Editing Red Rodney

{{short description|American jazz trumpeter}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name                = Red Rodney
| image               = Red Rodney, ca. June 1946 (William P. Gottlieb).jpg
| caption             = Red Rodney, c. June 1946
| background       = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name       = Robert Chudnick
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1927|9|27}}
| birth_place        = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1994|5|27|1927|9|27}}
| death_place       = [[Boynton Beach, Florida]]
| genre               = [[Jazz]]
| occupation        = Musician
| instrument        = Trumpet
| years_active     = 1942–1994
| label                = [[Savoy Records|Savoy]], [[Fantasy Records|Fantasy]], [[Muse Records|Muse]], [[Sonet Records|Sonet]], [[Steeplechase Records|Steeplechase]], [[Chesky Records|Chesky]]
| associated_acts = [[Charlie Parker]], [[Ira Sullivan]]
}}
[[File:Rich Matteson, Red Rodney, Ira Sullivan.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Rich Matteson]], Red Rodney, and [[Ira Sullivan]] at the Village Jazz Lounge in Walt Disney World; photo: Laura Kolb]]

'''Robert Roland Chudnick''' (September 27, 1927 &ndash; May 27, 1994),<ref name="Watrous"/> known professionally as '''Red Rodney''', was an American jazz trumpeter.

==Biography==
Born in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, he became a professional musician at 15, working in the mid-1940s for the big bands of [[Jerry Wald]], [[Jimmy Dorsey]], [[Georgie Auld]], [[Elliot Lawrence]], [[Benny Goodman]], and [[Les Brown (bandleader)|Les Brown]]. He was inspired by hearing [[Dizzy Gillespie]] and [[Charlie Parker]] to change his style to [[bebop]], moving on to play with [[Claude Thornhill]], [[Gene Krupa]], and [[Woody Herman]].<ref name="Yanow">{{cite web|last1=Yanow|first1=Scott|title=Red Rodney {{!}} Biography & History {{!}} AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/red-rodney-mn0000883694/biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref> He was Jewish.

He accepted an invitation from Charlie Parker to join his quintet.<ref name="Watrous">{{cite web|last1=Watrous|first1=Peter|title=Red Rodney, Jazz Trumpeter And Band Leader, Dies at 66|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/28/obituaries/red-rodney-jazz-trumpeter-and-band-leader-dies-at-66.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=January 18, 2017|date=May 28, 1994}}</ref> and was a member of the band from 1949 to 1951.<ref name="Yanow" /> Being the only white member of the group, when playing in the southern United States he was billed as "Albino Red" as a ruse to avoid prejudice against mixed race musical combos.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1994-05-31|title=Obituary: Red Rodney|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-red-rodney-1439684.html|access-date=2020-08-30|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> During this time he recorded extensively.

During the 1950s, he worked as a bandleader in Philadelphia and recorded with [[Ira Sullivan]]. He became addicted to heroin and started a pattern of dropping in and out of jazz.<ref name="Watrous" />

During 1969, Rodney played in Las Vegas with fellow Woody Herman colleague, trombonist [[Bill Harris (trombonist)|Bill Harris]], as part of the Flamingo casino house band led by Russ Black. Similar work continued through 1972.

In the early 1970s he was bankrupted by medical costs following a stroke. He returned to jazz. In 1975 he was incarcerated in Lexington, Kentucky for drug offenses. While jailed he gave music lessons to guitarist [[Wayne Kramer]] of the [[MC5]].<ref name= "prisonjazz">{{cite news |last=Oates |first=Bridget |url= https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/wayne-kramers-prison-jazz-roots |title=Wayne Kramer's "Prison Jazz" Roots |work=[[Guitar Player]] |date=January 7, 2015 |access-date=September 3, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Red Rodney.jpg|left|thumb|Red Rodney at [[Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society]], Half Moon Bay CA 1982]]
He reunited with Ira Sullivan and performed with [[Dizzy Gillespie]].<ref name="Watrous" /> From 1980 to 1982, Rodney made five albums with Sullivan. On these albums he started to play post bop jazz. He continued to work and record into the 1990s. He performed on a Charlie Parker tribute album by [[Charlie Watts]], drummer for the Rolling Stones. He provided an early showcase for saxophonist [[Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist)|Chris Potter]], who was a member of his group and only 19 years old when Rodney recorded ''Red Alert'' in late 1990.

