MAX KAMINSKY (September 7, 1908 - September 6, 1994) was a jazz trumpeter and bandleader of his own Max Kaminsky Orchestra.
Born in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1908, the son of Lit...view moreMAX KAMINSKY (September 7, 1908 - September 6, 1994) was a jazz trumpeter and bandleader of his own Max Kaminsky Orchestra.
Born in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1908, the son of Lithuanian-Jewish parents Samuel Kaminsky (1872-1934) and Sarah Kaminsky (1873-1946), Kaminsky began his career in Boston in 1924. By 1928 he was working in Chicago at the Cinderella Ballroom with George Wettling and Frank Teschemacher and in New York for a brief period in 1929 with Red Nichols. From around 1933-1938 he worked in commercially oriented dance bands, at the same time recording with Eddie Condon and Benny Carter’s Chocolate Dandies (1933) and with Mezz Mezzrow (1933-1934). Between 1936-1940 he played with Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw, performed and recorded with Bud Freeman and worked again with Shaw, who led a navy band touring the South Pacific.
From 1942 Kaminsky performed at important concerts in New York City organized by Condon at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall, and from the following year played Dixieland with various groups. He also worked in the 1940s with Sidney Bechet, George Brunis, Art Hodes, Joe Marsala, Willie “The Lion” Smith, and Jack Teagarden.
Kaminsky went on to work in television, and led Jackie Gleason’s personal band for several seasons, toured Europe with Teagarden’s and Earl Hines’ All Stars (1957), and performed at the Metropole and Ryan’s in New York. In 1975-1976 he made recordings as a leader that portrayed his style perfectly—full-toned, economical and swinging in the manner of King Oliver, Freddy Keppard and Louis Armstrong.
Kaminsky died on September 6, 1994, one day shy of his 86th birthday. His legacy lives on at the Hogan Jazz Archives at Tulane University in New Orleans, where his close relationship with the city and his love of Dixieland made Tulane a fitting repository.view less