Don Menza
Encyclopedia
Don Menza is an American saxophonist, arranger
, composer
, session musician
, and jazz educator noted for his many contributions to American jazz
and big band
music.
's Orchestra (1960–1962) as both a soloist and an arranger. A short tenure with Stan Kenton
and a year leading a quintet in Buffalo preceded a period living in Germany (1964–1968). Later, he returned to the United States and joined Buddy Rich
's 1968 big band in the "jazz tenor" chair, recording the famous solo cadenza on "Channel One Suite" (Recorded "live" at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas) that utilized circular breathing and has become known as a classic among music educators and musicians alike. In the late 1960s, he settled in California and performed in the bands of Elvin Jones
(1969) and Louie Bellson
. Other artists with which Menza has recorded include Keely Smith
, Cold Blood, Natalie Cole
, Pat Boone
, and Leonard Cohen
.
's NBC Orchestra
and Buddy Rich
's Big Band) have become standard repertoire in jazz studies programs at colleges and universities worldwide. In addition to numerous recordings as a sideman, Menza has recorded as a leader for Saba (1965) in Germany, Discwasher (1979), Realtime, Palo Alto (the latter two in 1981), and Verve
(GRP).
Don Menza is the father of drummer Nick Menza
, best known for his work in thrash metal
band Megadeth
.
Don is an accomplished hand engraver and has engraved many of his own saxophones.
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
, and jazz educator noted for his many contributions to American jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
music.
Early years
Don Menza was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, where he began playing tenor saxophone when he was 13. He studied saxophone with musician and teacher John Sedola. After serving in the U. S. Army, he worked with Maynard FergusonMaynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957...
's Orchestra (1960–1962) as both a soloist and an arranger. A short tenure with Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
and a year leading a quintet in Buffalo preceded a period living in Germany (1964–1968). Later, he returned to the United States and joined Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
's 1968 big band in the "jazz tenor" chair, recording the famous solo cadenza on "Channel One Suite" (Recorded "live" at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas) that utilized circular breathing and has become known as a classic among music educators and musicians alike. In the late 1960s, he settled in California and performed in the bands of Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
(1969) and Louie Bellson
Louie Bellson
Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni , better known by the stage name Louie Bellson , was an Italian-American jazz drummer...
. Other artists with which Menza has recorded include Keely Smith
Keely Smith
Keely Smith is an American jazz and popular music singer who enjoyed popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. She collaborated with, among others, Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
, Cold Blood, Natalie Cole
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...
, Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
, and Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
.
Educator and composer
His compositions, such as "Groovin' Hard" and "Time Check" (both favorites of Doc SeverinsenDoc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
's NBC Orchestra
The Tonight Show Band
The Tonight Show Band is the band which plays on the American television variety show, The Tonight Show. From 1962 to the 1990s, during the years the show was known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the band was a 17-piece Big Band, and was an important outlet for jazz on American...
and Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
's Big Band) have become standard repertoire in jazz studies programs at colleges and universities worldwide. In addition to numerous recordings as a sideman, Menza has recorded as a leader for Saba (1965) in Germany, Discwasher (1979), Realtime, Palo Alto (the latter two in 1981), and Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
(GRP).
Don Menza is the father of drummer Nick Menza
Nick Menza
Nick Menza is an American drummer best known for his work in Megadeth from 1989 to 1998, appearing on four of the band's studio albums.-Early life:...
, best known for his work in thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
band Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
.
Don is an accomplished hand engraver and has engraved many of his own saxophones.
Discography
- Don Menza - Very Live at Groovy - (2008) Label: Artie Music http://www.artiemusic.com. Personnel: Markku Johansson, Esko Linnavalli, Jesper LundgaardJesper LundgaardJesper Lundgaard is a Danish jazz bassist, bandleader, composer and recording studio. Since his debut in the mid 1970s, he has been among the most prominent bassists in Danish jazz and as a sideman he has appeared on more than 400 albums both with Danish and leading American jazz...
, Esko Rosnell - Burnin - (2002) Label: Real Time. Personnel: Chuck FindleyChuck FindleyChuck Findley is an American session musician. Most widely-known as a trumpet player, he also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone...