He performed at [[Jazz at Lincoln Center]] and the [[JVC Jazz Festival]]. He worked as an adviser for ''[[Bird (1988 film)|Bird]]'', a movie about Charlie Parker directed by [[Clint Eastwood]].<ref name="Watrous" /><ref name="Yanow" /> [[Michael Zelniker]] played him in the movie.

Rodney died on May 27, 1994, from lung cancer.<ref name="Watrous" />

==Discography==
===As leader===
* ''Modern Music from Chicago'' (Fantasy, 1956)
* ''Red Rodney: 1957'' (Savoy, 1957)
* ''[[Red Rodney Returns]]'' (Argo, 1959)
* ''Broadway'' (Status, 1965)
* ''[[Bird Lives!]]'' (Muse, 1974)
* ''[[Superbop]]'' (Muse, 1974)
* ''Red Rodney with the Bebop Preservation Society'' (Spotlite, 1975)
* ''[[The Red Tornado (album)|The Red Tornado]]'' (Muse, 1976)
* ''Yard's Pad'' (Sonet, 1976)
* ''[[Red, White and Blues]]'' (Muse, 1978)
* ''[[Home Free (Red Rodney album)|Home Free]]'' (Muse, 1979)
* ''[[Live at the Village Vanguard (Red Rodney album)|Live at the Village Vanguard]]'' (Muse, 1980)
* ''[[Night and Day (Red Rodney album)|Night and Day]]'' (Muse, 1981)
* ''[[Spirit Within]]'' with Ira Sullivan (Elektra Musician, 1982)
* ''[[The 3R's]]'' [[Richie Cole (musician)|Richie Cole]] and [[Ricky Ford]] (Muse, 1982)
* ''[[Sprint (album)|Sprint]]'' (Elektra Musician, 1983)
* ''[[Hi Jinx at the Vanguard]]'' (Muse, 1984)
* ''[[Social Call (Charlie Rouse and Red Rodney album)|Social Call]]'' with Charlie Rouse  (Uptown, 1984)
* ''[[Alive in New York]]'' (Muse, 1986)
* ''Red Giant'' ([[SteepleChase]], 1988)
* ''Red Snapper'' ([[SteepleChase]], 1988)
* ''Red Giant'' ([[SteepleChase]], 1988)
* ''No Turn on Red'' (Denon, 1989)
* ''Code Red'' (Continuum, 1989)
* ''Then and Now'' (Chesky, 1992)

===As sideman===
* [[Dizzy Gillespie]], ''[[To Diz with Love]]'' (Telarc, 1992)
* [[Woody Herman]], ''The Fourth Herd'' (Jazzland, 1960)
* [[Clifford Jordan]], ''[[Dr. Chicago]]'' (Bee Hive, 1985)
* [[Lee Konitz]], ''[[Live at Laren]]'' (Soul Note, 1984)
* [[Gene Krupa]], ''Gene Krupa's Sidekicks'' (Columbia, 1955)
* [[Elliot Lawrence]], ''The Uncollected Elliot Lawrence and His Orchestra 1946'' (Hindsight, 1982)
* [[Charlie Parker]], ''Bird at St. Nick's'' (Jazz Workshop, 1957)
* Charlie Parker, ''Swedish Schnapps'' (Verve, 1958)
* [[Ali Ryerson]], ''Blue Flute'' (Red Baron, 1992)
* [[Ira Sullivan]], ''[[Ira Sullivan Does It All]]'' (Muse, 1983)
* [[Bob Thiele]], ''Louis Satchmo'' (Red Baron, 1992)
* [[Claude Thornhill]], ''The Uncollected Claude Thornhill and His Orchestra'' (Hindsight, 1977)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* ''Fresh Air'' on WHYY, December 30, 2002
* Morton, Richard and Cook, Brian. ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'', New Edition, London, Penguin, 1994
* Morton, Richard and Cook, Brian. ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD'', sixth Edition, London, Penguin, 2002, {{ISBN|0140515216}}

==External links==
* {{Discogs artist|Red Rodney}}
*{{imdb name|id=1012058}}
{{Red Rodney}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodney, Red}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American trumpeters]]
[[Category:American jazz trumpeters]]
[[Category:American male trumpeters]]
[[Category:American people convicted of drug offenses]]
[[Category:Bebop trumpeters]]
[[Category:Hard bop trumpeters]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Chesky Records artists]]
[[Category:Muse Records artists]]
[[Category:Savoy Records artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Jewish jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Uptown Records (jazz) artists]]
[[Category:Fantasy Records artists]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Florida]]
[[Category:DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members]]