Harry Klee

Harry G. Klee (* around 1915; † after 1981) was an American jazz and studio musician ( flute , piccolo , alto saxophone , clarinet , bass clarinet ). Klee was one of the pioneers of the jazz flute .

Live and act

Klee was active in the jazz scene from the 1930s; From the early 1940s he played in the swing bands and orchestras of Charlie Spivak (with whom he made his first recordings in 1941), from 1944 with Gene Krupa and His Orchestra , Ray Linn , Boyd Raeburn (1945/46), Artie Shaw , Ralph Burns , George Handy , Mel Tormé / Sonny Burke , Dinah Shore / Woody Herman , Mary Ann McCall / Phil Moore , Anita O'Day , June Christy and in the studio orchestras of Neal Hefti , Henry Mancini , Pete Rugolo and Nelson Riddle .

In the 1950s, Klee continued to work with Buddy Collette and His Swinging Shepherds, Stan Kenton , Conrad Gozzo , Louis Armstrong / Benny Carter , Jimmy Giuffre , Patti Page , Hoagy Carmichael , Fred Katz , Johnny Mandel , Eartha Kitt , Peggy Lee , The Four Freshmen , Keely Smith , Billy May , Carmen McRae , Connie Russell and Skip Martin . In the following years he was still active as a studio musician; he also performed with Dave Pell , Frank Capp , Dean Martin , Sarah Vaughan , Rosemary Clooney , Al Hibbler / Gerald Wilson , Al Hirt , Frank Sinatra , Erroll Garner , Frankie Randall , Nancy Wilson , Ella Fitzgerald , Patty Weaver , David Allyn and João Gilberto up. In the field of jazz, he was involved in 183 recording sessions between 1941 and 1981. Klee was the brother-in-law of the jazz pianist Edwin Finckel .

Appreciation

Klee, who from 1944 also used the flute with Ray Linn and in 1946 with Boyd Raeburn, was one of the pioneers of the instrument in swing and jazz. As early as the 1930s he was one of the first (along with Wayman Carver ) to attempt to use the flute in jazz, but initially without lasting effect. Herbie Mann counted Klee among his role models.

Discographic notes

• Jimmy Giuffre , Bob Cooper , Harry Klee, Bob Enevoldsen with the Marty Paich Octet: Tenors West (GNP, 1956)
• Buddy Collette's Swinging Shepherds: Four Swinging Shepherds ( EmArcy Records , 1958), with Paul Horn , Bud Shank , Bill Miller , Joe Comfort , Bill Richmond , Pete Rugolo (arr)
• Buddy Collette's Swinging Shepherds: At the Cinema ( Mercury Records , 1959), with Paul Horn, Bud Shank, Bill Miller, John Williams, Jim Hall , Red Mitchell , Shelly Manne , Earl Palmer , Pete Rugolo (arr)

Web links

• Harry Klee at Allmusic (English)
• Harry Klee at Discogs (English)
• Harry Klee in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} A Short History of the Jazz Flute by Peter Guidi
2. ↑ ^{a b} Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed October 4, 2018)
3. ↑ Heard for example in " Caravan " (1945), with Ray Linn (tp), Joe Howard (tb), Harry Klee (fl), Deacon Dunn (ts), Tommy Todd (p, arr), Al Hendrickson (git) , Phil Stephens (kb) and Jackie Mills (dr), Sonny Burke (arr).
4. ↑ Aspects of the development of flute playing in jazz between 1950 and 1980
5. ^ Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .