Biography
Marion Childers, later known professionally as Buddy Childers, anchored the trumpet section for more than a decade as lead player in Stan Kenton’s groundbreaking big bands, delivering some of jazz’s most ambitious and technically grueling charts. Born in St. Louis on February 12, 1926, he took up the trumpet at age twelve and turned professional just two years afterward. His rapid development led him to Kenton’s ranks at sixteen; within months, after the leader dismissed the other three trumpeters from the Artistry in Rhythm Orchestra, Childers assumed the lead chair, a post he would hold except for a brief 1944 interruption caused by an injury that cut short his U.S. Army service. Across twelve years he departed the Kenton fold no fewer than eight times, each exit prompted by the punishing volume Kenton required—levels so extreme that several band trumpeters regularly blacked out onstage, prompting Childers and Al Porcino to wear abdominal supports during performances.
Whenever he stepped away, taking work with Tommy Dorsey, André Previn, or Les Brown, he invariably rejoined Kenton within weeks. In 1947 the band was rechristened the Progressive Jazz Orchestra, and its most ambitious incarnation arrived in 1950 with the forty-piece Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra, which incorporated additional brass and string sections while unveiling composers Bob Graettinger and Shorty Rogers along with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. Kenton disbanded that ensemble in 1952, replacing it with the more compact nineteen-piece New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm Orchestra; two years later Childers made his final exit, subsequently working with Georgie Auld and Charlie Barnet. After freelancing in Los Angeles he relocated to Las Vegas in 1959, remaining there seven years before returning to L.A. in 1966 to build a thriving career as a studio musician. Beginning in 1983 he also served as musical director for Frank Sinatra, Jr. Childers died in Los Angeles on May 24, 2007, following a prolonged struggle with cancer.
Whenever he stepped away, taking work with Tommy Dorsey, André Previn, or Les Brown, he invariably rejoined Kenton within weeks. In 1947 the band was rechristened the Progressive Jazz Orchestra, and its most ambitious incarnation arrived in 1950 with the forty-piece Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra, which incorporated additional brass and string sections while unveiling composers Bob Graettinger and Shorty Rogers along with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. Kenton disbanded that ensemble in 1952, replacing it with the more compact nineteen-piece New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm Orchestra; two years later Childers made his final exit, subsequently working with Georgie Auld and Charlie Barnet. After freelancing in Los Angeles he relocated to Las Vegas in 1959, remaining there seven years before returning to L.A. in 1966 to build a thriving career as a studio musician. Beginning in 1983 he also served as musical director for Frank Sinatra, Jr. Childers died in Los Angeles on May 24, 2007, following a prolonged struggle with cancer.
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