Chester Conn ''(né'' Master Chester Cohn; April 14, 1894 in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

– April 4, 1973 in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

) was an American composer of

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

and music publisher.

Early life and career

Chester was born to David Cohn and Minnie ''(née'' Newman; 1871–1946). At an early age, Chester was raised by his mother, who had become a widow sometime before 1900. In 1918, Cohn was working for Broadway Music Corp in New York. In 1922, Cohn was working for Leo Feist, Inc., in its Chicago office. In 1937, Conn co-founded the New York music publishing of Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc. ("BVC"). The other name partners were Jack Bregman ''(né'' Joseph Bregman; 1901–1967) and Rocco Vocco (1887–1960). Chester Conn's only child, a son, Jack D. Conn (1926–1966), had been an executive at BVC. Given that Bregman, Vocco, and Jack Conn all predeceased Chester, Chester sold the firm in May 1967 to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

for 4.5 million dollars in cash.

Selected works

Conn's best-known song is the

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

" (

Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...

Ned Miller Henry Ned Miller (April 12, 1925 – March 18, 2016) was an American country music singer-songwriter. Active as a recording artist from 1956 to 1970, he is known primarily for his hit single " From a Jack to a King", a crossover hit in 1962 whi ...

Benny Krueger Benny Krueger (June 17, 1899 – April 29, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist. After a short stint with Ross Gorman's band, Krueger's joined the Acme Sextette in New York, which included Miff Mole on trombone, Ernie Holst on violin, and Edw ...

The Jazz Discography Online ''The Jazz Discography'' is a print, CD-ROM, and online discography and sessionography of all categories of recorded jazz — and directly relevant precursors of recorded jazz from 1896. The publisher, Lord Music Reference Inc., a British Columbia ...

,'' as of June 2017, lists 497 recording sessions for "Sunday" – from 1926 to 2015. Other songs include "My Suppressed Desire" (

Sammy Gallop Sammy Gallop (March 16, 1915 – February 24, 1971) was an American lyricist, known for his big band and swing songs of the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Gallop was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He originally worked as a surveyor and draftsman. On ...

, co-composer; ©1956), "It's None of My Affair" ( Sam Gallop, lyrics; ©1957), "Time To Go Home" ( Sam Gallop, lyrics; ©1958), "Blue Waltz (La Valse Bleue)" (1960), "Anything I Do" (co-composed with George Douglas; ©1965), "Oh Well", and "Because You Lied."

Other works

* "What'll You Do?" : Chester Cohn (words) : Ernie Erdman (music) : Broadway Music Corp., New York
© 22 November 1921; E523162
* "You Don't Like It, Not Much" :

: Art Kahn : Chester Cohn : Leo Feist, Inc.,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

© 25 June 1927; E665996
: (band arrangement by Onofrio Sciacca) * "Why Should I Cry Over You" : Chester Conn (w&m) : Ned Miller (w&m) : Leo Feist, Inc.
© 14 April 1922; E534774

© 19 May 1922; 538621

© 7 July 1922; E542251
: (arrangement by Frank Edward Barry; 1883–1937 – staff arranger for

Leo Feist Leopold Feist (January 3, 1869, New York City – June 21, 1930, Mount Vernon, New York), in 1897 founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name. In the 1920s, at the height of the golden age of popular music, his firm was among the seve ...

)
© 11 September 1922; E543788
: (arrangement by Frank Edward Barry)
© 15 November 1922; E552081
: (arrangement for ukulele by William J. Smith)
© 18 December 1922; E554461
: (arrangement for male voices by Alfred John Doyle, Sr.; 1874–1929) :
Sheet music, in pdf
(public domain), courtesy

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

* "Crying for You" : Chester Cohn (music) :

(words) : Leo Feist, Inc., New York
© 22 November 1922; E549890

© 9 July 1923; E563681Alt. link
: © 24 November 1923; 555430 : * "Don't Mind the Rain" : Ned Miller (w&m) : Chester Cohn (w&m)' : Leo Feist, Inc., New York
© 3 December 1923; E577690
:
Sheet music, in pdf
(public domain), courtesy

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

* "The Talk of the Town" :

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' By ...

(words) : Chester Conn (music) : Leo Feist, Inc.,

: © 17 December 1929; EU14672 : © 31 December 1929; EP12355 : * "So Close to Me" :

Wayne King Harold Wayne King (February 16, 1901 – July 16, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader with a long association with both NBC and CBS. He was referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved wa ...

(w&m) : Jerry Castillo (w&m) : Chester Cohn (w&m) : Leo Feist, Inc.,

© 15 September 1931; EP25135
* "Sicilian Tarantella" (American song title) : "Fischiettando" (Italian song title) : G. Balsamo (Italian composer) :

(words) : Chester Conn (words) : Triangle Music Corp.,

(words) : Chester Conn (music) : Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
© 9 February 1951; EP52754
: * "Will o' the Wisp Romance" :

(words) : Chester Conn (music) : Triangle Music Corp.,

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

(w&m) :

(w&m) : Chester Conn (w&m) : Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
3 March 1960; EU616719
* "The Right Thing To Say" :

(words) : Chester Conn (music) : Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
© 15 February 1962; EU706926
:

Performers of Conn's work

The performers who have recorded Conn's songs include

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

Eddie Fisher Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

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 ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

, and

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Early life and career A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

Death

Chester Conn died of a heart attack April 4, 1973, while living in

, aged 78. He was stricken at the

Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack locate ...

. Conn was survived by his wife, Grace ''(née'' Grace Belle Goodman; 1885–1978), whom he married May 1, 1921, in Chicago. He was also survived as daughter-in-law, Ella Conn ''(née'' Raffaella Nardino; 1928–2010), and a grandson, Brian Conn (born 1961). Ella Conn (Chester's daughter-in-law) was an aunt to Gary Nardino (1935-1998), a notable Hollywood TV and film director, producer, and industry executive.

References

General references

"Sunday,"
by Sandra Burlingame (editor), '

Notes

Original copyrights

Catalog of Copyright Entries United States copyright registrations, renewals, and other catalog entries since 1978 are published online at the United States Copyright Office website. Entries prior to 1978 are not published in the online catalog. Copyright registrations and rene ...

'',

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Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that maintains records of copyright registration, including a copyright catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who are ...

Other inline citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conn, Chester 1894 births 1973 deaths American male composers American composers American lyricists American music publishers (people) 20th-century American male musicians