Buddy DeFranco
DeFranco in New York, 1947
Background information
Born	Boniface Ferdinand Leonard DeFranco (1923-02-17)February 17, 1923 Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	December 24, 2014(2014-12-24) (aged 91) Panama City, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Jazz,bebop,post-bop
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Clarinet,bass clarinet
Years active	1940s–2014
Labels	Norgran,Verve,Mercury, Concord Jazz,Arbors,Pablo, Progressive.
Formerly of	Glenn Miller Orchestra
Website	www.buddydefranco.com

Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy"DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014)^[1] was an American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led theGlenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s.

Born inCamden, New Jersey, United States,^[2] DeFranco was raised inSouth Philadelphia. He was playing the clarinet by the time he was nine years old and within five years had won a nationalTommy Dorsey^[3] swing contest.^[1]

He began his professional career just asswing music andbig bands—many of which were led by clarinetists likeArtie Shaw, andBenny Goodman—were in decline. While most jazz clarinet players did not adapt to this change, DeFranco successfully continued to play clarinet exclusively, and was one of the fewbebop clarinetists.^[4]

In 1950, DeFranco spent a year withCount Basie's septet.^[2] He then led a small combo in the early 1950s which included pianistSonny Clark and guitaristTal Farlow. In this period, DeFranco recorded forMGM, Norgran andVerve; the latter two labels were owned byNorman Granz.

During the years 1960-64, DeFranco released four innovative quartet albums, as co-leader with the accordionist Tommy Gumina.^[5]

He wasbandleader of theGlenn Miller Orchestra from 1966 to 1974,^[2] under the name, "The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, Directed By Buddy DeFranco". He also performed withGene Krupa,Art Blakey,Tommy Dorsey,Count Basie,Charlie Barnet,Art Tatum,Oscar Peterson,Lennie Tristano,Dodo Marmarosa,Terry Gibbs,Charlie Parker,Dizzy Gillespie,Miles Davis,Eddie Daniels,Andy Firth-musician,Don Burrows,Putte Wickman,Billie Holiday and many others, and released dozens of albums as a leader.

DeFranco died inPanama City, Florida, at the age of 91.^[6]

DeFranco won twenty awards fromDownBeat magazine, nine awards fromMetronome, and sixteenPlayboy All-Stars awards.^[3]

• Glenn Miller in Tokyo (CBS Records, 1966)
• Something New (The Tijuana Brass Hits) (Epic Records, 1966)
• In the Mod (RCA Victor, 1967)
• The Glenn Miller Orchestra Returns To Glen Island Casino (RCA Victor, 1968)
• Makes the Goin' Great (RCA, 1968)
• Do You Wanna Dance (Command Records,ABC Records, 1969)
• Recorded Live, Royal Festival Hall, London, England (Paramount Records, 1971)
• The Best Of The Glenn Miller Orchestra Newly Recorded In Stereo (Columbia House, 1972)
• Skitch & Company (Army Reserve, 1973)
• The Ultimate 'In Stereo' Collection (Swing Rewind Records, 2016)

