Lenny Hambro

Lenny Hambro
Lenny Hambro in 1957 with his Martin "Magna" Alto Sax and Brilhart "Tonalin" mouthpiece.
Background information
Birth name	Leonard William Hambro
Born	(1923-10-16)October 16, 1923
Origin	Bronx, New York, USA
Died	September 26, 1995(1995-09-26) (aged 71) Somers Point, New Jersey
Genres	Jazz Swing Bebop Mambo Cubop
Occupation(s)	Musician - Woodwinds Band Manager Music Arranger Composer Music Producer Entertainment Coordinator Booking Agent
Instruments	Alto Saxophone, Flute, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet
Years active	1942–1995
Labels	Savoy, Epic, RCA Victor, Clef, Verve, Norgran Columbia, Mercury
Associated acts	Gene Krupa Orchestra, Lenny Hambro Quintet, Ray McKinley, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Machito and His Afro-Cubans, Chico O'Farrill
Notable instruments
Martin "Magna" Alto Sax

Leonard William Hambro, known as Lenny Hambro (October 16, 1923 – September 26, 1995), was a journeyman jazz musician who played woodwinds, primarily alto saxophone, with a host of bands, orchestras, and jazz notables from the early 1940s through the mid-1960s, and continued as a session musician, music producer, booking agent, and entertainment coordinator through the mid-1990s. Early in his professional career, Hambro spelled his name "Lennie" but changed it to the former spelling in 1954, although he was occasionally referred to as "Lennie" in the press as late as 1957. Hambro broke into the profession with Gene Krupa in 1942. However, he is best known for his time as manager and assistant band leader with the New Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of Ray McKinley. He was well known in the Latin Jazz community and was closely associated with Chico O’Farrill.

Of Dutch Jewish heritage and the son of a diamond setter, Hambro was born in the Bronx in October 1923 and lived in, or in the vicinity of New York City for the majority of his life. He married songstress Lynn Michels of Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1960, and together they raised two boys, Lee and Larry. Hambro died of a blood clot following open-heart surgery in September 1995, at Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. During his lifetime, he worked over 80 recording sessions and appears as either a leader or sideman on nearly 100 LPs / CDs released in the U.S, as well as numerous foreign titles.

Lenny Hambro was born on October 16, 1923 to Harry and Rose (née Levine) Hambro in the Bronx, New York, the younger of two children. Lenny lived with his parents and older sister, Adelaide, in an apartment at 984 Sheridan Avenue - just a few blocks northeast of old Yankee Stadium, which was completed the year of his birth. His father worked as a diamond polisher and setter. His mother, who played ragtime piano in the home, died of breast cancer when Hambro was just 12. Hambro graduated from James Monroe High School (later Bronx Little School) in the Soundview section of the Bronx in 1941 (where Stan Getz would begin as a reluctant, periodic student just a year later). After his father's death from pneumonia when Lenny was 28, Hambro largely lived "out of a suitcase", but, when in New York, stayed with older sister, Adelaide, and her husband, Harold, in the Bronx, until his marriage in 1960.