Gérard Badini (born April 16, 1931 in 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bandleader, composer, reedist, and pianist.

Background

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, 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 t ...

Sidney Bechet Sidney Joseph Bechet ( ; May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Ar ...

, Bill Coleman, and Peanuts Holland. 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 Nice Conservatory, and then in Paris. A child prodigy, by the ...

's ensemble and then joined Bolling on a worldwide tour as members of Jack Diéval's orchestra. He switched principally to tenor sax beginning in 1958, continuing to work with Bolland as well as Roger Guérin and

Geo Daly Geo Daly (April 16, 1923, in Bois Colombes – 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 played with Don ...

in the late 1950s. In the 1960s he worked with

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, Jean-Claude Naude,

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 regis ...

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 Bl ...

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 excel ...

, and

François Guin François Guin (born May 18, 1938, in Contres, Loir-et-Cher, Contres) is a French jazz musician and bandleader. Guin is a musical polymath, having learned violin, piano, voice, trombone, trumpet, and flute. As a trumpeter, he worked with Marc Lafe ...

. 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 playe ...

Michel Gaudry Michel Gaudry (23 September 1928 – 29 May 2019) was a French jazz double-bassist and World War II historian. Biography Michel Gaudry was born in Eu, France on 23 September 1928. He learned clarinet and piano as a child before switching to bass. ...

Helen Humes Helen Humes (June 23, 1913 – September 13, 1981) was an American singer. She was a blues, R&B and classic popular singer. Early life Humes was born on June 23, 1913, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Emma Johnson and John Henry Humes. She grew up ...

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, ...

, 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 19 ...

. From 1977 to 1979, Badini lived in New York City, performing there with

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 ...

Major Holley Major "Mule" Holley Jr. (July 10, 1924 – October 25, 1990) was an American jazz upright bassist. Early life and education Holley was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. He attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroi ...

, Oliver Jackson,

Dick Katz Richard Aaron Katz (March 13, 1924 – November 10, 2009) was an American jazz pianist, arranger and record producer. He freelanced throughout much of his career, and worked in a number of ensembles. He co-founded Milestone Records in 1966 with O ...

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, 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� ...

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 Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey, in addition to Alice Coltrane, Mal Waldron, Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Tri ...

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

References

Bibliography

*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 French saxophonists 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century clarinetists French male jazz musicians Black & Blue Records artists French male jazz pianists {{France-music-bio-stub