Si Zentner

Simon H. "Si" Zentner (June 13, 1917, New York City - January 1, 2000, Las Vegas, Nevada) was an American jazz bandleader.

Zentner played piano from age four and picked up trombone a few years later. He attended college for music and had intended to pursue a career in classical music, but became more interested in pop music after recording with Andre Kostelanetz. Zentner played in the bands of Les Brown, Harry James, and Jimmy Dorsey in the 1940s, then moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a studio musician. He also landed a job with MGM from 1949 to 1955, and was involved in the music for films such as "Singing in the Rain" and "A Star Is Born". [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gpfqxqr5ld0e~T1 Si Zentner] at Allmusic]

In 1959 Zentner put together his own big band and signed to Liberty Records, releasing a large number of successful pop albums in the early 1960s. Zentner's ensemble was voted "Best Big Band" for 13 straight years by "Down Beat", and Zentner himself was voted named Best Trombonist in a "Playboy" Reader's Poll. In 1962, his album "Up a Lazy River (Big Band Plays the Big Hits, Vol. 2)" won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gpfqxqr5ld0e~T52 Grammy Awards] , Allmusic.com]

Zentner's success was thoroughly unusual; he had a thriving big band going at a time when big band music was, for the most part, on the wane. The general downturn in interest eventually caught up to him, and by 1965 the orchestra had folded. He then moved to Las Vegas and accompanied Mel Torme at the Blue Room. In 1968 he became musical director of the long-running Vegas show "Folies Bergere". It wasn't until the 1990s that Zentner returned to big band performance, assembling a new group and releasing several more albums. He suffered from leukemia late in life, though he continued performing into 1999; he died of the disease in early 2000.

Discography

*"Swing Fever" (1959)
*"A Thinking Man's Band" (1959)
*"Suddenly It's Swing" (1960)
*"The Swingin' Eye!!!!!!!!" (1960)
*"Big Band Plays the Big Hits" (1961) U.S. #65 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gpfqxqr5ld0e~T5 Billboard] , Allmusic.com]
*"Up a Lazy River (Big Band Plays the Hits, Vol. 2)" (1962) U.S. #107
*"The Stripper and Other Big Band Hits" (1962) U.S. #108
*"Desafinado" (1963) U.S. #139
*"Waltz in Jazz Time" (1963)
*"Great Band with Great Voices"
*"Si Zentner & His Orchestra, Alive in Las Vegas" (1992)
*"Road Band" (1996)
*"Country Blues" (1996)
*"Blue Eyes Plays Ol' Blue Eyes" (1998)

References