• Cool & Quiet withLennie Tristano (Capitol, 1953)
• The Progressive Mr. DeFranco (Norgran, 1954)
• Pretty Moods (Norgran, 1954)
• The Artistry of Buddy DeFranco (Norgran, 1954)
• Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson Play George Gershwin (Norgran, 1954)
• The Buddy DeFranco Wailers (Norgran, 1956)
• Sweet and Lovely (Verve, 1956)
• In a Mellow Mood (Norgran, 1956)
• Mr. Clarinet (Norgran, 1956)
• Jazz Tones (Norgran, 1956)
• Buddy DeFranco Plays Benny Goodman (Verve, 1957)
• The Art Tatum Buddy DeFranco Quartet (Verve, 1958)
• Cross Country Suite (Dot, 1958)
• Generalissimo (Verve, 1958)
• Buddy DeFranco and the Oscar Peterson Quartet (Verve, 1958)
• Live Date! (Verve, 1958)
• Buddy DeFranco Plays Artie Shaw (Verve, 1958)
• Cooking the Blues (Verve, 1958)
• Bravura (Verve, 1959)
• Pacific Standard Swingin'! Time withTommy Gumina (Decca, 1960)
• Presenting with Tommy Gumina (Mercury, 1961)
• Kaleidoscope with Tommy Gumina (Mercury, 1962)
• Pol.Y.Tones with Tommy Gumina (Mercury, 1963)
• The Girl from Ipanema with Tommy Gumina (Mercury, 1964)
• Blues Bag (Vee Jay, 1965)
• Crosscurrents withLennie Tristano (Capitol, 1972)
• Free Sail (Choice, 1974)
• Black Magic with Helen Forrest (Shamrock, 1975)
• Love Affair with a Clarinet Vol. 2 (Famous Solos, 1976)
• Sessions, Live (Callipe, 1976)
• Borinquin (Sonet, 1976)
• Waterbed (Choice, 1978)
• Buddy DeFranco with Jim Gillis (Classic Jazz, 1978)
• Closed Session (Verve, 1979)
• Buddy DeFranco (Famous Solos, 1980)
• Like Someone in Love (Progressive, 1980)
• Jazz Party: First Time Together with Terry Gibbs (Palo Alto, 1981)
• Eastern Exposure (Silver Crest, 1982)
• Buddy DeFranco Presents John Denman (Lud, 1983)
• Now's the Time with Terry Gibbs (Tall Tree, 1984)
• Mr. Lucky (Pablo, 1984)
• Hark with Oscar Peterson (Pablo, 1985)
• Groovin (Hep, 1985)
• Chicago Fire with Terry Gibbs (Contemporary, 1987)
• Holiday for Swing with Terry Gibbs (Contemporary, 1988)
• Garden of Dreams withMartin Taylor (ProJazz, 1988)
• Memories of You: A Tribute to Benny Goodman with Terry Gibbs, Herb Ellis (Contemporary, 1991)
• Kings of Swing with Terry Gibbs, Herb Ellis (Contemporary, 1992)
• Five Notes of Blues (Musidisc, 1992)
• Modern Clarinets: Museum of Modern Jazz (Verve, 1993)
• The Buenos Aires Concerts (Hep, 1995)
• Free Fall (Candid, 1996)
• You Must Believe in Swing with Dave McKenna (Concord Jazz, 1997)
• Do Nothing Till You Hear from Us! with Dave McKenna (Concord Jazz, 1999)
• The Champs with Putte Wickman (Gazell, 1999)
• Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco Play Steve Allen (Contemporary, 1999)
• Gone with the Wind (Storyville, 1999)
• The Three Sopranos (hr-musik.de, 2001)
• Cookin' the Books (Arbors Records, 2003)
• Charlie Cat 2 (Arbors, 2007)
• Cookin' with Eiji Kitamura, Kiyoshi Takeshita (Jazz Cook, 2008)
• Down for Double with John Burnett Swing Orchestra (Delmark Records, 2010)

WithTommy Dorsey

• Yes Indeed! (RCA Victor 1956)
• Tribute to Dorsey, Vol. 2 (RCA Victor, 1957)
• Tommy Dorsey's Greatest Band (20th Fox, 1959)

WithLionel Hampton

• The Lionel Hampton Quintet (Clef, 1954)
• Album #2 (Clef, 1955)
• Lionel Hampton and His All Stars (Columbia, 1957)

With others

• Charlie Barnet,Sky Liner (MCA, 1976)
• Count Basie,Blues by Basie (Columbia, 1956)
• Les Brown,Jazz Song Book (Coral, 1960)
• Ella Fitzgerald,Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern & Johnny Mercer Songbooks (Verve, 1976)
• Stan Getz,Stan Getz Blues (VSP, 1966)
• Billie Holiday,Ladylove (United Artists, 1962)
• Billie Holiday,Live in Cologne 1954 (Jazzline, 2014)
• Rolf Kuhn,Affairs (Intuition, 1997)
• Herbie Mann,Big Band Mann (VSP, 1966)
• Gerry Mulligan,Chet Baker Gerry Mulligan Buddy DeFranco (GNP, 1957)
• Joe Negri,Uptown Elegance (MCG, 2004)
• Flip Phillips,Flip Philllips Celebrates His 80th Birthday at the March of Jazz 1995 (Arbors, 2003)
• Tullio De Piscopo,Live in Zurich at Moods Club (Rai Trade, 2004)
• Buddy Rich,Buddy Rich at JATP (VSP, 1966)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBuddy DeFranco.

• Buddy DeFranco atAllMusic
• Buddy DeFranco discography atDiscogs
• Buddy DeFranco atIMDb
• Buddy DeFranco Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2004)

• 1923 births
• 2014 deaths
• American jazz bandleaders
• American jazz clarinetists
• American people of Italian descent
• Bebop clarinetists
• Musicians from Camden, New Jersey
• Jazz musicians from Philadelphia
• Post-bop clarinetists
• Statesmen of Jazz members
• Hep Records artists
• Verve Records artists
• Contemporary Records artists
• Mercury Records artists
• Pablo Records artists
• Concord Records artists
• Arbors Records artists
• NEA Jazz Masters

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Commons category link from Wikidata