Peanuts Hucko
| Peanuts Hucko | |
|---|---|
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Peanuts Hucko, Famous Door, New York
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Andrew Hucko |
| Born |
April 7, 1918 Syracuse, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 19, 2003 (aged 85) |
| Genres | Jazz, dixieland, swing |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader |
| Instruments | Clarinet |
| Years active | 1940s – 1990s |
| Associated acts | Lawson-Haggart Jazz Band, Benny Goodman, Eddie Condon, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Ray McKinley |
Michael Andrew "Peanuts" Hucko (April 7, 1918 - June 19, 2003) was an American big band musician. His primary instrument was the clarinet but he sometimes played various saxophones.
He was born in Syracuse, New York, and moved to New York City in 1939; he played tenor saxophone with Will Bradley, Tommy Reynolds and Joe Marsala until 1940. After a brief time with Charlie Spivak, he joined the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band in which he served in Europe during World War II. During this time, Peanuts (the nickname comes from a childhood love of the food) began to concentrate on the clarinet "because we did a lot of marching in sand, which was awkward with the tenor." With Miller's Uptown Hall Gang, he was featured in a hard-driving version of "Stealin' Apples".
During the post-war period, Hucko played in the bands of Benny Goodman, Ray McKinley, Eddie Condon and Jack Teagarden. From 1950 to 1955, he was busy in New York as a studio musician for CBS and ABC. This was followed by more work with Goodman and Teagarden, after which he joined the Louis Armstrong All-Stars from 1958 to 1960. When he visited Tokyo, Japan, as the lead alto saxophone player of Benny Goodman's Orchestra in January, 1951, he listened to clarinetist Shoji Suzuki and his Rhythm Aces. With Suzuki and his band, they recorded the song "Suzukake No Michi", which broke sales records in Japan.
Hucko led his own group at Eddie Condon's Club from 1964 to 1966. He became famous as the clarinet soloist on Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?", which was featured on Frank Sinatra's 1954 album In the Wee Small Hours. In 1964, he opened his own nightclub in Denver, Peanuts Hucko's Navarre, featuring his singer wife Louise Tobin (formerly Mrs. Harry James) and Ralph Sutton. From 1966, he was featured regularly at Dick Gibson's Colorado jazz parties where he appeared with the Ten Greats of Jazz, later called the World's Greatest Jazz Band.
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