^[19] in the company of Ted Brown,^[20] Wendell Marshall^[21] and Kenny Clarke.^[22]

In the late 1950s Dennis returned to his big band roots, joining Buddy Rich^[23] in 1959 after stints with Benny Goodman,^[24] (with whom he travelled to the Soviet Union in 1962) and Woody Herman.^[25]

In the 1960s, Dennis also performed often with Gerry Mulligan.^[26]

Personal life

Relationships and family

He married singer Morgana King in 1961. They had only been married for a few years when his unfortunate death occurred in 1965 from an automobile accident in Central Park, New York City.^[6][27] They had no children.

Legacy

Style and influence

Dennis was renown for his extremely fast articulation on the trombone, obtained by means of varying the natural harmonics of the instrument (a technique known as "against the grain").

Discography

References

External links

• Willie Dennis at Allmusic
• Willie Dennis at Discogs
• Willie Dennis at Napster