Lenny Hambro
Encyclopedia
Leonard William Hambro was a journeyman jazz musician who played woodwinds, primarily alto saxophone
, with a host of bands, orchestras, and jazz notables from the early 1940s through the mid-1960s, and continued as a session musician, music producer, booking agent, and entertainment coordinator through the mid-1990s. Early in his professional career, Hambro spelled his name "Lennie" but changed it to the former spelling in 1954, although he was occasionally referred to as "Lennie" in the press as late as 1957. Hambro broke into the profession with Gene Krupa
in 1942. However, he is best known for his time as manager and assistant band leader with the New Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of Ray McKinley
. He was well known in the Latin Jazz community and was closely associated with Chico O’Farrill.
Of Dutch Jewish heritage and the son of a diamond setter, Hambro was born in the Bronx in October, 1923 and lived in, or in the vicintiy of New York City for the majority of his life. He married songstress Lynn Michels of Chester, Pennsylvania in 1960, and together they raised two boys, Lee and Larry. Hambro died of a blood clot following open heart surgery in September 1995, at Egg Harbor, New Jersey. During his lifetime, Hambro worked over 80 recording sessions and appears as either a leader or sideman on nearly 100 LPs / CDs released in the U.S, as well as numerous foreign titles.
, which was completed the year of his birth. His father worked as a diamond polisher an setter. His mother, who played ragtime piano in the home, died of breast cancer when Hambro was just 12. Hambro graduated from James Monroe High School
(later Bronx Little School) in the Soundview section of the Bronx in 1941 (where Stan Getz
would begin as a reluctant, periodic student just a year later). After his father's death from pneumonia when Lenny was 28, Hambro largely lived "out of a suitcase", but, when in New York, stayed with older sister, Adelaide, and her husband, Harold, in the Bronx, until his marriage in 1960.
and future Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan
, were fellow students of Sheiner.) Sheiner played multiple instruments - clarinet, saxophone, flute, and oboe - and most of his students were trying to simultaneously learn two similar instruments. Sheiner employed two books that are still standard texts: The Universal Complete Saxophone Method, and Klosé Complete Clarinet Method. During this perioed, Bill Sheiner, who had worked in Shep Fields' all-saxophone band, decided to build his own all-sax band with eight of his students. With Sheiner as frontman, and a drummer, pianist, and bassist, the band included both Lenny and Stan Getz as well as Sol Schlinger, Irving Frank, Red Press, Jerry Grosser, Stan Yuden and Alan Kimmel. The band worked up some arrangements and auditioned for Maria Kramer, who owned both the Lincoln and Edison hotels (both featured dance bands) but the WWII draft intervened and the band quicky disbanded. During his later high school years, Hambro played alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet, and flute in an assortment of teen dance bands, including a summer in the Catskills, playing occasional gigs in the evenings, while working as a lifeguard during the day at a resort hotel pool.
were impressed and called Hambro at home the next day to tell him that he had secured the job and to schedule him for a tuxedo
fitting. On October 28, 1942, two weeks after his 19th birthday, Hambro was on stage with the Gene Krupa Band at the Times Square Paramount Theater. However, he left the band in December of that year for the Army and joined Ivan Mogul, Shorty Rogers
and approximately 40 other musicians from the Bronx who had agreed to man the 379th Army Service Forces (ASF) Band in Newport News, Virginia, where he stayed for three years. From 1946 to 1947, Hambro was a featured soloist with Billy Butterfield
and his orchestra. In 1947, he played with Bobby Byrne before rejoining Gene Krupa as lead alto sax and featured jazz soloist through 1950. (Hambro, along with tenor saxophonist Buddy Wise and trombonist Frank Rosolino
, is featured in a 15 minute film short, Deep Purple, directed by Will Cowan in 1949, which focused on Gene Krupa and His Orchestra). In addition to playing with Krupa, Hambro simultaneously played in other bands, including the Latin jazz ensembles of Vincent Lopez
and Pupi Campo. In 1948, Hambro toured with Machito
and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra where he was featured as a soloist on alto sax. From 1951 to 1952, Hambro played with and managed the Ray McKinley
Band. From 1951 to 1954, he also played and recorded with Chico O'Farrill's orchestra, with a year off (1952) to tour with The Gene Krupa Orchestra. From 1948 until 1954, he recorded with all of these artists as well as with Charlie Ventura
's orchestra and Joe Loco
's band. During this period (1951–1956), Hambro also accompanied vocalists at the Paramount Theater, did studio work, worked as a music copyist, and taught private lessons. He continued to hone his own skills by studying clarinet with Leon Russianoff and flute with Henry Zlotnick, both of the Manhattan School of Music.
, Rene Hernandez, Eddie Costa
, or Hank Jones
on piano; Dick Garcia
, Sal Salvador
, or Barry Galbraith
on guitar; Louis Barretto, Clyde Lombardi or Arnold Fishkind on bass; Eddie Bert
on trombone; Mel Zelnick, Harold Granowsky, Gus Johnson Jr., or Sid Bulkin on drums; Jose Mangual, Ubaldo Nieto, and Ray "Mongo" Santamaria on Bongos/Congas; and Babs Gonzales
' vocals. As a quartet, quintet, or sextet, a Lenny Hambro-led and named ensemble would continue as a group through 1964. Hambro's first two albums, both released in 1954, were largely ignored by both the public and the music industry. His later albums (released in 1955 and 1956) received mediocre reviews. Gramophone criticized Hambro as "a thoroughly competent dance-band musician who obviously believes he is playing jazz," and for "blantant copying" of Charlie Parker
's phrasing. These uncredited reviews directly contrasted with a George T. Simon
Metronome review of a Gene Krupa
Band engagement at New York City's Bop City in March, 1950, where the typically stingy Simon credited the band with "a good sax quintet, thanks in part to Lenny Hambro's lead". In any case, Hambro would release no further recordings as a bandleader or headliner.
