Willie Dennis


Willie Dennis was an American jazz trombonist known as a big band musician but who was also an influential bebop soloist.

Career

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 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, 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, and Woody Herman.
In the 1960s, Dennis also performed often with Gerry Mulligan.

Personal life

Relationships and family

He married singer Morgana King in 1961. They had no children.
They had only been married for a few years when he died in 1965 in an automobile accident in Central Park, New York City.

Legacy

Style and influence

Dennis was renowned for his extremely fast articulation on the trombone, obtained by means of varying the natural harmonics of the instrument with minimal recourse to the slide.

Discography

With Cannonball Adderley
With Manny Albam
With Al Cohn
With Mundell Lowe
With Gary McFarland
With Charles Mingus
With Gerry Mulligan
With Oliver Nelson
With Anita O'Day
With Buddy Rich
With Shirley Scott
With Zoot Sims
With Phil Woods