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John Bunch

John Bunch was born in Tipton, Indiana, at the end of 1921. Harding was in the White House, the Teaport Dome scandal was brewing, early radio broadcasts were spurring the sales of crystal receiving sets, and the only jazz records available were made by a white New Orleans group called the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

All that had changed by the early thirties, when his mother made the wise decision to give him a piano: now Franklin D. Roosevelt was preparing to move to Pennsylvania Avenue; a lid had been placed on the teapot, and newspaper headlines ere created by angry strikers, a growing army of unemployed, and the Lindbergh baby; radio had come of age, boosting to national prominence such vaudeville stars as George Burns, Fred Allen and Jack Benny; and a fast-growing catalog of jazz recordings had brought international fame to the likes of Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington.

To parallel some of the significant social and political events of John Bunch's lifetime is to point out how young jazz music still is, and how far it and the media that helps perpetuate it have come in just a few decades. When John Bunch became a speech major at Indiana University, the Swing Era, which had profoundly inspired him, was history.

It was the early fifties, the Eisenhower years that saw the "Red Menace" dominate headlines, radio find new clarity in FM, while television replace it as the main media. For the next ten years--during which he moved to New York City--the speech major contributed his eloquent musical prose to the bands of Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, Maynard Ferguson and Buddy Rich, and to numerous small groups, including his own.

In 1966 Bunch's career took a turn in a new direction when singer Tony Bennett hired him as his musical director and accompanist. This was a challenging and demanding job that called upon Bunch to conduct several world-renowned orchestras, from the London and Los Angeles Philharmonics to the Basie and Ellington bands, but great as those experiences were, John Bunch's true love remained the jazz piano, so that is what he returned to in 1972.

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249
Album Review

John Bunch: The John Bunch Trio Plays the Music of Irving Berlin (except one)

Read "The John Bunch Trio Plays the Music of Irving Berlin (except one)" reviewed by John Fidler


If it takes a while to notice that there's no drummer on The John Bunch Trio Plays the Music of Irving Berlin (except one), that's OK. Recalling the classic Nat King Cole Trio, Bunch's music embraces the same combination of tradition and freshness, of rock-solid technique and flight-of-fancy exploration. Tradition might be the watchword for this 12-song set from the American songbook, but how then could the austere yet fervid playing of two jazz veterans in their ...

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Profile

John Bunch

Read "John Bunch" reviewed by Laurel Gross


Pianist John Bunch has a lot of fantastic memories playing with such jazz luminaries as Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Eddie Condon, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa and as accompanist, musical director and conductor of major orchestras for Tony Bennett, but he recalls another “unforgettable" moment that wasn't so great.Even at 86 and still a working musician, that recollection smarts. The image that sticks in his mind, when he thinks about it, is the face of the rather ...

219
Album Review

Scott Hamilton and Harry Allen: Heavy Juice

Read "Heavy Juice" reviewed by Ken Franckling


This CD has been a recording waiting to happen for twenty years. Back then, highschooler Harry Allen joined Scott Hamilton on stage at the Newport Jazz Festival for a cameo performance with the George Wein-led Newport All-Stars. Allen grew up in Rhode Island, which also claims Hamilton as a native son. And Hamilton certainly was a role model as Allen blossomed then—and fast became a welcome young player on the New York swing jazz scene.They've had occasional chances ...

104
Album Review

Scott Hamilton & Harry Allen: Heavy Juice

Read "Heavy Juice" reviewed by John Kelman


Strangely enough, recordings pairing tenor players are not unusual. Sonny Rollins did it with John Coltrane on Tenor Madness ; more recently Joe Lovano with Joshua Redman on Tenor Legacy ; even Chris Potter did it with Joe Lovano on a few tracks on Vertigo. Why this particular variation of saxophone is more conducive to teaming up is a mystery, but it always seems to work. Now Scott Hamilton has come together with next generationer Harry Allen for Heavy Juice ...

170
Album Review

John Bunch: English Songbook

Read "English Songbook" reviewed by Mark Corroto


An admitted supporter of free jazz and the avant guard of music, I felt like a lurker as I pushed the play button on jazz piano traditionalist John Bunch’s recording of the British songbook. After a couple of tracks, I was hooked and an instant fan of this octogenarian master.

Bunch, born in Indiana, began playing jazz before WWII and continued his career after a stint as a POW. His career took him from Woody Herman, Buddy Rich ...

152
Album Review

Harry Allen: Love Songs Live!