" Europe, and North Africa in 1957 and 1958, where they played at U.S. military facilities and Embassies; and Japan twice in the early 1960s. Lenny was with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for eight years, during which time they played a live 13-week summer replacement show on CBS ("Glenn Miller Time", 1961; broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC; see External links), and the NBC Bandstand on both radio and television, and cut seven albums for RCA Victor. During this period, Lenny lived on 77th Road in Kew Gardens Hills in Queens
where his friend, composer and pianist Eddie Costa
, was a neighbor.
, was on stage from an early age, working alongside a number of Pennsylvania-based acts, including The Four Aces
and Bill Haley and the Comets. At age 10, she appeared on Paul Whiteman
's Philadelphia-based Saturday morning talent show, TV Teen Club (an indirect predecessor to American Bandstand
). Later, she was a regular on the Sunday morning children's talent show, The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour
, hosted by Stan Lee Broza on WCAU TV in Philadelphia and broadcast on WNBT TV in New York. While still in High School, Michels sang with the Al Raymond big band, playing the many ballrooms and lounges in the Tri-State area, as well as performing for weddings, ballroom dances, and senior proms at many Tri-State area high schools and colleges. However, the band's steady gig was Sunday nights at Upper Darby's St. Alice's Social Center. When she met Hambro, Michels was in her senior year of high school and singing with Al Raymond. During a break in her busy school and professional schedule, Michels went to New York City to see Ray McKinley's Glenn Miller Orchestra at a club and was introduced to Hambro by the club's manager, who knew them both. That evening, Hambro told her that he would pursue and marry her, but it was an extended and often long-distance courtship. When Michels graduated from high school, she went to work for the Matys Brothers
, a rockabilly
and later polka band from the Philadelphia area that was part of Bill Haley
's stable. She would be with them for two years, touring the U.S. and Canada, while continuing to see Hambro when she could. Hambro and Michels married on November 5, 1960 at The Wynn catering hall in Philadelphia, with Ray McKinley as their best man, and Ray's wife, Gretchen, looking on. Son, Larry was born in the late summer of 1961, followed by brother, Lee, in winter 1963.
and Artie Shaw
; the Count Basie
Band, and the Duke Ellington
, Guy Lombardo
, Tommy Dorsey
, Jimmy Dorsey
and Russ Morgan
Orchestras. During this period, Hambro continued both teaching and studio work, playing on recordings of The Spinners, Cissy Houston
(Whitney Houston
's mother), Marlene Ver Planck, Bobby Hutcherson
and his old friend Chico O'Farrill
. In 1967, Hambro signed on with Don Elliott
and Don Elliott Productions, producing music for commercials, cartoons, documentaries, and film. That year, Hambro and Michels, with their sons, moved from New York City to Old Bridge, New Jersey, where they bought their first house and would live for the next 15 years.
, in NYC, producing original music for radio and television advertisements, such as the "Coke Is It" campaign and Life Savers' "A Part of Living". The pair shared in three CLIOs for Best Television/Cinema advertisement (Buitoni Sauce - 1969; Frigidaire Range - 1974; Life Savers -1977). Hambro also wrote, produced, recorded the music for, and acted in an early TV advertisement for Girl Scout Cookies: "The Cookies Are Here". In addition to writing ad "jingle
s", in 1970, the team broke into film, composing original music for the feature film "Dirtymouth" (about Lenny Bruce
). Additionally, Vardi composed the music for the film "This Is America", with a sextet led by Hambro performing a number of jazz selections. The duo also did industrial films including shorts for TWA and Eastman-Kodak. In 1972, Vardi and Hambro worked with Bill Daly
to orchestrate the sound for the film "Toys Are Not For Children". Vardi and Hambro continued their collaboration until 1977, when they parted ways and Hambro continued on his own with Lenny Hambro Productions, Inc. Hambro was still in the music production business as late as 1984 with Lenny Hambro Productions operating from an office on Oak Avenue in Lynwood, New Jersey. He also offered his services as an arranger and composer, with pianist and composer Lou Forestieri providing scoring services. His clients included ad agencies and film houses. However, by this time, much of the music, television, and film business had moved to California, and, thus, business was not good.
and did two half-hour specials on CBS television in the fall, before returning to work as a booking agent in 1971. Through his film industry connections, Hambro, a member of the Screen Actors Guild
, was given a short uncredited cameo in the 1973 Paramount Pictures' film "Serpico
", starring Al Pacino
. In 1975-76, Lenny found regular work in the orchestra pits of Broadway and in 1978, he was a regular - along with Paquito D'Rivera
, his wife Brenda, Daniel Ponce, Victor Paz, Candido Camero
, Tom Malone
, Marvin Stamm
, Jorge Dalto
, Jon Faddis
and Ruben Blades
- at morning sessions in New York City recording jingles for radio and TV commercials, led by his friend and former bandleader, Chico O'Farrill. O'Farrill was in demand in advertising circles for his ability to modify new and existing jingles to various Latin rhythms to appeal to a variety of Latin ethnicities. Hambro also continued to do club work, putting together a quartet under his name, notably accompanying Anita O'Day at Michel's Pub from September, 1975 to January 1976.
. His younger son, Lee, an accomplished drummer and professional musician by age 15, often "sat in". In his later years, Hambro donated his time and talent to charities such as the March of Dimes
Telethon, and the Association for Retarded Citizens' "Starshine" (organized by performer Nelson Sardelli) in Atlantic City, NJ, a tradition that would continue each summer for 12 years. He was also an avid racquetball player, playing as often as he could.
Hambro recorded his final tracks at the Clinton Recording Studio at 653 10th Avenue in New York City in February, 1995 for Chico O'Farrill's album, Pure Emotion (1995; Milestone Records
). The record was nominated for a Grammy in 1996. The title track, Pura Emocion, was written specifically for Hambro, O'Farrill's longtime friend, and the journeyman leader of the reed sections in both O'Farrill's and Machito's orchestras. Hambro died of a blood clot following open heart surgery just seven months later, on 26 September 1995, at Somers Point, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, a month shy of his 72nd birthday. Hambro is buried along with his parents, grandparents, and other relatives at Mount Judah Cemetery, Ridgewood, New York. His sister, Adelaide, wife, Lynn, and two sons, Larry and Lee, survive him.
