Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992) was an American

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

and bandleader from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States.

Career

During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands of

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of "Sing, Sing, S ...

and Teddy Powell. In 1945 he was named best tenor saxophonist by ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine.Down Beat Poll
He led a band which included

Conte Candoli Secondo "Conte" Candoli (July 12, 1927 – December 14, 2001) was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orch ...

Bennie Green Bennie Green (April 16, 1923 – March 23, 1977) was an American jazz trombonist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Green worked in the orchestras of Earl Hines and Charlie Ventura, and recorded as bandleader through the 1950s and ...

Boots Mussulli Henry "Boots" Mussulli (November 18, 1915 in Milford, Massachusetts – September 23, 1967 in Norfolk, Massachusetts) was an Italian-American jazz saxophonist, based chiefly out of Boston. According to the Social Security files, he was born in ...

Ed Shaughnessy Edwin Thomas "Ed" Shaughnessy (January 29, 1929 – May 24, 2013) was a swing music and jazz drummer long associated with Doc Severinsen and a member of The Tonight Show Band on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Biography Shaughn ...

Jackie Cain Jacqueline Ruth "Jackie" Cain (May 22, 1928 – September 15, 2014) was an American jazz singer known for her partnership with her husband in the duo Jackie and Roy. She was the sister-in-law of singer Irene Kral. Life and career Born in Milw ...

, and

Roy Kral Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

. He led big bands in the 1940s and 1950s and formed the Big Four with

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York ...

Marty Napoleon Marty Napoleon (June 2, 1921 – April 27, 2015) was an American jazz pianist. He replaced Earl Hines in Louis Armstrong's All Stars band in 1952. In 1946 he worked with Gene Krupa and went on to work with his uncle Phil Napoleon, a trumpeter, ...

, and

Chubby Jackson Greig Stewart "Chubby" Jackson (October 25, 1918 – October 1, 2003) was an American jazz double-bassist and band leader. Biography Born in New York City, Jackson began at the age of seventeen as a clarinetist, but quickly changed to bass in ...

. He was a sideman with Krupa through the 1960s, then worked in Las Vegas with comedian

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

. In 1992 he died of lung cancer.

Discography

* ''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

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

, ''

The Complete RCA Victor Recordings ''The Complete RCA Victor Recordings'' is a 1995 compilation 2-CD set of sessions led by Jazz trumpeter and composer Dizzy Gillespie recorded for the RCA Victor label between 1937 and 1949. Reception Writing for Allmusic, Richard S. Ginell stat ...

'' (Bluebird, 1995) *

, ''

The Great New Gene Krupa Quartet Featuring Charlie Ventura ''The Great New Gene Krupa Quartet Featuring Charlie Ventura'' is the final studio album by American jazz drummer Gene Krupa featuring performances recorded in 1964 for the Verve label.

'' (Verve, 1964)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventura, Charlie 1916 births 1992 deaths Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American saxophonists American conductors (music) American jazz bandleaders American jazz tenor saxophonists American male conductors (music) American male saxophonists American people of Italian descent Bebop saxophonists Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Deaths from lung cancer American male jazz musicians Swing saxophonists HighNote Records artists Brunswick Records artists EmArcy Records artists