Claude Thornhill
Claude Thornhill (*
August 10,
1909 at
Terre Haute, Indiana †
July 1,
1965,
New York City) was a white
American pianist,
arranger and
bandleader. As a youth, he was recognized as an extraordinary talent and formed a traveling duo with
Danny Polo, a musical prodigy on the clarinet and trumpet from nearby
Clinton, Indiana. As a student at Garfield High School in Terre Haute, he played with several theater bands.
After playing for
Paul Whiteman,
Benny Goodman,
Ray Noble, and
Billie Holiday, and arranging "Loch Lomond" and "Annie Laurie" for
Maxine Sullivan, in 1940 he founded his Claude Thornhill Orchestra. Although the Thornhill band was originally a sophisticated dance band it became known for its many superior jazz musicians and for Thornhill's and
Gil Evans' innovative arrangements; its "Portrait of a Guinea Farm" has become a classic jazz recording.
The band played without
vibrato so that the timbres of the instruments could be better appreciated, and Thornhill encouraged the musicians to develop cool-sounding tones. The band was popular with both musicians and the public; the
Miles Davis Nonet was modelled in part on Thornhill's cool sound. The band's most successful records were "Snowfall," "A Sunday Kind of Love," and "Love for Love."
The band ceased operation in 1942 when Thornhill entered the military, where he performed with
Artie Shaw's
United States Navy band, then was revived from 1946 to 1948 at New York. In the
1950s Thornhill became
Tony Bennett's musical director, then toured with small groups.