A look at the booking dates of the The New Glen Miller Orchestra in the two months following Hambro's November 5th wedding is representative of the lifestyle of a big band musician. On the day of his marriage, Hambro and the 17-member The New Glenn Miller Orchestra were playing one of the ballrooms of Philadelphia's Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, while his fiancee, Lynn Michels, was singing with Al Raymond's big band in another room. Immediately after his marriage, while Hambro and Michels celebrated a weekend honeymoon, the band played The Tuxedo Ballroom in New York City. On Monday, with Hambro and Michels following the tour bus in their new convertible, the band headed to the Midwest for two weeks of engagements, followed by dates in Louisiana and Texas. After a brief respite for Hanukkah/Christmas, they broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on New Year's Eve, and after the post-Christmas break, a few weeks later, on 19 January 1961, they performed at one of President John F. Kennedy
's five inaugural balls in Washington, DC. The band's repertoire in January, 1957 (during an extended engagement at the Cafe Rouge at the New York Statler Hotel, including Sunday afternoon's "Treasury Savings Shows") included 60 Glen Miller originals, 10 McKinley standards, 10 contemporary tunes done in the Glenn Miller style (thanks to arranger Joe Cribari) and several pieces by the Lenny Hambro Quintet.
Despite the "different-hotel-every-night" lifestyle of a jazz musician, Hambro managed not to be seduced by the drugs and alcohol that were rampant during the jazz era of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, that ended the careers and/or lives of many jazz musicians. Hambro credited Roy Eldridge
, a mentor from his initial years with Gene Krupa
's band, for his being able to shun narcotics. When Hambro was just 19, Roy forced him to watch a band member inject heroin, and stay to watch its affects, with a stern warning not to get involved with drugs.
, José "Pin" Madera, Ray Santos
- and Lenny Hambro. A Metronome
article from 1955 referred to Lenny as the "Latin from Manhattan", and Hambro traveled to Cuba several times during this period to perfect his art. Yet, he spent eight subsequent years playing the disciplined, sophisticated swing of The New Glenn Miller Orchestra. Further, he was routinely drafted to fill missing chairs for both Duke Ellington
's and Count Basie
's orchestras, often the only caucasian face on stage.
Hambro worked over 80 recording sessions and appears as either a leader or sideman on nearly 100 LPs/CDs released in the U.S. Due to a resurgence of interest in period Swing, Bebop
, and Latin jazz, recordings of Hambro's efforts as a sideman continue to be promulgated, with over 30 retrospective albums featuring his efforts released since his death. Additionally, both Lenny Hambro Quintet albums were re-released as compact discs in 2002 (Collectables).
As a composer, Hambro is best known for "The Lonely One", written with Roberta Heller (then a 21-year old lyricist for music publisher Ivan Mogull), which Nat King Cole
recorded for Capitol in 1956. It has been covered over the years by a variety of artists, including Sil Austin, Kitty Kallen, Kelly Friesen, Lisa Ekdahl, Mark Doyle, the Robin Nolan Trio, the Music Rama Band, and by several Finnish bands, where it was a minor hit as Tuo Onneton (with Finnish Lyrics by Kari Tuomisaari). On the Latin side, Hambro wrote "Mamboscope" for Machito, an instrumental that has been widely licensed for Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz compilation albums.
One of Hambro's greatest accolades came from famed clarinetist and band leader Benny Goodman
, who, when introduced to Hambro by pianist Leonid Hambro
(no relation), said of Hambro: "No need, I know who he is; he's the only man that makes me feel self-conscious when I play."
technique. There is little doubt that Lenny was influenced by Charlie Parker
, and he was once described as mixing the styles of Benny Carter
and Johnny Hodges
. (Lenny was Duke Ellington's first choice to sit in with his band as saxophone lead, whenever Johnny Hodges was absent.) As a jazz aficionado and "insider", Hambro was fond of the musical stylings of Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges
, and Benny Goodman. His favorite arrangers included Neal Hefti
(for Woody Herman
, Count Basie
, Alvino Rey
, Georgie Auld
, and Neal Hefti
), Johnny Mandel
(for Alvino Rey
), and Chico O'Farrill (for Machito and Chico O'Farrill).
Although Hambro played a Selmer Alto saxophone on occasion, his favorite instrument was a Martin "Magna" alto sax. He used an Arnold Brilhart "Ebolin" Streamline Model 4* mouthpiece with a Vic Olivieri #4 reed. Lenny liked the "Magna" model alto sax for its brilliant sound, and believed the "Magna" - hard reed combination was less likely to play out of tune. During the fifties, Hambro was often photographed with a Brilhart "Tonalin" ivory-colored Lucite mouthpiece. On clarinet, he also played a harder reed - a Vandoren #4. Lenny played a Martin "The Martin" tenor saxophone.
}
}
}
} - (The dixieland combo features Ray McKinley on drums, Lenny Hambro on clarinet, Bobby Nichols on trumpet, Harry DeVito on trombone, Donnie Wooster on bass and Jim Hacker on piano.)
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, with a host of bands, orchestras, and jazz notables from the early 1940s through the mid-1960s, and continued as a session musician, music producer, booking agent, and entertainment coordinator through the mid-1990s. Early in his professional career, Hambro spelled his name "Lennie" but changed it to the former spelling in 1954, although he was occasionally referred to as "Lennie" in the press as late as 1957. Hambro broke into the profession with Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
in 1942. However, he is best known for his time as manager and assistant band leader with the New Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader.McKinley got his start working with local bands in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, before joining Smith Ballew in 1929, when he met Glenn Miller. The two formed a friendship which lasted from 1929 until Miller's death in 1944....
