Joel Edward Helleny (born October 23, 1956,

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River Co ...

d. June 20, 2009,

Herrin, Illinois Herrin is a city in Williamson County, Illinois. The population was 12,352 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Marion-Herrin Micropolitan Area and is a part of the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area with 123,272 r ...

) 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 major ...

trombonist. Helleny learned piano from his mother as a child but settled on trombone by age seven. Although born in Texas he moved to

as a child.Joel Helleny , Obituaries , thesouthern.com
Retrieved 2017-03-06. He attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

before moving to New York City in 1979. There he played with

Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from t ...

(1979), and

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

(1980-82) before returning to Lewis's band in 1983. He was a featured soloist on the soundtrack to the 1984 movie '' The Cotton Club''. He played with the Memphis Nighthawks. He worked with

Buck Clayton Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record "Confessin' That I Love You" ...

(1989–90),

Jimmy McGriff James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. Biography Early years and influences Born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Germantown, Pennsylvania, Uni ...

(1990),

George Wein George Wein (October 3, 1925 – September 13, 2021) was an American jazz promoter, pianist, and producer.

(1990 and subsequently),

Frank Wess Frank Wellington Wess (January 4, 1922 – October 30, 2013) was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. In addition to his extensive solo work, Wess is remembered for his time in Count Basie's band from the early 1950s into the 1960s. Critic ...

(1991),

Randy Sandke Jay Randall Sandke (born May 5, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz trumpeter and guitarist. While a student at Indiana University in 1968, he and Michael Brecker started a jazz-rock band (Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band) that performed at the Notre D ...

, Warren Vache (1993–95),

Kenny Davern John Kenneth Davern (January 7, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American jazz clarinetist. Biography He was born in Huntington, Long Island, to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother's family originally came from Vi ...

(1994), Scott Hamilton (1995),

Greg Cohen Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades. Career Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, includi ...

(1996), and the

Keith Ingham Keith Christopher Ingham (born 5 February 1942) is an English jazz pianist, mainly active in swing and Dixieland revival. Early life and education Ingham was born in London on 5 February 1942. His father played the organ in churches. Ingham was ...

Marty Grosz Martin Oliver Grosz (born February 28, 1930) is an American jazz guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, and composer born in Berlin, Germany, the son of artist George Grosz. He performed with Bob Wilber and wrote arrangements for him. He has also worked ...

group Hot Cosmopolites in 1996. He was a member of the New York All-stars in the 1990s. His first release as a leader was 1995's ''Lip Service'', on

Arbors Records Arbors Records is a record company and independent record label in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded by Mat and Rachel Domber in 1989 and was initially devoted to the recordings of their friend, Rick Fay. Arbors became known in the 1990s for ...

. Helleny moved back to Herrin in 2007 to care for his elderly father.

Discography

As leader

* ''Lip Service'' (Arbors, 1996)

As sideman

Toshiko Akiyoshi is a Japanese–American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. Akiyoshi received fourteen Grammy Award nominations and was the first woman to win Best Arranger and Composer awards in ''Down Beat'' magazine's annual Readers' Poll. ...

, ''Four Seasons of Morita Village'' (Novus J/BMG, 1996) * John Barry, ''The Cotton Club'' (Geffen, 1984) *

, ''Way Low'' (DIW, 1996) * Mary Coughlan, ''Long Honeymoon'' (Evangeline, 2001) *

, ''East Side, West Side'' (Arbors, 1994) *

Steve Forbert Samuel Stephen "Steve" Forbert (born December 13, 1954) is an American pop music singer-songwriter. His 1979 song "Romeo's Tune" reached No. 11 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary Chart. It also ...

, ''Steve Forbert'' (Epic/Nemperor, 1982) *

Vince Giordano Vince Giordano (born March 11, 1952 in Brooklyn) is an American saxophonist and leader of the New York-based Nighthawks Orchestra. He specializes in jazz of the 1920s and 1930s and his primary instrument is the bass saxophone. Vince Giordano and ...

, ''The Music of the Cotton Club'' (Sine Qua Non) * Memphis Nighthawks, ''Jazz Lips'' (Delmark, 1977) *

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, Red ...

, ''Red to Blue'' (August, 1985) *

Byron Stripling Byron Stripling is a jazz trumpeter who has been a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. Career He was born Lloyd Byron Stripling on August 20, 1961, in Atlanta, Georgia.He attended Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and the Interloc ...

, ''If I Could Be with You'' (Nagel Heyer, 2000) *

, ''New York Stories'' (Stash, 1986) * Randy Sandke, ''Calling All Cats'' (Concord Jazz, 1996) * Scott Hamilton, ''My Romance'' (Concord Jazz, 1996) * Scott Hamilton, ''Blues, Bop & Ballads'' (Concord Jazz, 1999) *

, ''Going Hollywood'' (Stomp Off, 1997) * Warren Vaché, '' Horn of Plenty'' (Muse, 1994) * Warren Vache, ''

Talk to Me Baby "I Can't Hold Out", also known as "Talk to Me Baby", is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Elmore James in 1960 for the Chess label. Called a classic and a "popular James standard", it has been interpreted and recorded by sever ...

'' (Muse, 1996) * Widespread Jazz Orchestra, ''Paris Blues'' (CBS, 1985) * Chuck Wilson, ''Echo of Spring'' (Arbors, 2010)

References

* Gary W. Kennedy, "Joel Helleny". '' Grove Jazz'' online. American jazz trombonists Male trombonists 2009 deaths 1956 births 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trombonists People from Herrin, Illinois Jazz musicians from Illinois Jazz musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Widespread Depression Jazz Orchestra members Arbors Records artists Nagel-Heyer Records artists Concord Records artists {{US-jazz-trombonist-stub