Gene DiNovi

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Gene DiNovi (actually Eugene Salvatore Patrick DiNovi , born May 26, 1928 in Brooklyn , New York City ) is an American jazz pianist and composer.

Lester Young : " East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) ", 78 from the Aladdin session with Gene DiNovi, Chuck Wayne , Curly Russell and Tiny Kahn on December 29, 1947

Gene DiNovi worked in Henry Jerome's band at the age of thirteen , as a teenager from the mid-1940s with Boyd Raeburn , Stan Hasselgard , Buddy DeFranco , Dodo Marmarosa , Chico O'Farrill ; he then played in Joe Marsala's band around 1945, in 1947 he appeared with Chuck Wayne at the New York jazz club Three Deuces and accompanied saxophonist Lester Young (appeared on The Complete Aladdin Sessions ) together with Wayne, Curly Russell and Tiny Kahn . In 1948 he played in the short-lived band of Benny Goodman with Fats Navarro and Wardell Gray ( Stealin 'Apples ). He also worked on recordings for Brew Moore and Aaron Sachs during this time . In the early 1950s DiNovi went to Los Angeles and worked there as an accompanist for Peggy Lee and Tony Bennett , from 1955 to 1963 for Lena Horne , and also for Dinah Shore and Carmen McRae . While working in the studios, he studied piano and composition. For Lena Horne he wrote an arrangement for Harold Arlen's "Out of This World"; the singer eventually introduced him to the music of Billy Strayhorn .

In 1972 he settled in Toronto and now worked mainly as a soloist and interpreter of the repertoire of Strayhorn and Duke Ellington and as a studio musician for Canadian film and television projects. In the early 1980s he recorded with cornet player Ruby Braff ( The Canadian Sessions ); In 1984 he worked with the Canadian clarinetist James Campbell . In 2002 he performed in a duo with bassist Dave Young to celebrate Duke Ellington's birthday in a Montreal bistro, where the album Plays Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn (Baldwin Street) was recorded.

DiNovi was also active as a composer in the style of the Great American Songbook ; Together with Spence Maxwell he wrote the song "I Can Hear the Music", interpreted by Peggy Lee , and the track "Summer Has Gone" (with Bill Comstock), which Doris Day recorded in 1964. DiNovi wrote other songs to the lyrics by Bob Comstock and Johnny Mercer , with whom he wrote "Have a Heart", and "Brand New Day". DiNovi also composed “The Scandanavian Suite No. 1 ”, which was recorded for Roulette Records in 1958 , as well as a“ Divertimento in Blue ”(for Benny Goodman), a“ Hommage à Satie ”and various other works of classical music.

DiNovi is the father of the film producer Denise DiNovi (* 1956). He is not to be confused with Eugene Dinovi, who with Frank Zappa , u. a. at Freak Out! worked.

According to the All Music Guide , his main influences are Teddy Wilson , Mel Powell and Ellis Larkins .

Discographic notes

  • Softly As I Leave You (1977, PediMega Records)
  • Each Day Is Valentine's Day (1984, PediMega Records)
  • Ruby & Gene Play George & Ira Gershwin (1984, PediMega Records) duets with Ruby Braff
  • Precious Moment (1990, Marshmallow) with Kohji Toyama (bass) and Yukio Kimura (drums)
  • The Three Optimists at the Old Mill (Sackville, 2007)

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personal data
SURNAME DiNovi, Gene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES DiNovi, Eugene Salvatore Patrick (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City