Gérard Badini (born April 16, 1931, Paris, France), known as Mr. Swing, is a French

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 major ...

bandleader, composer, reedist, and pianist. Badini's father was an opera singer. Badini began playing professionally in the early 1950s, playing clarinet in New Orleans jazz-style ensembles with

Michel Attenoux Michel Attenoux (June 14, 1930 in Paris – April 24, 1988 in Laval) was a French jazz saxophonist. Attenoux played piano in his youth, later learning soprano saxophone and playing locally. He founded his own ensemble in 1951, which played with Pe ...

, Jimmy Archey,

Lil Armstrong Lillian Hardin Armstrong (née Hardin; February 3, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader. She was the second wife of Louis Armstrong, with whom she collaborated on many recordings in ...

, Sidney Bechet, Bill Coleman, and

Peanuts Holland Herbert Lee "Peanuts" Holland (February 9, 1910 – February 7, 1979) was an American jazz trumpeter best known for his contributions in swing jazz. Early life Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Holland learned to play trumpet at the Jenkins Orphanage ...

. In 1955, he joined

Claude Bolling Claude Bolling (10 April 1930 – 29 December 2020) was a French jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor. Biography He was born in Cannes, France, and studied at the Conservatory of Nice, Nice Conservatory, and then in Paris. A c ...

's ensemble and then joined Bolling on a worldwide tour as members of

Jack Diéval Jacques "Jack" Diéval (born December 21, 1920, Douai) was a French jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Diéval's parents were also jazz musicians, who led an ensemble known as the DéDé Jazz Band. He studied music at the Douai Conservatory w ...

's orchestra. He switched principally to tenor sax beginning in 1958, continuing to work with Bolland as well as

Roger Guérin Roger Guérin (9 January 1926, Saarbrücken – 6 February 2010, Nîmes) was a French jazz trumpeter and singer. Initially a violinist, Guérin studied trumpet and cornet at the Paris Conservatory and won a first prize there as a teenager. He ...

and

Geo Daly Geo Daly (born April 16, 1923, in Bois Colombes, and died June 1, 1999, in Sète) was a French jazz vibraphonist. Daly started out as an accordionist, playing professionally on the accordion from 1939 to 1947. After picking up vibraphone, he play ...

in the late 1950s. In the 1960s he worked with Alice Babs,

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

Jean-Claude Naude Jean-Claude Naude (March 7, 1933, Amiens -January 9, 2008) was a French jazz pianist and trumpeter. Naude attended the Amiens conservatory and played early in his career as a trumpeter for Raymond Fonsèque's orchestra and with Georges Arvanitas. ...

Cat Anderson William Alonzo "Cat" Anderson (September 12, 1916 – April 29, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter known for his long period as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra and for his wide range, especially his ability to play in the altissimo ...

Paul Gonsalves Paul Gonsalves ( – ) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue ...

Jef Gilson Jean-François Quiévreux (25 July 1926 – 5 February 2012), better known as Jef Gilson, was a French clarinetist, pianist, arranger, vocalist, composer and big band leader. "In the occupation of which he initiated groups" proved Gilson "an ex ...

, and François Guin. He founded his own group, Swing Machine, in 1973, working in this group with Bobby Durham,

Raymond Fol Raymond Fol (April 28, 1928 in Paris – May 1, 1979 in Paris) was a French jazz pianist. Fol's older brother was Hubert Fol, and both were raised in a musical household; Raymond began playing piano at five years of age. Fol and his brother played ...

, Michel Gaudry, Helen Humes,

Sonny Payne Sonny Payne (May 4, 1926 – January 29, 1979) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with Count Basie and Harry James. Biography Payne's father was Wild Bill Davis's drummer Chris Columbus. After early study with Vic Berton, i ...

, and

Sam Woodyard Sam Woodyard (January 7, 1925 – September 20, 1988) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. Woodyard was largely an autodidact on drums and played locally in the Newark, New Jersey area in the 1940s. ...

. From 1977 to 1979, Badini lived in New York City, performing there with Roy Eldridge, Major Holley, Oliver Jackson, Dick Katz,

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 ...

Gerald Wiggins Gerald Foster Wiggins (May 12, 1922 – July 13, 2008) was an American jazz pianist and organist. Early life Wiggins was born in New York City on May 12, 1922.Vacher, Pete"Wiggins, Gerry" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'' (2nd edition). G ...

, and Reggie Workman. In 1984, he formed a new big-band ensemble, Super Swing Machine, which he led and played piano in through the late 1990s.

References

*André Clergeat and Barry Kernfeld, "Gérard Badini". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd edition. French jazz pianists 20th-century French male pianists French jazz clarinetists French jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists Musicians from Paris French male conductors (music) 1931 births Living people 20th-century saxophonists 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century clarinetists French male jazz musicians Black & Blue Records artists {{France-music-bio-stub