Carl Charles Fontana (July 18, 1928 – October 9, 2003) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trombonist. After working in the big bands of

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

, Lionel Hampton, and

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

, he devoted most of his career to playing music in Las Vegas.

Career

Fontana was born in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. His first break into the professional jazz scene came in 1952, when he was hired to stand in for one of

's regular trombonists, Urbie Green. When Green returned, Herman kept Fontana on as a permanent member of the band. After three years with Herman, Fontana joined Lionel Hampton's big band in 1954. In early 1955, he played briefly with Hal McIntyre and Chicago pianist and

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

executive, Sam Distefano at Sam's Miami nightclub, The Stut 'n' Tut. He later joined

's big band. Fontana recorded three albums with Kenton and worked with trombonist Kai Winding during this period. After 1958, Fontana rarely toured, but undertook a 1966 tour of Africa with Herman's band sponsored by the U.S. State Department. He primarily performed with house orchestras in Las Vegas during the 1960s, particularly

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

's band (with

Frank Rosolino Frank Rosolino (August 20, 1926 – November 26, 1978) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Rosolino was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, He performed with the big bands of Bob Chester, Glen Gray, Tony Pastor, Herbie Fields, Ge ...

). He also performed in bands backing

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...

, and the Benny Goodman orchestra. In the 1970s, he continued performing in house orchestras and lounges in Las Vegas. He also recorded with Louie Bellson, Bill Watrous, and

Supersax Supersax was an American jazz group, created in 1972 by saxophonist Med Flory and bassist Buddy Clark as a tribute to saxophonist Charlie Parker. The group's music consisted of harmonized arrangements of Parker's improvisations played by a saxoph ...

. It was not until 1975 that Fontana recorded an album as an ensemble co-leader. He shared the billing for this record, ''The Hanna-Fontana Band: Live at Concord'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...

) with drummer

Jake Hanna Jake Hanna (April 4, 1931 – February 12, 2010) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, United States. Hanna first performed in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the house drummer at Storyville nightclub in Boston, ...

. Fontana toured in Japan with this ensemble. In 1978, he was featured on the jazz trombone recording ''Bobby Knight's Great American Trombone Company'', with Charles Loper, Lew McCreary,

, Phil Teele, and Bobby Knight. In the 1980s, he appeared regularly on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''Monday Night Jazz'' program. His first album as a headliner was ''The Great Fontana'' ( Uptown Jazz, 1985). In 2001, he joined The West Coast All Stars and played a concert in Stuttgart, Germany. He was joined by

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 Orc ...

Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone and the ...

Pete Jolly Pete Jolly (born Peter A. Ceragioli Jr., June 5, 1932 – November 6, 2004) was a two-time Grammy-nominated American West Coast jazz pianist and accordionist. He is known for his performance of television themes and movie soundtracks. Biogr ...

Chuck Berghofer Charles Curtis Berghofer (born June 14, 1937), professionally known as Chuck Berghofer, is an American jazz double bassist and electric bassist, who has worked as a studio musician and in the film industry for more than 60 years, including workin ...

, and Joe LaBarbera. He was featured on the song "If I Only Had a Brain", from the movie ''The Wizard of Oz''. Fontana died October 9, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age of 75 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

References

External links

Carl Fontana at Jazz Masters

Carl Fontana
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Profile by the Las Vegas Jazz Society

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Carl American jazz musicians American jazz trombonists Male trombonists Cool jazz trombonists Jazz musicians from Louisiana Musicians from Monroe, Louisiana Musicians from Las Vegas 1928 births 2003 deaths American people of Italian descent Neurological disease deaths in Nevada Deaths from Alzheimer's disease People from the Las Vegas Valley Louisiana State University alumni Concord Records artists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians World's Greatest Jazz Band members