Denny Christianson

Dennis Richard "Denny" Christianson (* 12. September 1942 in Rockford , Illinois ) is an American , living in Canada Jazz - trumpeter , composer , arranger and bandleader.

biography

Denny Christianson studied at the US Navy School of Music in Washington, DC , then played at Harrap's Casino in Lake Tahoe from 1971 to 1975 , after which he was a studio musician (arranger and trumpeter) in Los Angeles until 1980 , before being appointed by Diane Dufresne to Montreal followed. There he worked as a musician and composer for studio orchestras. Christianson taught at Montreal University in 1983/84, at Concordia University in 1986/87 and at McGill University from 1988 to 1990 . In Québec he worked with various big band formations; from 1986 he led the CFQR (later CHAD) All-City Stage Band . Christianson's arrangements have been interpreted by various artists from the Québec art scene, including: a. Diane Dufresne, Jano Bergeron, Jean Lapointe, Ginette Reno, Véronique Sanson or Martine St-Clair.

As early as 1981 he founded the 19-member Denny Christianson Big Band , whose repertoire includes works by US composers such as Curt Berg , Alf Clausen and Kim Richmond as well as Christianson's own compositions such as "Straight", "No Half Tone", "Arlequin", "More Pepper". The band increasingly worked with guest soloists, such as Ginette Reno and Michel Legrand in 1986 , Shirley Bassey in 1990 and Diane Schuur in 1991 . In 1987 they performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival ; In 1989 they went on a Scandinavian tour. 1986 Pepper Adams played in a Charles Mingus project ( Suite Mingus ) by Christiansons, in which the composer Curt Berg Mingus processed titles such as "Slop", Fables of Faubus and "1 x Love" into the suite "Three Hats".

Since 2001 Christianson has been the director of musical studies at Humber College in Toronto . He has worked with Don Alias , Mose Allison , Louis Bellson , Tony Bennett , Dee Dee Bridgewater , Benny Carter , Ray Charles , Kenny Drew , Harry Sweets Edison , Jon Faddis , Steve Gadd , Bill Holman , The Jackson 5 , JJ throughout his career Johnson , Diana Krall , Hubert Laws , Carmen McRae , Smokey Robinson , Ed Shaughnessy , Marvin Stamm , Kai Winding and Stevie Wonder together.

Christianson also worked with Sammy Davis Jr. on several television shows , recorded numerous film scores and music for commercials. He was musical director for 15 television shows. Christianson also wrote numerous commissioned works, including a musical. He is currently leading a smaller formation with the pianist Jan Jarczyk , with whom the album Goin 'Places was created.

Denny Christianson also made seven albums for the Justin Time Records label. Christianson has been a Canadian citizen since 1991.

literature

• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .

Web links

• Denny Christianson ( English, French ) In: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada . published by The Canadian Encyclopedia .
• Denny Christianson at Allmusic (English)
• Denny Christianson at Discogs (English)