. He was well known in the Latin Jazz community and was closely associated with Chico O’Farrill.
Of Dutch Jewish heritage and the son of a diamond setter, Hambro was born in the Bronx in October, 1923 and lived in, or in the vicintiy of New York City for the majority of his life. He married songstress Lynn Michels of Chester, Pennsylvania in 1960, and together they raised two boys, Lee and Larry. Hambro died of a blood clot following open heart surgery in September 1995, at Egg Harbor, New Jersey. During his lifetime, Hambro worked over 80 recording sessions and appears as either a leader or sideman on nearly 100 LPs / CDs released in the U.S, as well as numerous foreign titles.
Early life
Lenny Hambro was born on October 16, 1923 to Harry and Rose (née Levine) Hambro in the Bronx, New York, the younger of two children. Lenny lived with his parents and older sister, Adelaide, in an apartment at 984 Sheridan Avenue - just a few blocks northeast of old Yankee StadiumYankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
, which was completed the year of his birth. His father worked as a diamond polisher an setter. His mother, who played ragtime piano in the home, died of breast cancer when Hambro was just 12. Hambro graduated from James Monroe High School
James Monroe High School (New York)
For schools with a similar name, see James Monroe High School.James Monroe High School was a comprehensive high school located at 1300 Boynton Avenue and E 172nd Street in the Soundview section of the Bronx....
(later Bronx Little School) in the Soundview section of the Bronx in 1941 (where Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
would begin as a reluctant, periodic student just a year later). After his father's death from pneumonia when Lenny was 28, Hambro largely lived "out of a suitcase", but, when in New York, stayed with older sister, Adelaide, and her husband, Harold, in the Bronx, until his marriage in 1960.
Musical training
As a teenager, Hambro pestered his father for a trumpet, but it was his brother-in-law, Harold Segal (older sister Adelaide's husband), who introduced 15-year old Hambro to woodwinds, giving him a soprano saxophone and introductory music lessons. (Harold Segal played both the tenor saxophone and clarinet semi-professionally with an Irish band for a time). By all accounts, Hambro quickly eclipsed his brother-in-law, taking every music class in which he could enroll. As a high school student, Hambro took private lessons from Bill Sheiner, one of the leading music teachers and session musicians in New York City. Sheiner taught in a studio behind the Bronx Musical Mart at 174th Street and Southern Boulevard, between Lenny's school and home. (Stan GetzStan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and future Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...
, were fellow students of Sheiner.) Sheiner played multiple instruments - clarinet, saxophone, flute, and oboe - and most of his students were trying to simultaneously learn two similar instruments. Sheiner employed two books that are still standard texts: The Universal Complete Saxophone Method, and Klosé Complete Clarinet Method. During this perioed, Bill Sheiner, who had worked in Shep Fields' all-saxophone band, decided to build his own all-sax band with eight of his students. With Sheiner as frontman, and a drummer, pianist, and bassist, the band included both Lenny and Stan Getz as well as Sol Schlinger, Irving Frank, Red Press, Jerry Grosser, Stan Yuden and Alan Kimmel. The band worked up some arrangements and auditioned for Maria Kramer, who owned both the Lincoln and Edison hotels (both featured dance bands) but the WWII draft intervened and the band quicky disbanded. During his later high school years, Hambro played alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet, and flute in an assortment of teen dance bands, including a summer in the Catskills, playing occasional gigs in the evenings, while working as a lifeguard during the day at a resort hotel pool.
1942 - 1954
During the Second World War, many professional musicians enlisted and served in military bands. As a result, there were occasional openings in established commercial bands. Thus, at just 18 years of age, Hambro auditioned for an empty seat in Gene Krupa's band. His audition included playing "American Bolero", a piece written in 5/4 time, a complex meter that was quite progressive in Western music at the time. Although initially skeptical, Krupa and trumpeter Roy EldridgeRoy Eldridge
Roy David Eldridge , nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a...
were impressed and called Hambro at home the next day to tell him that he had secured the job and to schedule him for a tuxedo
Tuxedo
A tuxedo is a type of semi-formal dress for men.Tuxedo may also refer to:-Places:Canada* Tuxedo, Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city neighborhood** Tuxedo , a provincial electoral district in Manitoba...
fitting. On October 28, 1942, two weeks after his 19th birthday, Hambro was on stage with the Gene Krupa Band at the Times Square Paramount Theater. However, he left the band in December of that year for the Army and joined Ivan Mogul, Shorty Rogers
Shorty Rogers
Milton “Shorty” Rogers , born Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and...
and approximately 40 other musicians from the Bronx who had agreed to man the 379th Army Service Forces (ASF) Band in Newport News, Virginia, where he stayed for three years. From 1946 to 1947, Hambro was a featured soloist with Billy Butterfield
Billy Butterfield
Billy Butterfield was a band leader, jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and cornetist.He studied cornet with Frank Simons, but later switched to studying medicine. He did not give up on music and quit medicine after finding success as a trumpeter. Early in his career he played in the band of Austin Wylie...
and his orchestra. In 1947, he played with Bobby Byrne before rejoining Gene Krupa as lead alto sax and featured jazz soloist through 1950. (Hambro, along with tenor saxophonist Buddy Wise and trombonist Frank Rosolino
Frank Rosolino
Frank Rosolino was an American jazz trombonist.- Biography :Born in Detroit, Michigan, Frank Rosolino studied the guitar with his father from the age of 9. He took up the trombone at age 14 while he was enrolled at Miller High School where he played with Milt Jackson in the school's stage band and...