, Ron KingRon KingRon "Suki" King is a checkers player from Saint George, Barbados. He has won United States titles and twelve World Championship Titles at the game and is considered one of the strongest players of the game. He has been honored by his homeland being named Barbados's Sportsman of the Year in both...
, Jack NimitzJack NimitzJack Nimitz was an American jazz baritone saxophonist.He played in a variety of genres including jazz and rock...
, Don RaderDon RaderDon Rader is an American jazz trumpeter.Rader began on trumpet at age five, taught initially by his father...
, Bill Reichenbach Jr., Joe Romano, Frank StrazzeriFrank StrazzeriFrank Strazzeri is an American jazz pianist.Strazzeri began on tenor saxophone and clarinet at age 12, then switched to piano soon after. He attended the Eastman School of Music, then took a job as a house pianist in a nightclub in Rochester in 1952. While there he accompanied visiting musicians...
, Bobby ShewBobby Shew-Biography:After leaving college in 1960, Shew was drafted into the U.S. Army and played trumpet with the NORAD band in Colorado Springs and on tour. After leaving the Army, Shew joined Tommy Dorsey's band and then played with the Woody Herman and then the Buddy Rich Big Bands in the mid-to-late...
and Frank Szabo. - Menza Lines - The Don Menza Big Band. (2005) Label: Jazzed Media. Personnel: Don Menza: leader, tenor saxophone; Chuck FindleyChuck FindleyChuck Findley is an American session musician. Most widely-known as a trumpet player, he also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone...
, Bobby ShewBobby Shew-Biography:After leaving college in 1960, Shew was drafted into the U.S. Army and played trumpet with the NORAD band in Colorado Springs and on tour. After leaving the Army, Shew joined Tommy Dorsey's band and then played with the Woody Herman and then the Buddy Rich Big Bands in the mid-to-late...
, Don RaderDon RaderDon Rader is an American jazz trumpeter.Rader began on trumpet at age five, taught initially by his father...
, Ron KingRon KingRon "Suki" King is a checkers player from Saint George, Barbados. He has won United States titles and twelve World Championship Titles at the game and is considered one of the strongest players of the game. He has been honored by his homeland being named Barbados's Sportsman of the Year in both...
, Frank Szabo: trumpet; Bill Reichenbach Jr., Alex IlesAlex IlesAlexander "Alex" Iles is an American musician who serves as a trombone and jazz instructor at the California Institute of the Arts and California State University, Northridge and has recorded and performed with many of the musical profession's most celebrated artists.Alex Iles appears frequently as...
, Bob McChesneyBob McChesneyBob McChesney is an LA based jazz and studio trombonist, famous for his use and mastery of the 'doodle - tongue,' a method of articulation on the trombone as well as his ultra fast and melodic solos.-Biography:...
, John Hasselback: trombone; Lanny MorganLanny MorganLanny Morgan is an American jazz alto saxophonist chiefly active on the West Coast jazz scene.Morgan was raised in Los Angeles. In the 1950s he played with Charlie Barnet, Si Zentner, Terry Gibbs, and Bob Florence, then did a stint in the U.S. military, for which reason he had to turn down an...
, Russ D'Alba, Doug WebbDoug WebbDoug Webb is an American musician.Doug was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1960 and moved to California at the age of 3. He is a graduate of Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California and received his Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He began playing...
, Tom Peterson, Jack NimitzJack NimitzJack Nimitz was an American jazz baritone saxophonist.He played in a variety of genres including jazz and rock...
: reeds; Mike AbeneMike AbeneMichael Abene is a jazz pianist known for accompanying singers and for arranging music. He has accompanied Susannah McCorkle Julius La Rosa, and others. He had his first solo album Solo Piano in 1986.- References :...
: piano; Chris ConnerChris ConnerChris Ryan Conner is an American professional ice hockey winger, currently with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. He has also played professionally with the Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins. He grew up in Westland, MI and attended Churchill High School in Livonia, MI...
: bass; Mark Waggoner: guitar; Mike StephansMike StephansMike Stephans was an American football player for the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights. He was the team's starting quarterback in 1996.-College:Stephans was from Morristown, New Jersey. He played both baseball and football...