Read "Love Songs Live!" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Two words are about all that are needed to sum up the singular talents of swing–based tenor saxophonist Harry Allen — smooth and consistent, each of which aspect of his charismatic persona is abundantly present on this compilation of love songs recorded in concert between 1993 and ’96. I’m not fully conversant with Allen’s influences but Stan Getz had to be one of them (listen, for example, to Jobim’s “Once I Loved”). Others, he says, include Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins ...

137
Album Review

Bunch, Pizzarelli & Leonhart: New York Swing

Read "New York Swing" reviewed by Mike Neely


New York Swing is an exciting live trio recording featuring top-notch musicianship in an inspired performance. This is not “a pretty good recording for a live recording," this is an excellent recording, period. If you are not familiar with pianist John Bunch, this recording will place a new flicker in your musical sky. He is the musical leader of this threesome that includes ace guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, and an impressive Jay Leonhart on bass. Both Bunch and Leonhart have long ...

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135

Interview

Interview: John Bunch (Part 2)

Interview: John Bunch (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

The late John Bunch is best remembered as an elegant trio pianist. But back in the late 1950s and into the 1960s and 1970s, John played fearlessly in some of the best big bands still touring and recording. The list includes one of the most revered band recordings of the late 1950s, Maynard Ferguson's A Message From Newport. That's his piano on there swinging away on intros and breaks. [Photo of John Bunch in 2003 by Hank O'Neal]

Last year ...

130

Interview

Interview: John Bunch (Part 1)

Interview: John Bunch (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

John Bunch liked to be underestimated. The courtly and congenial pianist who died last week at age 88 enjoyed projecting an everyman image and often made a point of telling people that he didn't have much technical training. But what John did have was something that most jazz musicians spend a lifetime trying to acquire--perfect rhythm and enormous taste in chord phrasing. And for a jazz pianist, that's pretty much all you need. With just those two skills, John could ...

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Obituary

John Bunch, 1921-2010

John Bunch, 1921-2010

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Jazz this week lost John Bunch, a pianist whose imagination and adaptability kept him in demand for more than 60 years. Establishing his career in New York following his World War Two military service, Bunch slid smoothly from swing into bop and remained a reliable sideman and soloist who incorporated aspects of both eras in a personal approach of great flexibility. He was as comfortable and effective with Benny Goodman as he was with Wes Montgomery. To read Nate Chinen's ...

164

Obituary

John Bunch, Pianist with Goodman and Bennett, Dies at 88

John Bunch, Pianist with Goodman and Bennett, Dies at 88

Source: Michael Ricci

John Bunch, a jazz pianist whose elegant style led to prominent sideman posts with Benny Goodman and Tony Bennett as well as an accomplished solo career, died on Tuesday in Manhattan, where he lived. He was 88. His death, at Roosevelt Hospital, was caused by melanoma, said Cecily Gemmell, his wife and only immediate survivor. Mr. Bunch was one of a handful of pianists who made a successful transition from swing to bebop in the 1940s, though he never lost ...

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Recording

John Bunch and Frank Wess

John Bunch and Frank Wess

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

During down time with Count Basie's band in the 1950s, Frank Wess recorded on flute for the Commodore and Savoy record labels, among others. A gifted arranger, player and session leader, Wess' small-group flute recordings during this period are standouts on the instrument. Some of the albums are still in print on CD while others, like Trombones & Flute, are scarce or painfully expensive. So two weeks ago when I heard The John Bunch Trio with Frank Wess: Plays the ...

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Performance / Tour

“Jazz in the Starlight Room” proudly presents The John Bunch Trio !!!

 “Jazz in the Starlight Room” proudly presents The John Bunch Trio !!!

Source: All About Jazz

The Hopewell Valley Bistro continues to expand its current jazz programming to include internationally known Jazz pianist, John Bunch. On Saturday, October 22 from 7 -10 p.m., Mr. Bunch will be joined by Joel Forbes on bass and Tony DiNicola on drums as the John Bunch Trio.

Mr. Bunch has been called “the Fred Astaire of the piano” and can be found swinging tastefully at European festivals and in New York clubs. He has performed in the bands of Woody ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The John Bunch Trio...

Arbors Records
2009

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Heavy Juice

Concord Music Group
2004

buy

English Songbook

Chiaroscuro Records
2003

buy

New York Swing

Chiaroscuro Records
2001

buy

Love Songs Live!

Nagel Heyer Records
2001

buy

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