, is featured in a 15 minute film short, Deep Purple, directed by Will Cowan in 1949, which focused on Gene Krupa and His Orchestra). In addition to playing with Krupa, Hambro simultaneously played in other bands, including the Latin jazz ensembles of Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez was an American bandleader and pianist.Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1917...
and Pupi Campo. In 1948, Hambro toured with Machito
Machito
Machito , born as Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, was an influential Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music...
and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra where he was featured as a soloist on alto sax. From 1951 to 1952, Hambro played with and managed the Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader.McKinley got his start working with local bands in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, before joining Smith Ballew in 1929, when he met Glenn Miller. The two formed a friendship which lasted from 1929 until Miller's death in 1944....
Band. From 1951 to 1954, he also played and recorded with Chico O'Farrill's orchestra, with a year off (1952) to tour with The Gene Krupa Orchestra. From 1948 until 1954, he recorded with all of these artists as well as with Charlie Ventura
Charlie Ventura
Charlie Ventura was a tenor saxophonist and bandleader.Ventura was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had his first successes working with Gene Krupa. In 1945 he won the Down Beat readers' poll in the tenor saxophone division...
's orchestra and Joe Loco
Joe Loco
Joe Loco was an American Latin jazz and Latin pop pianist and arranger.Loco first played with an ensemble called Montecino's Happy Boys in 1938. In the early 1940s he served as Machito's pianist before joining the Air Force from 1945 to 1947...
's band. During this period (1951–1956), Hambro also accompanied vocalists at the Paramount Theater, did studio work, worked as a music copyist, and taught private lessons. He continued to hone his own skills by studying clarinet with Leon Russianoff and flute with Henry Zlotnick, both of the Manhattan School of Music.
The Lenny Hambro Quintet
In 1954, Lenny formed the Lenny Hambro Quintet. Over the next two years, the members of the quintet alternately included Wade LeggeWade Legge
Wade Legge was an American jazz pianist and bassist.Legge played more bass than piano in his early years, and it was with the bass that he was first noticed by Milt Jackson, who recommended him to Dizzy Gillespie...
, Rene Hernandez, Eddie Costa
Eddie Costa
Eddie Costa, , was an American jazz pianist and vibraphonist born in Atlas, Pennsylvania near Mount Carmel, PA in Northumberland County....
, or Hank Jones
Hank Jones
Henry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
on piano; Dick Garcia
Dick Garcia
Dick Garcia is an American jazz guitarist.Garcia was born in New York City and was an autodidact at guitar, which he began playing when he was nine years old. He played with Tony Scott in 1950, and following this with Charlie Parker, George Shearing, and Joe Roland...
, Sal Salvador
Sal Salvador
Sal Salvador was a bebop jazz guitarist and a prominent music educator.He was born in Monson, Massachusetts and began his professional career in New York City. He eventually moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He taught guitar at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut as well as at...
, or Barry Galbraith
Barry Galbraith
Joseph Barry Galbraith was an American jazz guitarist.Galbraith moved to New York City from Vermont early in the 1940s and found work playing with Babe Russin, Art Tatum, Red Norvo, Hal McIntyre, and Teddy Powell...
on guitar; Louis Barretto, Clyde Lombardi or Arnold Fishkind on bass; Eddie Bert
Eddie Bert
Eddie Bert is an American bebop jazz trombonist.His first job as a musician came in 1940 when he joined the Sam Donahue Orchestra, and then joined up with Red Norvo in 1941, later performing also with the bands of Stan Kenton and with Benny Goodman's bebop orchestra.He also recorded extensively as...
on trombone; Mel Zelnick, Harold Granowsky, Gus Johnson Jr., or Sid Bulkin on drums; Jose Mangual, Ubaldo Nieto, and Ray "Mongo" Santamaria on Bongos/Congas; and Babs Gonzales
Babs Gonzales
Babs Gonzales , born Lee Brown, was an American jazz vocalist of the bebop era most notable for penning the song "Oop-Pop-A-Da", which was originally recorded and performed by his own band and was later made famous by Dizzy Gillespie . Babs was also once the chauffeur for Errol Flynn...
' vocals. As a quartet, quintet, or sextet, a Lenny Hambro-led and named ensemble would continue as a group through 1964. Hambro's first two albums, both released in 1954, were largely ignored by both the public and the music industry. His later albums (released in 1955 and 1956) received mediocre reviews. Gramophone criticized Hambro as "a thoroughly competent dance-band musician who obviously believes he is playing jazz," and for "blantant copying" of Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
's phrasing. These uncredited reviews directly contrasted with a George T. Simon
George T. Simon
George Thomas Simon was an American jazz writer and occasional drummer. He began as a drummer and was an early drummer in Glenn Miller's orchestra...
Metronome review of a Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
Band engagement at New York City's Bop City in March, 1950, where the typically stingy Simon credited the band with "a good sax quintet, thanks in part to Lenny Hambro's lead". In any case, Hambro would release no further recordings as a bandleader or headliner.
1955–1964
In 1955, Hambro again played in and managed the Ray McKinley Band. In 1956, Willard Alexander persuaded the Glenn Miller Estate to sponsor a new Glenn Miller Orchestra (GMO) with McKinley as its leader. Hambro was asked to reorganize the band and he functioned as both manager and assistant leader. The band played arrangements of old Miller favorites including the original music and more contemporary hits. The orchestra was very successful, performing on television and travelling the world. In addition to being a featured soloist, Hambro and his quintet, formed from other members of the GMO, were a featured act with the orchestra. The band toured the United States routinely during this period as well as England, Poland, "Iron CurtainIron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
" Europe, and North Africa in 1957 and 1958, where they played at U.S. military facilities and Embassies; and Japan twice in the early 1960s. Lenny was with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for eight years, during which time they played a live 13-week summer replacement show on CBS ("Glenn Miller Time", 1961; broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC; see External links), and the NBC Bandstand on both radio and television, and cut seven albums for RCA Victor. During this period, Lenny lived on 77th Road in Kew Gardens Hills in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
where his friend, composer and pianist Eddie Costa
Eddie Costa
Eddie Costa, , was an American jazz pianist and vibraphonist born in Atlas, Pennsylvania near Mount Carmel, PA in Northumberland County....
