Buddy Childers

Buddy Childers
Childers (left) and Stan Kenton, ca. 1947.
Background information
Birth name	Marion Childers
Born	February 12, 1926 Belleville, Illinois, United States
Died	May 24, 2007 (aged 81) Woodland Hills, California, United States
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Trumpet
Labels	Candid Records
Associated acts	Stan Kenton Tommy Dorsey Woody Herman

Marion "Buddy" Childers (February 12, 1926 – May 24, 2007) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and ensemble leader. Childers became famous in 1942 at the age of 16, when Stan Kenton hired him to be the lead trumpet in his band.

Biography

As Childers later told Steve Voce:

"At the rehearsal he sat me down in the first trumpet chair, had the first trumpet player sit out. I played about eight or nine things in a row and the adrenalin was really flying that day. I was 16 I probably looked about 13, but I played considerably more maturely than that. 'Well, what do you want to do?' he said after that was over. 'I want to join your band.' 'But you're so young.' 'I gotta join your band,' I said. I had this thing in my mind that I had to join a name band at 16 or I'd never be able to make it as a musician. I was thinking of Harry James so young with Ben Pollack and then with Benny Goodman, and Corky Corcoran who joined Sonny Dunham when he was 16 and then became Harry James's leading soloist the next year. So I made it by three weeks. I only had a couple of months before I graduated but I wasn't interested in that, I was only interested in playing."^[1]

Childers worked with Kenton for years, and also performed with Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Les Brown, Charlie Barnet,^[2] Dan Terry,^[3] and others. He worked on television programs and in films, and put together a big band that recorded for Candid Records in the 1980s and 1990s.

Childers became a member of the Bahá'í Faith by 1982.^[4] He died of cancer on May 24, 2007, age 81.^[5]

Discography

With Gene Ammons

• Free Again (Prestige, 1971)

With Elmer Bernstein

• The Man with the Golden Arm (Decca, 1956)

With Maynard Ferguson

• Around the Horn with Maynard Ferguson (EmArcy, 1956)

With Clare Fischer

• Thesaurus (Atlantic, 1969)

With Milt Jackson

• Memphis Jackson (Impulse!, 1969)

With Stan Kenton

• Stan Kenton's Milestones (Capitol, 1943-47 [1950])
• Stan Kenton Classics (Capitol, 1944-47 [1952])
• Artistry in Rhythm (Capitol, 1946)
• Encores (Capitol, 1947)
• A Presentation of Progressive Jazz (Capitol, 1947)
• Innovations in Modern Music (Capitol, 1950)
• Stan Kenton Presents (Capitol, 1950)
• Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton (Capitol, 1953)
• Sketches on Standards (Capitol, 1953)
• This Modern World (Capitol, 1953)
• Portraits on Standards (Capitol, 1953)
• Kenton Showcase (Capitol, 1954)
• The Kenton Era (Capitol, 1940–54, [1955])
• The Innovations Orchestra (Capitol, 1950-51 [1997])

With Carmen McRae

• Can't Hide Love (Blue Note, 1976)

With Oliver Nelson

• Skull Session (Flying Dutchman, 1975)

With Shorty Rogers

• Afro-Cuban Influence (RCA Victor, 1958)
• The Wizard of Oz and Other Harold Arlen Songs (RCA Victor, 1959)
• Shorty Rogers Meets Tarzan (MGM, 1960)

With Pete Rugolo

• Introducing Pete Rugolo (Columbia, 1954)
• Rugolomania (Columbia, 1955)
• New Sounds by Pete Rugolo (Harmony, 1954-55, [1957])
• Music for Hi-Fi Bugs (EmArcy, 1956)
• Percussion at Work (EmArcy, 1957)
• Rugolo Plays Kenton (EmArcy, 1958)
• The Music from Richard Diamond (EmArcy, 1959)

With Lalo Schifrin

• Rock Requiem (Verve, 1971)

References

1. "Buddy Childers, 81, trumpeter and composer" (PDF). Jersey Jazz. New Jersey Jazz Society. 35 (8): 14. September 2007.
2. Jazz Professional – Buddy Childers – Big Band lead trumpet playing Archived February 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
3. Lonely Place, 1969
4. Jazz Professional – Buddy Childers – Head Arrangements Archived October 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
5. Stewart, Jocelyn Y. (May 30, 2007). "Marion 'Buddy' Childers, 81; composer, trumpeter played with big-band bigwigs". Los Angeles Times.