Si Zentner

Simon H. "Si" Zentner ( born June 13, 1917 in New York City; † January 1, 2000 in Las Vegas, Nevada ) was an American jazz and pop trombonist and bandleader.

Life and work

Simon "Si" Zentner already played as a four year old piano and joined a few years later to the trombone. He studied music in college and initially intended to pursue a career in the field of classical music, but decided after recording with Andre Kostelanetz for popular music. Zentner played then in the 1940s with the bands of Les Brown, Harry James, Jimmy Dorsey and Boyd Raeburn, then moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a studio musician and in the orchestras of Charlie Barnet (1954 ), Conrad Gozzo and Billy May (1955 ) played. From 1949 to 1955 he took for MGM and played on film scores one, including for the movies Singin 'in the Rain and A Star Is Born. He also appeared as a member of the Woody Herman Orchestra in 1959 at the Monterey Jazz Festival; In 1961 he played in Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra reactivated.

In 1959 Zentner put together his own big band (including with Don Fagerquist and Vern Friley in Swing Fever ) and signed a contract with the label Liberty Records, where he recorded a long series of successful pop albums in the early 1960s. Zentner's ensemble was chosen by the jazz magazine Down Beat for 13 years in the category "Best Big Band "; Zentner himself was awarded the 1962 award for "Best Trombonist " Playboy Reader's Poll. His album Up a Lazy River ( Big Band Plays the Big Hits, Vol 2) won the Grammy Award for best pop instrumental performance.

Mid-1960s was the success of the talents of big band after; Finally he broke 1965 on the band and moved to Las Vegas, where he accompanied Mel Torme at the Blue Room. He was musical director of the Folies Bergere Vegas show in 1968. In the early 1990s founded Zentner again a big band and recorded several albums. Finally, he was diagnosed with leukemia, but still went on until 1999. Zentner also participated in recordings of Louis Armstrong, Anita O'Day, Artie Shaw, Lucky Thompson ( around 1945 ) in the course of his career. Zentner's playing style was hardly marked as early proponent of easy listening or smooth jazz from the improvisational game; he preferred a legato sound and distinctive vibrato effects.

The authors Richard Cook and Brian Morton designated Si Zentner's band of 1959 " excellent dance band that also left enough room for excellent solo performances in some of the pieces " as one.

Disco printing specifications

  • Swing Fever ( Fresh Sound Records, 1959)
  • A Thinking Man 's Band (1959 )
  • Suddenly It's Swing ( 1960)
  • The Swingin ' Eye! !! (1960)
  • Big Band Plays the Big Hits (1961 )
  • Up a Lazy River ( Big Band Plays the Hits, Vol 2 ) ( 1962)
  • The Stripper and Other Big Band Hits (1962 )
  • Desafinado (1963 )
  • Waltz in Jazz Time (1963 )
  • Great band with Great Voices
  • Si Zentner & His Orchestra, Alive in Las Vegas ( 1992)
  • Road band (1996)
  • Country Blues (1996 )
Les Brown (bandleader) A Star Is Born (1976 film) Mel Tormé Folies Bergère Richard Cook (journalist) Integrated Authority File
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