, was a neighbor.
Marriage
After a brief 1957 engagement to GMO vocalist Lorry Peters, Hambro met vocalist Lynn Michels in 1958, when he was 34 and she was 18. Lynn, from Chester, PennsylvaniaChester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
, was on stage from an early age, working alongside a number of Pennsylvania-based acts, including The Four Aces
The Four Aces
The Four Aces is an American male traditional pop music quartet, popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Tell Me...
and Bill Haley and the Comets. At age 10, she appeared on Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
's Philadelphia-based Saturday morning talent show, TV Teen Club (an indirect predecessor to American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
). Later, she was a regular on the Sunday morning children's talent show, The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour
The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour
The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour was a variety show with a cast of children, including some who later became well-known adult performers. It had a long run for more than three decades...
, hosted by Stan Lee Broza on WCAU TV in Philadelphia and broadcast on WNBT TV in New York. While still in High School, Michels sang with the Al Raymond big band, playing the many ballrooms and lounges in the Tri-State area, as well as performing for weddings, ballroom dances, and senior proms at many Tri-State area high schools and colleges. However, the band's steady gig was Sunday nights at Upper Darby's St. Alice's Social Center. When she met Hambro, Michels was in her senior year of high school and singing with Al Raymond. During a break in her busy school and professional schedule, Michels went to New York City to see Ray McKinley's Glenn Miller Orchestra at a club and was introduced to Hambro by the club's manager, who knew them both. That evening, Hambro told her that he would pursue and marry her, but it was an extended and often long-distance courtship. When Michels graduated from high school, she went to work for the Matys Brothers
Matys Brothers
The Matys Brothers were a rockabilly musical act made up of the four Matys brothers, and their sister Vera for a time, were born and raised in Chester, in the Philadelphia area...
, a rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
and later polka band from the Philadelphia area that was part of Bill Haley
Bill Haley
Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
's stable. She would be with them for two years, touring the U.S. and Canada, while continuing to see Hambro when she could. Hambro and Michels married on November 5, 1960 at The Wynn catering hall in Philadelphia, with Ray McKinley as their best man, and Ray's wife, Gretchen, looking on. Son, Larry was born in the late summer of 1961, followed by brother, Lee, in winter 1963.
Booking agent
Beginning in 1964, Hambro worked as a booking agent for Willard Alexander, at the Willard Alexander Inc. agency, which specialized in booking famous big bands. Their clients included Maynard Ferguson, Buddy RichBuddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
and Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
; the Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
Band, and the Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
and Russ Morgan
Russ Morgan
Russ Morgan was a big band orchestra leader and musical arranger in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
Orchestras. During this period, Hambro continued both teaching and studio work, playing on recordings of The Spinners, Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
(Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
's mother), Marlene Ver Planck, Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...
and his old friend Chico O'Farrill
Chico O'Farrill
Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill was a composer-arranger best known for his work in the Latin idiom, although he also composed straight-ahead jazz pieces and even symphonic works....
. In 1967, Hambro signed on with Don Elliott
Don Elliott
Don Elliott was an American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, vocalist, and mellophone player. His album Calypso Jazz is considered by some jazz enthusiasts to be one of the definitive calypso jazz albums. Elliott recorded over 60 albums and 5,000 advertising jingles throughout his career...
and Don Elliott Productions, producing music for commercials, cartoons, documentaries, and film. That year, Hambro and Michels, with their sons, moved from New York City to Old Bridge, New Jersey, where they bought their first house and would live for the next 15 years.
Advertising and movies
In 1968, after a break with Elliott, Hambro and virtuoso violist Emanuel Vardi set up shop as "Hambro and Vardi" at 1619 Broadway, the Brill BuildingBrill Building
The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...
, in NYC, producing original music for radio and television advertisements, such as the "Coke Is It" campaign and Life Savers' "A Part of Living". The pair shared in three CLIOs for Best Television/Cinema advertisement (Buitoni Sauce - 1969; Frigidaire Range - 1974; Life Savers -1977). Hambro also wrote, produced, recorded the music for, and acted in an early TV advertisement for Girl Scout Cookies: "The Cookies Are Here". In addition to writing ad "jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
s", in 1970, the team broke into film, composing original music for the feature film "Dirtymouth" (about Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist...
). Additionally, Vardi composed the music for the film "This Is America", with a sextet led by Hambro performing a number of jazz selections. The duo also did industrial films including shorts for TWA and Eastman-Kodak. In 1972, Vardi and Hambro worked with Bill Daly
Bill Daly
William L. "Bill" Daly is an attorney and the Current Deputy Commissioner and chief legal officer of the NHL under Commissioner Gary Bettman. He is also a Hockey Hall of Fame Board Member and former NHL Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. Before joining the NHL front office he worked for the...
to orchestrate the sound for the film "Toys Are Not For Children". Vardi and Hambro continued their collaboration until 1977, when they parted ways and Hambro continued on his own with Lenny Hambro Productions, Inc. Hambro was still in the music production business as late as 1984 with Lenny Hambro Productions operating from an office on Oak Avenue in Lynwood, New Jersey. He also offered his services as an arranger and composer, with pianist and composer Lou Forestieri providing scoring services. His clients included ad agencies and film houses. However, by this time, much of the music, television, and film business had moved to California, and, thus, business was not good.
Working musician
Hambro continued working the clubs of New York City and Philadelphia, and played the famed Rainbow Grill in midtown Manhattan during 1968-69 with a small combo led by old friend, Ray McKinley. In addition to working on Madison Avenue, in 1970, Hambro led and managed the orchestra for vocalist Warren CovingtonWarren Covington
Warren Covington was an American big band trombonist. He was active as a session musician, arranger, and bandleader throughout his career.-Biography:...
and did two half-hour specials on CBS television in the fall, before returning to work as a booking agent in 1971. Through his film industry connections, Hambro, a member of the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, was given a short uncredited cameo in the 1973 Paramount Pictures' film "Serpico
Serpico
Serpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...
