Biography
Among the leading figures in the West Coast jazz scene over many decades, Bob Enevoldsen stood just behind Bob Brookmeyer as the top valve trombonist of his era. Born in Billings, MT, on September 11, 1920, he grew up with a Danish-born father who earned his living as a violinist and led the pit orchestra at the town’s silent-film house. Enevoldsen began violin lessons at five, then switched to trombone a few years afterward. Persistent lip difficulties prompted him to take up clarinet and tenor saxophone during his time at the University of Montana, where he also added double bass before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1942. After his discharge in 1946 he remained in Utah, settling in Salt Lake City and working primarily on tenor saxophone until a fellow musician loaned him a valve trombone. The fingerings felt close to those of the trumpet, yet the horn stayed secondary once he joined the Utah Symphony as a clarinetist. Encouraged by arranger Gene Roland, he moved to Los Angeles in 1951 and began sitting in at area jazz venues. Fellow players welcomed the versatile multi-instrumentalist, who soon became the regular bassist in pianist Marty Paich’s trio. Engagements with Art Pepper and Shorty Rogers came next, and Enevoldsen gradually made the valve trombone his main instrument while continuing to double on tenor saxophone throughout an extended residency with Shelly Manne at the Lighthouse. His debut session as a leader appeared in 1954 on the Nocturne label as a self-titled LP. Additional dates followed for Tampa and Liberty, and he appeared in two films—the 1958 documentary The Form of Jazz and the widely criticized 1960 screen version of Jack Kerouac’s The Subterraneans. By the time the latter reached theaters he had relocated to Las Vegas, where he worked the club circuit. Enevoldsen returned to Los Angeles in 1962 to serve as staff arranger and studio musician for Steve Allen, devoting most of the rest of the decade to session work. In the 1970s he resumed live playing, first taking Bob Brookmeyer’s chair in Gerry Mulligan’s band and later rejoining Marty Paich behind vocalist Mel Tormé. He also performed with the big bands of Bill Holman and Roger Neumann, maintaining small-group appearances until only weeks before his death from circulation problems on November 19, 2005.
Albums
