Willie Dennis
| Willie Dennis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William DeBerardinis |
| Born |
January 10, 1926 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | July 8, 1965 (aged 39) New York City, New York |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Trombonist |
| Instruments | Trombone |
| Years active | 1950–1965 |
| Labels | Debut Records |
Willie Dennis (né William DeBerardinis, January 10, 1926, Philadelphia – July 8, 1965, New York City) was an American jazz trombonist known as a big band musician but who was also an influential bebop soloist.
After working with Elliot Lawrence,Claude Thornhill, and Sam Donahue, Dennis also performed with Charles Mingus, appearing on two of Mingus's more successful albums in 1959, Blues & Roots and Mingus Ah Um. In 1953, Dennis recorded Four Trombones (released in 1957) for Mingus's Debut Records. The other three trombones were J. J. Johnson,Kai Winding and Bennie Green.
The fullest recorded example of Dennis's solo work, however, is on a little-known 1956 Savoy disc by English pianist Ronnie Ball (like Dennis, a student of Lennie Tristano), All About Ronnie, in the company of Ted Brown, Wendell Marshall and Kenny Clarke.
In the late 1950s Dennis returned to his big band roots, joining Buddy Rich in 1959 after stints with Benny Goodman, (with whom he travelled to the Soviet Union in 1962) and Woody Herman.
In the 1960s, Dennis also performed often with Gerry Mulligan.
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