", starring Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
. In 1975-76, Lenny found regular work in the orchestra pits of Broadway and in 1978, he was a regular - along with Paquito D'Rivera
Paquito D'Rivera
Paquito D'Rivera is a Cuban alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist. The winner of multiple Grammys and other awards, D'Rivera has lived in the United States since the early 1980s. He has worked in a variety of contexts, but is perhaps best known for playing Latin...
, his wife Brenda, Daniel Ponce, Victor Paz, Candido Camero
Candido Camero
Candido de Guerra Camero, also known simply as Candido is a Cuban percussionist who backed many Afro-Cuban jazz and straightforward jazz acts since the 1950s...
, Tom Malone
Tom Malone (musician)
Tom "Bones" Malone is an American jazz musician. As his nickname implies, he specializes on the trombone, but also plays trumpet, tuba, tenor sax, baritone sax, flutes, piccolo, and other instruments....
, Marvin Stamm
Marvin Stamm
Marvin Stamm is an American bebop trumpeter.Stamm began on trumpet at age 12. He first attended college at, then known as, Memphis State University and then attended college at North Texas State University where he was a member of the world renowned One O'Clock Lab Band...
, Jorge Dalto
Jorge Dalto
Jorge Dalto was a pop, jazz and Afro-Latin pianist and the former musical director for George Benson. He also performed with Tito Puente, Grover Washington, Fuse One, Gato Barbieri, Willie Colon and others...
, Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator renowned for both his highly virtuosic command of the instrument and for his expertise in the field of music education...
and Ruben Blades
Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
- at morning sessions in New York City recording jingles for radio and TV commercials, led by his friend and former bandleader, Chico O'Farrill. O'Farrill was in demand in advertising circles for his ability to modify new and existing jingles to various Latin rhythms to appeal to a variety of Latin ethnicities. Hambro also continued to do club work, putting together a quartet under his name, notably accompanying Anita O'Day at Michel's Pub from September, 1975 to January 1976.
Music director
After suffering a minor stroke, in 1980, at age 57, Hambro went to Atlantic City as Entertainment Director for Del Webb's Claridge and Hi Ho Casino (later the Claridge Hotel and Casino). With this transition, the family moved to Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Along with Marty Portnoy, Hambro helped reinvigorate ballroom dancing and big bands in Atlantic City. Beginning in September 1981, Hambro booked the big bands of Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Count Basie and The Royal Canadians. Subsequently, in 1983, Hambro became the Music Director at Bally's Park Place Casino Hotel. He was simultaneously with the house band at Trump's Castle for a brief period after its opening in 1985. During this time, he remained active as a working musician, playing Philadelphia jazz clubs with myriad groups, and taking various gigs, including touring Europe with pianist Peter DuchinPeter Duchin
-Life and career:Duchin was born in New York City, the son of pianist and band leader Eddy Duchin. His mother was Marjorie Oelrichs, a Newport, Rhode Island and New York City socialite who died unexpectedly when he was just five days old. He was raised by close family friends, statesman W...
. His younger son, Lee, an accomplished drummer and professional musician by age 15, often "sat in". In his later years, Hambro donated his time and talent to charities such as the March of Dimes
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...
Telethon, and the Association for Retarded Citizens' "Starshine" (organized by performer Nelson Sardelli) in Atlantic City, NJ, a tradition that would continue each summer for 12 years. He was also an avid racquetball player, playing as often as he could.
Final tracks
In 1991, with his boys grown and his wife spending six months of each year in Israel, Hambro moved to Florida to be close to his sister and other relatives, renting a Las Vistas apartment near the Inverrary Country Club in Fort Lauderdale (Fort Lauderhill). He taught private lessons, played in a variety of bands, both big and small, in Miami-Fort Lauderdale area jazz clubs, and continued to work as a booking agent. He also continued to readily donate his talents to charity fund raisers, most notably working with Jack Simpson to benefit the Brevard County Food Bank. However, suffering from severe chest pains, and told that he would need bypass surgery and a heart valve replacement, Hambro returned to New Jersey in early 1995 to be close to his sons, his wife, and the doctors with whom he was comfortable; and to work on Chico O'Farrill's comeback album.Hambro recorded his final tracks at the Clinton Recording Studio at 653 10th Avenue in New York City in February, 1995 for Chico O'Farrill's album, Pure Emotion (1995; Milestone Records
Milestone Records
Milestone Records is a United States based jazz record label, founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was incorporated into Fantasy Records in 1972, since then it has been used for reissues as well as for new recordings....
). The record was nominated for a Grammy in 1996. The title track, Pura Emocion, was written specifically for Hambro, O'Farrill's longtime friend, and the journeyman leader of the reed sections in both O'Farrill's and Machito's orchestras. Hambro died of a blood clot following open heart surgery just seven months later, on 26 September 1995, at Somers Point, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, a month shy of his 72nd birthday. Hambro is buried along with his parents, grandparents, and other relatives at Mount Judah Cemetery, Ridgewood, New York. His sister, Adelaide, wife, Lynn, and two sons, Larry and Lee, survive him.
Jazz lifestyle
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's five inaugural balls in Washington, DC. The band's repertoire in January, 1957 (during an extended engagement at the Cafe Rouge at the New York Statler Hotel, including Sunday afternoon's "Treasury Savings Shows") included 60 Glen Miller originals, 10 McKinley standards, 10 contemporary tunes done in the Glenn Miller style (thanks to arranger Joe Cribari) and several pieces by the Lenny Hambro Quintet.
Despite the "different-hotel-every-night" lifestyle of a jazz musician, Hambro managed not to be seduced by the drugs and alcohol that were rampant during the jazz era of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, that ended the careers and/or lives of many jazz musicians. Hambro credited Roy Eldridge
Roy Eldridge
Roy David Eldridge , nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a...
