Warren Covington

Warren Covington (August 7, 1921[1] – August 24, 1999) was an American big band trombonist. He was active as a session musician, arranger, and bandleader throughout his career.

Biography

Covington, who was born in Philadelphia, played early on with Isham Jones (1939), then with Les Brown in 1945-46 and Gene Krupa later in 1946. Following this he became a staff musician for CBS radio. With Ralph Flanagan in 1949 and again in 1955-56. He played briefly with Tommy Dorsey in 1950. In 1956, he replaced Eddie Grady as leader of the Commanders, a Decca recording and touring band which lasted until the middle of 1957. Covington recorded two albums and one single with this band. After Tommy Dorsey died suddenly in November 1956, the Dorsey band continued under the direction of Jimmy Dorsey. However, the Tommy Dorsey estate soon took back Tommy's arrangements and approached Covington to form a new Tommy Dorsey band, which he led, touring and recording for Decca, into 1961. Among his hits with the Dorsey band was "Tea for Two Cha Cha", which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[1] The track peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1958.[2]

Covington also backed Charles Mingus, Randy Weston, Bobby Hackett, and George Benson on big band recordings, and did a number of film soundtracks.

He died in 1999 in New York.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Warren Covington among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[3]

Discography

As leader
  • Shall We Dance? (Decca, 1956)
  • Teenage Hop (Decca, 1957)
  • Latin Si! (Decca, 1962)
  • Dancing Trombones (Decca, 1962)
  • Everybody Twist (Decca, 1962)
  • Let's Dance Latin (Decca, 1964)
  • Golden Trombones Favorites (Decca, 1966)
  • Latin Dance Party (Vocalion, 1967)

With Tommy Dorsey

  • The Fabulous Arrangements of Tommy Dorsey in Hi-Fi (Brunswick, 1958)
  • Tea for Two Chas Chas (Decca, 1958)
  • More Tea for Two Cha Chas (Decca, 1959)
  • The Swingin Era (Decca, 1959)
  • Dance and Romance (Decca, 1960)
  • Tricky Trombones (Decca, 1960)
  • It Takes Two (Decca, 1960)
  • Dance to the Songs Everybody Knows (Decca, 1961)
  • Golden Trombones Favorites (Decca, 1966)

As sideman

References
  1. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  2. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 166. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. Rosen, Jody (June 25, 2019). "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.