Jazz great DeFranco dies at 91

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Renowned jazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco — who collaborated with Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and other top singers and musicians of his era — has died at the age of 91, his family said Friday.

DeFranco’s family told The Associated Press that the famed musician died Wednesday evening at a Panama City hospital. He was born Bonifacio Ferdinando Leonardo DeFranco on Feb. 17, 1923 in Camden, New Jersey.

DeFranco’s wife, Joyce, said he had been in declining health in recent years.

The couple lived in Panama City, but for more than 20 years they called Whitefish their second home. They first arrived in Whitefish thanks to DeFranco’s involvement in the Flathead Festival in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In the late 1990s, the University of Montana in Missoula began hosting the annual Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival each spring. International jazz greats make guest appearances with the University Jazz Ensemble, where DeFranco has headlined the past 15 years.

DeFranco, a member of the American Jazz Hall of Fame, performed at venues around the world for 75 years and recorded with musicians including Sinatra, Holiday, Art Tatum, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett.  He conducted the Glenn Miller Orchestra for eight years from 1966 to 1974.

“Buddy DeFranco almost single-handedly was the clarinetist who moved the harmonic and rhythmic language forward from where Benny Goodman left off into the much more adventurous territory of bebop and beyond, while never forgetting his roots in swing music. He was also unfailingly kind and supportive to every other clarinetist who came after him,” leading jazz clarinetist Ken Peplowski said.

DeFranco was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master and later named a Living Jazz Legend in a Kennedy Center ceremony.

DeFranco was recognized 16 times with the Playboy All-Star award for top jazz clarinetist in the world.  

“We have received condolences from around the world,” said Joyce DeFranco. She said her husband’s influence on music will last long beyond his lifetime.

DeFranco began his career as a teenager in Philadelphia and went on to play with legendary bands including Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Gene Krupa and Charlie Barnett.  

Composer Nelson Riddle wrote the musical “Cross Country Suite” in 1958 for DeFranco, and Nat King Cole introduced DeFranco when he premiered the work at the Hollywood Bowl.

DeFranco’s family asked Friday that contributions in his memory be given to the Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival at the University of Montana.  

Funeral plans had not been announced late Friday.

DeFranco is survived by his wife and his son Chad DeFranco.