, a mentor from his initial years with Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
's band, for his being able to shun narcotics. When Hambro was just 19, Roy forced him to watch a band member inject heroin, and stay to watch its affects, with a stern warning not to get involved with drugs.
Jazz legacy
Lenny Hambro was active as a performing and recording jazz musician for over 50 years. Although of Dutch Jewish extraction, Hambro was as comfortable with an Afro-Cuban jazz orchestra as he was with a Swing era dance band, or a Dixieland Jazz band. He was steadily in demand as a stage and session musician during the 1950s New York-based Mambo dance craze. A review of the musicians on Machito's 1958 album for Tico, "Mi Amigo, Machito", reveals a host of Latinos - José Mangual Sr., Uba Nieto, Johnny "La Vaca" Rodríguez Sr., Mario BauzáMario Bauza
Mario Bauzá was an important Cuban musician. He was one of the first to introduce Latin music to the United States by bringing Cuban musical styles into the New York jazz scene...
, José "Pin" Madera, Ray Santos
Ray Santos
Father Ray Santos is a fictional character on CBS's daytime drama Guiding Light. He has been portrayed on a recurring basis by George Alvarez since March 30, 1999. The role was portrayed from February 17th to 19th, 1999 by Jaime Passer....
- and Lenny Hambro. A Metronome
Metronome
A metronome is any device that produces regular, metrical ticks — settable in beats per minute. These ticks represent a fixed, regular aural pulse; some metronomes also include synchronized visual motion...
article from 1955 referred to Lenny as the "Latin from Manhattan", and Hambro traveled to Cuba several times during this period to perfect his art. Yet, he spent eight subsequent years playing the disciplined, sophisticated swing of The New Glenn Miller Orchestra. Further, he was routinely drafted to fill missing chairs for both Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
's and Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
's orchestras, often the only caucasian face on stage.
Hambro worked over 80 recording sessions and appears as either a leader or sideman on nearly 100 LPs/CDs released in the U.S. Due to a resurgence of interest in period Swing, Bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, and Latin jazz, recordings of Hambro's efforts as a sideman continue to be promulgated, with over 30 retrospective albums featuring his efforts released since his death. Additionally, both Lenny Hambro Quintet albums were re-released as compact discs in 2002 (Collectables).
As a composer, Hambro is best known for "The Lonely One", written with Roberta Heller (then a 21-year old lyricist for music publisher Ivan Mogull), which Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
recorded for Capitol in 1956. It has been covered over the years by a variety of artists, including Sil Austin, Kitty Kallen, Kelly Friesen, Lisa Ekdahl, Mark Doyle, the Robin Nolan Trio, the Music Rama Band, and by several Finnish bands, where it was a minor hit as Tuo Onneton (with Finnish Lyrics by Kari Tuomisaari). On the Latin side, Hambro wrote "Mamboscope" for Machito, an instrumental that has been widely licensed for Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz compilation albums.
One of Hambro's greatest accolades came from famed clarinetist and band leader Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, who, when introduced to Hambro by pianist Leonid Hambro
Leonid Hambro
Leonid Hambro was an American concert pianist and composer.-Life:He was the son of immigrant Russian Jews; his father was a pianist accompanying silent films....
(no relation), said of Hambro: "No need, I know who he is; he's the only man that makes me feel self-conscious when I play."
Musical preferences
Hambro was widely known as a versatile, accomplished musician, and an instinctual, lyrical player with a keen musical sense. He played his alto with a light, sweeping style that moved along gracefully and, on ballads, had a sweet, singing tone that was, in essence, a trimmed down version of Johnny Hodges'technique. There is little doubt that Lenny was influenced by Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, and he was once described as mixing the styles of Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
and Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges
John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges was an American alto saxophonist, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years, except the period between 1932–1946 when Otto Hardwick generally played first chair...
. (Lenny was Duke Ellington's first choice to sit in with his band as saxophone lead, whenever Johnny Hodges was absent.) As a jazz aficionado and "insider", Hambro was fond of the musical stylings of Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges
John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges was an American alto saxophonist, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years, except the period between 1932–1946 when Otto Hardwick generally played first chair...
, and Benny Goodman. His favorite arrangers included Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
(for Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Alvino Rey
Alvino Rey
Alvin McBurney , known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American swing era musician and pioneer, often credited as the father of the pedal steel guitar...
, Georgie Auld
Georgie Auld
Georgie Auld was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader.Auld was born John Altwerger in Toronto...
, and Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
), Johnny Mandel
Johnny Mandel
Johnny Mandel is an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. Among the musicians he has worked with are Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, and Shirley Horn.-Life:...
(for Alvino Rey
Alvino Rey
Alvin McBurney , known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American swing era musician and pioneer, often credited as the father of the pedal steel guitar...
), and Chico O'Farrill (for Machito and Chico O'Farrill).
Although Hambro played a Selmer Alto saxophone on occasion, his favorite instrument was a Martin "Magna" alto sax. He used an Arnold Brilhart "Ebolin" Streamline Model 4* mouthpiece with a Vic Olivieri #4 reed. Lenny liked the "Magna" model alto sax for its brilliant sound, and believed the "Magna" - hard reed combination was less likely to play out of tune. During the fifties, Hambro was often photographed with a Brilhart "Tonalin" ivory-colored Lucite mouthpiece. On clarinet, he also played a harder reed - a Vandoren #4. Lenny played a Martin "The Martin" tenor saxophone.
Discography
| Lenny Hambro Discography - 1948 to 2007 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Discography as leader (LPs & 45s.)
Album Discography as sideman (LPs & CDs only; On Alto Saxophone unless otherwise noted.)
|
||||||
External links
- Lenny Hambro with The New Glenn Miller Orchestra (1961; Glenn Miller Time, CBS Television) video:
}
}
}
} - (The dixieland combo features Ray McKinley on drums, Lenny Hambro on clarinet, Bobby Nichols on trumpet, Harry DeVito on trombone, Donnie Wooster on bass and Jim Hacker on piano.)