Warren Covington (August 7, 1921 – August 24, 1999) was an American

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

trombonist. He was active as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, arranger, and bandleader throughout his career.

Biography

Covington, who was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, played early on with

Isham Jones Isham Edgar Jones (January 31, 1894 – October 19, 1956) was an American bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter. Career Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, United States, to a musical and mining family. His father, Richard Isham Jones ...

(1939), then with Les Brown in 1945-46 and Gene Krupa later in 1946. Following this he became a staff musician for CBS radio. With

Ralph Flanagan Ralph Elias Flenniken (April 7, 1914 – December 30, 1995), known professionally as Ralph Flanagan, was an American big band leader, pianist, composer, and arranger for the orchestras of Hal McIntyre, Sammy Kaye, Blue Barron, Charlie Barnet, an ...

in 1949 and again in 1955-56. He played briefly with

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

in 1950. In 1956, he replaced Eddie Grady as leader of the Commanders, a Decca recording and touring band which lasted until the middle of 1957. Covington recorded two albums and one single with this band. After Tommy Dorsey died suddenly in November 1956, the Dorsey band continued under the direction of Jimmy Dorsey. However, the Tommy Dorsey estate soon took back Tommy's arrangements and approached Covington to form a new Tommy Dorsey band, which he led, touring and recording for Decca, into 1961. Among his hits with the Dorsey band was "Tea for Two Cha Cha", which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The track peaked at #3 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1958. A player who also occasionally played, with a variety of the baritone horn, baritone and tenor saxophone, Covington participated in the big bands of

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

, Bobby Hackett, and George Benson on recordings, and also a number of

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s. He died in 1999 in

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 * '' ...

Discography

As leader

* ''Shall We Dance?'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

, 1956) * ''Teenage Hop'' (Decca, 1957) * ''Latin Si!'' (Decca, 1962) * ''Dancing Trombones'' (Decca, 1962) * ''Everybody Twist'' (Decca, 1962) * ''Let's Dance Latin'' (Decca, 1964) * ''Golden Trombones Favorites'' (Decca, 1966) * ''Latin Dance Party'' ( Vocalion, 1967) With

* ''The Fabulous Arrangements of Tommy Dorsey in Hi-Fi'' ( Brunswick, 1958) * ''Tea for Two Chas Chas'' (Decca, 1958) * ''More Tea for Two Cha Chas'' (Decca, 1959) * ''The Swingin Era'' (Decca, 1959) * ''Dance and Romance'' (Decca, 1960) * ''Tricky Trombones'' (Decca, 1960) * ''It Takes Two'' (Decca, 1960) * ''Dance to the Songs Everybody Knows'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Golden Trombones Favorites'' (Decca, 1966)

As sideman

* George Benson, ''Bad Benson'' (CTI, 1974) * Les Brown, ''The Uncollected Les Brown and His Orchestra 1944–1946'' (Hindsight, 1976) *

Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009) was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Shir ...

, ''Chris Connor Sings the George Gershwin Almanac of Song'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 1957) * Giora Feidman, ''The Art of the Klezmer'' (Star, 1979) *

Astrud Gilberto Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Biography Astrud Gilbert ...

, ''Beach Samba'' (

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

, 1967) *

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

, '' That Bad Eartha'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, 1953) *

, ''Thursday's Child'' (RCA Victor, 1957) * Gene Krupa, ''The Gene Krupa Orchestra'' (Durium, 1974) *

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

, '' Part of the Search'' (Atlantic, 1973) *

Betty Madigan Betty Madigan (born 1928) is an American traditional popular singer and actress.Harris, Harry (December 24, 1956)"Screening TV--'Stingiest Man'" ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. Retrieved October 18, 2020.Leahy, Jack (April 30, 1961)"Sing and Be H ...

, ''The Jerome Kern Songbook'' (

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

, 1958) *

Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approximat ...

, ''Love Is the Answer'' ( Avco, 1974) * Houston Person, ''Harmony'' (

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, 1977) * Don Sebesky, ''Giant Box'' (CTI, 1973) *

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...

, ''A Touch of Ragtime Featuring the Music of Scott Joplin'' (Signature, 1974) * Phil Silvers, ''Phil Silvers and Swinging Brass'' ( Columbia, 1957) * The Spinners, ''Dancin' and Lovin'' (Atlantic, 1979) *

, ''Blue Moses'' (CTI, 1972)

References

External links

Warren Covington Warren Covington (August 7, 1921 – August 24, 1999) was an American big band trombonist. He was active as a session musician, arranger, and bandleader throughout his career. Biography Covington, who was born in Philadelphia, played early on ...

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 databas ...

Warren Covington recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Covington, Warren 1921 births 1999 deaths American jazz trombonists Male trombonists American jazz bandleaders Musicians from Philadelphia 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trombonists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians