Chuck Andrus

Chuck Andrus (November 17, 1928 – October 10, 1997) was an American jazz double-bassist.

Andrus was raised in New England and studied at the Manhattan School of Music. In the late 1940s he formed his own ensemble in Springfield, Massachusetts which included Sal Salvador and Phil Woods. He played with Charlie Barnet in 1953, then with Claude Thornhill through the middle of the decade. While with Thornhill he met Terry Gibbs, and the two frequently played and recorded together in subsequent years. As a freelance musician in New York, Andrus worked with Don Stratton, Bernard Peiffer, and Jim Chapin; he also recorded extensively with Woody Herman.

One of the most surprising moments of his life came when he went to see a new movie that he hadn't heard about. It was The Wrong Man, a true story starring Henry Fonda. The movie opened with the protagonist, a bass player, leaving his gig late at night at the Stork Club with his double-bass in tow. He then walked down the dark streets to the subway, rode out to Queens, then walked to his apartment. The reason this freaked Chuck out was that he had just recently started at the Stork Cub, replacing the guy who he later discovered had replaced the Wrong Man. Not only that, but Chuck took the same subway every night he worked, to the same stop in Queens, and remarkably, walked by the same block where the other bassist had lived.

References

• Eugene Chadbourne, Chuck Andrus at Allmusic

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Name	Andrus, Chuck
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Date of birth	November 17, 1928
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Date of death	October 10, 1997
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