Warren Covington | |
|---|---|
| Born | Warren Covington (1921-08-07)August 7, 1921 Philadelphia,PA, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 1999(1999-08-24) (aged 78) New York City,NY, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Trombone |
Warren Covington (August 7, 1921[1] – August 24, 1999) was an Americanbig bandtrombonist. He was active as asession musician, arranger, and bandleader throughout his career.
Covington, who was born inPhiladelphia, played early on withIsham Jones (1939), then withLes Brown in 1945-46 andGene Krupa later in 1946. Following this he became a staff musician forCBS radio. WithRalph Flanagan in 1949 and again in 1955-56. He played briefly withTommy Dorsey 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 agold disc.[1] The track peaked at #3 in theUK Singles Chart in 1958.[2]
A player who also occasionally played, with a variety of the baritone horn, baritone and tenor saxophone, Covington participated in the big bands ofCharles Mingus,Randy Weston,Bobby Hackett, andGeorge Benson on recordings, and also a number offilmsoundtracks.
He died in 1999 inNew York.
WithTommy Dorsey
