A brilliant trombonist who has spent much of the past 40 years playing commercial music in Las Vegas,
Carl Fontana occasionally emerges to remind listeners just how technically skilled he is. The son of a saxophonist,
Fontana started out playing in his father's group during 1941-1945, but did not gain prominence until he was with
Woody Herman's Orchestra (1952-1953).
Fontana spent time in the big bands of
Lionel Hampton (1954),
Hal McIntyre (1954-1955), and most importantly
Stan Kenton (1955-1956), being well-featured with the latter. After playing in
Kai Winding's four-trombone band (1956-1957),
Fontana moved to Las Vegas but he emerged on an occasional basis, touring with
Woody Herman in 1966, recording with
Supersax (1973), co-leading a group with
Jake Hanna (1975), playing with
the World's Greatest Jazz Band, and appearing at
jazz parties. In 1995,
Fontana recorded a fine album with
Bobby Shew. Two years later,
Fontana paired up with fellow trombone vet
Jiggs Whigham for the bop workout Nice 'n' Easy. The duo recorded again in 1999 for Keepin' Up With the Boneses.
Fontana was diagnosed with Alzheimer's the following year and subsequently stopped recording. He passed away October 10, 2003 at the age of 75. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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First Time Together