Tex Beneke
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Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke (* 12. February 1914 in Fort Worth , Texas ; † the thirtieth May 2000 in Costa Mesa , California ) was an American jazz - saxophonist and singer, known as a member of the Glenn Miller -Bigband and after whose death head of his own bands that cultivated Miller's music.
life and work
From 1935 to 1937 he played with the orchestra of Ben Young and from 1938 in the big band of Glenn Miller , where he was one of the most famous soloists and also appeared as a singer (" Chattanooga Choo Choo ", " I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo "). He played with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the films " Sun Valley Serenade " (1941) and " Orchestra Wives " (1942). When Glenn Miller broke up his band in 1942 to continue with his Army Air Force band , he first played with Horace Heidt and Jan Savitt and then led a Navy band in Oklahoma until 1945 . In 1946 Glenn Miller's widow asked him to take over the leadership of the band, which was still in great demand (with 19 musicians and, until 1948, an additional string section). His conscious search for his own profile led to the fact that Beneke's band moved further and further away from the musical conception of Miller's heirs. Especially the importing of new arrangements etc. a. by Henry Mancini and Neal Hefti , who were closely based on bebop , caused conflicts.
In 1950 the dispute between Beneke and the Miller heirs escalated and led to a separation. The Miller heirs also ensured that he did not appear in the Hollywood feature film The Glenn Miller Story (1954). Beneke then founded his own orchestra, with which he played Glenn Miller's music or music in the style of Glenn Miller. He also played in the 1960s with various Glenn Miller reunions (e.g. with the former Miller singers Ray Eberle and Paula Kelly (* 1919, † 1992)) and occasionally in Disneyland . He performed with a new orchestra from the 1970s to the 1990s. In the mid-1990s he had a stroke and gave up playing the saxophone, but was still a band leader and singer.
In 1996 he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame . He died in 2000 in his home town of Costa Mesa.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Beneke, Tex |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Beneke, Gordon Lee |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz saxophonist, singer and big band leader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 12, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fort Worth |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 30, 2000 |
| Place of death | Costa Mesa |