Jack Fina (August 13, 1913 – May 14, 1970) was a

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Fina was born in

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...

, and educated at the

New York College of Music The New York College of Music was an American conservatory of music located in Manhattan that flourished from 1878 to 1968. The college was incorporated under the laws of New York and was empowered to confer diplomas and degrees ranging from a Bac ...

and was a student of August Fraemcke and Elsa Nicilini. He started out playing piano in

Clyde McCoy Clyde Lee McCoyE. Bennett, Joseph (July 2004). Knight Templar Magazine. Accessed from March 20, 2013. (December 29, 1903 – June 11, 1990), was an American jazz trumpeter whose popularity spanned seven decades. He is best remembered for his theme ...

's band sometime in the 1930s, but it wasn't until he joined

Freddy Martin Frederick Alfred Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Early life Freddy Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Raised largely in an orphanage and by various relatives, ...

’s band in 1936 that he gained real fame, when he was featured on Martin’s famous recording of "Tonight We Love". In 1946, Jack Fina formed his own 16-piece band, with Freddy Martin's blessing and financial backing.Ken Alden, "Facing the Music," ''Radio Mirror'', August 1946, p. 4. His first appearance was at the Claremont Hotel. The vocals were handled by

Harry Prime Harry Charles Prime (March 5, 1920 – June 15, 2017) was a Big Band vocalist who performed from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s.Rubin, DanielDaniel Rubin: At 90, big-band singer Harry Prime gets another encore Philly.com, Philadelphia, 17 ...

and

Gil Lewis Gil or GIL may refer to: Places * Gil Island (disambiguation), one of several islands by that name * Gil, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran * Hil, Azerbaijan, also spelled ''Gil, a village in Azerbaijan * Hiloba, also spelled ''Gil, ...

. With good air time and good recordings, Fina became a national figure. Following up on the success of "Tonight We Love," Fina again turned to the classics and composed a boogie-woogie variation on

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

's " Flight of the Bumblebee." Fina's version, " Bumble Boogie", became a huge hit; Fina performed it as a solo piano specialty in the 1946

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

musical ''It's Great to Be Young''. Fina appeared at some of the top venues in the country, including the

Waldorf-Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultz ...

, the Aragon Ballroom, and the famous illegal gambling casino/night club in Galveston, the

Balinese Room The Balinese Room was a famous nightclub in Galveston, Texas, United States built on a pier stretching 600 feet (183 m) from the Galveston Seawall over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For decades a dance hall and illegal casino, the Baline ...

. He also appeared in several films, including ''

Melody Time ''Melody Time'' is a 1948 American live-action/animated musical film produced by Walt Disney. The tenth Disney animated feature film, it was released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of seven segments set to popular mu ...

'' (''Bumble Boogie'' sequence,''Disney A to Z : The updated official Encyclopedia'', Dave Smith p. 81. 1948) and ''

Disc Jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

'' (1951). A noted songwriter, his credits included '' Dream Sonata'' (his theme song), ''Chango'' and '' Piano Portraits''. In the 1950s, he reduced the size of his band and settled in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, 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 List of Ca ...

. He also operated a

talent agency Talent has two principal meanings: * Talent (measurement), an ancient unit of mass and value * Talent (skill), a group of aptitudes useful for some activities; talents may refer to aptitudes themselves or to possessors of those talents Talent may ...

called the

Concerto Music & Entertainment Agency A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

with his manager

Al King Alvin K. Smith (August 8, 1923 – January 21, 1999), who performed and recorded as Al King, was an American blues singer and songwriter. King was born in Monroe, Louisiana. After moving to Los Angeles he recorded for the Shirley and S ...

. In the early 1960s he appeared as a single on

Dick Sinclair Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

’s television show. In 1962 Fina joined the staff of the

Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Cinema of the ...

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

, where he led a small band for eight successful years. The engagement was curtailed by his death at age 56, from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. He is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery,

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fina, Jack 1913 births 1970 deaths Musicians from Passaic, New Jersey American people of Italian descent American bandleaders New York College of Music alumni People from Greater Los Angeles 20th-century American musicians