Larry McKenna

Larry McKenna stands out locally in Philadelphia as a tenor saxophonist of exceptional skill, though broader recognition has eluded him beyond that scene. Jazz audiences in New York or Boston often remain unfamiliar with his name, yet musicians in his hometown frequently rank him among the city's top players alongside Bootsie Barnes and Jimmy Oliver. McKenna began his path early by joining a high school jazz band at age 14, then took on small engagements around Philadelphia during his young adult years. His initial major opportunity came in 1959 when he toured for six months as part of Woody Herman's Big Band. Later associations followed with George Young in 1962 and Al Raymond in 1970. Around the start of the 1970s, he began teaching at Temple University, West Chester University, and Philadelphia Community College. Over subsequent decades, McKenna appeared on recordings by Herman, Buddy DeFranco, and Dr. Bruce Klauber in sideman roles and led frequent performances throughout the area, yet his first album under his own name did not appear until 1997, when Alanna Records, a small Pittsburgh imprint, issued My Shining Hour: Larry McKenna Plays Harold Arlen. Into the late 1990s he sustained his faculty positions at those same colleges while maintaining a steady schedule of local gigs.