It’s hard to disagree with Gene DiNovi’s assertion that swing “is probably the happiest music of the 20th century.”
Firstly, you just have to listen to the music, starting with the greats of the big band era, to share in the sentiment. Secondly, it would be just plain silly to argue with a man who’s seen so much of it firsthand.
DiNovi began his career as a teenage bebop pianist. The Brooklyn-born kid was a regular at Manhattan jazz clubs. One night The Yardbird himself, Charlie Parker, called him up on stage. He went on to play and record as a sideman with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Lester Young and Buddy Rich. A popular accompanist, DiNovi played in the 1950s for Peggy Lee. He was also pianist and arranger for Tony Bennett and Lena Horne.
He was composer, arranger and pianist on some classic TV shows, including Dick Van Dyke, Joey Bishop and Danny Thomas. In addition, he was music director for ABC-TV music specials starring Gene Kelly and Robert Goulet.
With a résumé like that, DiNovi knows what of he speaks. And you know he’ll be doing the music justice when he presents the Benny Goodman Centennial Orchestra in concert November 14 at the Registry Theatre in Kitchener.
The nine-piece outfit will be playing selections from “The Sound of Music” and Goodman favourites, including Let’s Dance, Memories of You, Don’t be that Way, Stompin’ at the Savoy, Sunny side of the Street, Rose Room, Moon Glow, One O’clock Jump, Sing Sing, Sing and more.
The Sound of Music presentation is based on a 1959 recording at the famous New York club Basin Street East, where DiNovi was on piano that night.
“It was the first jazz version of a stage musical – the Sound of Music – which was pretty special,” he said this week down the line from Toronto, which he’s called home for four decades.
It was one of many memorable nights with Goodman, who DiNovi first met as a 20-year-old in 1948, after getting a call to come to the recording studio to play on a new Goodman album.
“I was too young, too dumb to be scared,” he laughed. “It was thrilling at the time.”
It was not his first brush with musical royalty, however, having been on stage with Parker and again with Dizzy Gillespie while only 15 years old.
That early introduction to some of the greatest musicians fostered a love for the piano that’s lasted more than seven decades.
“I loved it, so I just kept going at it,” he said of those early musical experiences. “It’s love that will never fade as long as I’m here.”
You can be sure he’ll be all smiles when he takes to the stage in Kitchener next week. While most of the nine musicians at that Sound of Music show in April 1959 are no longer with us, for the upcoming concert he’s put together a collection of younger players who share his love for the music. The next generation of premier jazz musicians who make up the Benny Goodman Centennial Orchestra includes Bryden Baird (trumpet), Graham Campbell (guitar), Tara Davidson (alto saxophone and flute) and David French (tenor saxophone), Bob DeAngelis (clarinet), Dave Young (bass) and Terry Clarke (drums).
“It’s wonderful because it’s a different kind of Benny Goodman that we’re giving them,” he said of the Sound of Music portion.
Of course, there will be all those classics that made Goodman the King of Swing, sure to take audience members, no matter what their age, back to that magical era of music.
“It’s nostalgia to an older audience, and a revelation to a younger crowd.”
Gene DiNovi and the Benny Goodman Centennial Orchestra take to the stage November 14 at 8 p.m. at the Registry Theatre, 122 Frederick St., Kitchener. Tickets are $50, available at the Centre in the Square box office by calling 578-1570 or toll free 1-800-265-8977 or online at www.centre-square.com. Also available at the door.