: drums - Voyage - Don Menza & the SWR Big Band. (2007) Label: Hänssler ClassicHänssler ClassicHänssler Classic is a German classical record label based in Holzgerlingen.Friedrich Hänssler Senior founded Musikverlag Hänssler in 1919 to publish church music. Since 1972 Hänssler Classic has also published contemporary and jazz music...
. Personnel: Don Menza (tenor saxophone), Don RaderDon RaderDon Rader is an American jazz trumpeter.Rader began on trumpet at age five, taught initially by his father...
, Claus Reichstaller, Felice Civitareale, Klaus GrafKlaus GrafKlaus Graf is a German race car driver. He is the son of rally driver Peter Graf. He lived in the United States while competing in the American Le Mans Series, Trans-Am, and in certain NASCAR and ARCA races. He is considered a Road Course Ringer in the world of NASCAR.Graf has won championships...
(saxophone), Klaus Wagenleiter (piano), Marc Godfroid (trombone), Andreas Maile, Axel KuhnAxel KühnAxel Kühn is a German bobsledder who competed in the early 1990s. He won a silver medal in the four-man event at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville....
, Ian Cumming, Joe Gallardo, Karl Farrent, Rudolf Reindl (flugelhorn) - Jack Rabbitt - Don Menza (sax), Bobby Jones (Hammond B3 Organ), John Bacon (Drums). Cadence Jazz RecordsCadence Jazz RecordsCadence Jazz is an American record label specializing in noncommercial jazz music. It is associated with Cadence Magazine.Cadence Jazz was founded by Bob Rusch in Redwood, New York in 1980...
1184 - The Best of Buddy RichBuddy RichBernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
[LIVE] - Buddy Rich (2006). Label: LRC Ltd. Contains Menza's composition, "Time Check." - The Best Of Buddy RichBuddy RichBernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
: The Pacific Jazz Years - Buddy Rich. (1997) Label: Blue Note RecordsBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
. Contains Menza's composition, "Groovin' Hard" - Mercy, Mercy - The Buddy RichBuddy RichBernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
Big Band. Contains Menza's famous solo (the "Menza Cadenza") during "Channel One Suite" - Dallas Jazz Orchestra Plays Dee Barton (1994, Grammy nominated, 1996), Dallas Jazz OrchestraDallas Jazz OrchestraThe Dallas Jazz Orchestra is a jazz big band based in Dallas, Texas, founded by Thom Mason and Galen Jeter. Since its beginning in 1973, the DJO has produced numerous notable recordings, two of which were Grammy nominated, and has performed internationally in concerts and jazz festivals, such as...
, featuring Don Menza - A View From Within - Frank Strazzeri (1973)
- Frames - Frank Strazzeri (1974)
- Bones Blues - Pete Magadini (1976)
- First Flight - with Frank Rosolino and Alan Broadbent (1977)
- Dynamite "Live" at The Concord Jazz FestivalConcord Jazz FestivalThe Concord Jazz Festival is an annual event that was established in 1969 in Concord, California.The festival was launched by Carl Jefferson, a car dealer and jazz enthusiast, who managed to get a group of friends to support the concept. The city agreed to pay for half the cost...
(1980), 150 MPH (1974), Matterhorn (1978), Explosion (1975), East Side Suite (1989) - The Louie Bellson Orchestra - On Fire - Les Demerle with Bobby Shew and Lanny Morgan (1981)
- Hip Pocket - Menza (playing alto and baritone saxophones) with Sal Nistico and Sam Noto (1981)
- "Live" At Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase - The Louie Bellson Quartet (1988)
- "Live" At Claudio's - Pete Magadini (1991)
External links
- Review of "Menza Lines" CD at AllAboutJazz.com
- Don Menza bio at Verve Music Group website
- [ Don Menza Bio at Allmusic website]
- [ Review of "Menza Lines" CD at Allmusic]
- Article: "Recommended Jazz Ensemble Repertoire," published in Jazz Education Journal, the official publication of the International Association for Jazz Education
- Jazz Improv Magazine website
- Don Menza listings on Ejazzlines.com