Allegro
Requiem
Volume XCIX, No. 11December, 1999
Sandra Antonini – Piano
Eduardo Barrenechea – Bass
Glenn B. Bell – Cocktail Drums
John Bianculli – Drums/Vocalist
Jimmy Cannin – Piano
Martin Edwards – Saxophone
Sid Gilbert – Bass
Tom Hancock – Piano/Conductor
Harry S. Hannaford – Saxophone
Marcia Havivi – Violin
Milt Jackson – Vibraphone
August Lamont – Guitar
William Petilli – Drums
Bernie Privin – Trumpet
Frieda Reisberg-Davis – Violin
John Bianculli
John Bianculli, 83, a drummer, singer and actor, died on Sept. 28 at his home in Florida. He had been an 802 member since 1952, and was also a member of AFTRA and the Screen Actors Guild.
During World War II Mr. Bianculli was a drill sergeant in the army, stationed at Fort Benning, Ga. Afterward he sang and played drums with trios that toured New York City and the Catskills. He continued to perform while working as the maitre d’ at Jilly’s, where a casting agent turned him into an actor. During his years at Jilly’s he occasionally shared the stage with Frank Sinatra, as well as with Eddie Fisher.
His New York accent and imposing presence earned him small parts, often as the heavy. He played in Contract on Cherry Street with Sinatra, The Godfather, Klute, Crazy Joe, The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight and The French Connection. From there he acted in commercials and TV soaps, including Another World, Days of Our Lives, As the World Turns and The Doctors.
He is survived by his wife, Maxine, sons John and Michael, daughters Donna and Denise, and two grandchildren.
Marcia Havivi
Marcia Havivi, 64, a violist who joined Local 802 in 1986, died on Aug. 6
Ms. Havivi studied a wide range of instruments – including the viola, violin, flute, slide trombone, French horn and drums – as a student in Passaic, N.J., where she played in the school orchestra and marching bands. She taught instrumental music while attending Montclair Teachers College in New Jersey. She had always hoped to work as a musician, her son Jack told Allegro, and began her professional career early in the 1980s, playing the viola in a number of New York area freelance orchestras, including the Village Light Opera Group and Staten Island Symphony. She also taught private students. Deeply committed to raising the standards of musicians, she became active in Local 802, serving on the committee of the Staten Island Symphony.
She is survived by sons Jack and Ira, and three grand-daughters.
Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson, 76, a jazz vibraphonist and a member of Local 802 since 1948, died on Oct. 9. At the heart of jazz since the mid-1940s, he was the first proponent of be-bop to play vibes, and one of the premier improvisers in jazz.
Born in Detroit, he began teaching himself guitar at the age of 7, started piano lessons at 11, and in high school played drums, tympani, violin, guitar and xylophone. By the age of 16 he had picked up the vibraphone as well, and began his jazz career playing the instrument with Clarence Ringo and the George E. Lee band.
After serving overseas for two years during World War II he returned to Detroit and formed a jazz quartet, the Four Sharps. Dizzy Gillespie saw the group and in 1945 invited Mr. Jackson to join his band in New York. He was a member of the Dizzy Gillespie-Charlie Parker Sextet in the late ’40s, later working with Coleman Hawkins, Thelonius Monk, Howard McGhee and the Woody Herman Orchestra.
In 1951 he formed the Milt Jackson Quartet with pianist John Lewis, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Kenny Clarke. In late 1952 Percy Heath replaced Mr. Brown and the group was renamed the Modern Jazz Quartet. During the summer months, when the quartet was not active, Mr. Jackson led groups with Jimmy Heath and and Ray Brown. The MJQ dissolved after he left in 1974, but in the 1980s reunited for several tours. In 1992 Mr. Jackson formed a quartet with Mike LeDonne, Bob Cranshaw and Mickey Roker.
Besides being widely acknowledged as one of the music’s greatest improvisers, Jackson wrote a lot of music – most famously the blues pieces “Bags’ Groove,” “Bluesology” and “The Cylinder.” He recorded widely. He made small-group and orchestral records in the early 1960s, collaboration albums with John Coltrane and Ray Charles, and a large number of records on the Pablo label during the 1970s and ’80s with Gillespie, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson and others. In 1992 he began a series of albums produced by Quincy Jones for the Qwest label.
He is survived by his wife Sandra, daughter Chyrise, and brothers Alvin, Wilbur and James.
August Lamont
August Lamont, 77, a guitar player who joined Local 802 in 1945, died on Jan. 28.
Mr. Lamont began his career as a classical guitarist, then became widely known as a jazz guitarist, working with Roger Williams, Deretta Morrow and Frankie Laine, among others. He also worked as a pit musician on Broadway, and with groups performing at several New York City hotels. He was a member of the orchestras that accompanied performances of the Moscow Puppet Theatre and Moiseyev Dance Company at the Metropolitan Opera. As well as having a busy performing career, Mr. Lamont taught classical guitar to private students for many years.
He is survived by his wife Lee and daughter Leslie.
Bernie Privin
Bernie Privin, 80, a member of the CBS staff orchestra for 25 years, and a featured jazz trumpeter with Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, died on Oct. 8. He had been a member of Local 802 since 1937.
One of ten children, Privin learned the mellophone in an orphan’s home, where he lived for eight years. When, at age 13, he heard Louis Armstrong for the first time, he got a trumpet and taught himself to play it. He remained devoted to Armstrong’s style of playing, and during his professional career formed a friendship with his idol. On two of Armstrong’s hit vocal recordings, “La Vie En Rose” and “C’est Si Bon,” the trumpet solos that sound like Louis are actually played by Privin.
He began making a living on club dates at 15 and in 1937 joined Harry Reser’s band. He was with Bunny Berigan and then Tommy Dorsey in 1938, Artie Shaw in 1939 and ’40, Charlie Barnet in 1940 and ’41, Mal Hallet in 1941, Benny Goodman in 1941 and ’42. During his army service from 1943 to ’46 he played with the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band. After his discharge he played with Goodman again from 1946 to ’48, during which time he joined the Perry Como show at NBC. In 1950 he moved to CBS, where he remained until 1973, playing the Ed Sullivan, Garry Moore, Andy Williams and Jackie Gleason shows.
Privin continued to play jazz whenever he could, working with Sy Oliver’s band from 1949 to 1951, and playing many casual jazz jobs and extended engagements with the Sy Oliver band and the World’s Greatest Jazz Band. He soloed on Charlie Parker’s recording of “Temptation,” and in 1954 made his first album under his own name, with a quintet featuring the tenor saxophonist Al Cohn. He was featured on an album by Al Caiola, and recorded his second album as a leader in Sweden for the Bernie Privin Admiration Society. In the 1970s he toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra under Warren Covington’s leadership, and visited Russia with the New York Jazz Repertory Co.
Privin was known among his colleagues for his acid wit, having developed the dead-pan exaggerated putdown at an early age. When he was honored at the New York Brass Conference a few years ago, he listened to the musical offerings presented by many of his colleagues. Then he was helped to the microphone, where he eyed them all balefully for a moment and remarked, with difficulty, “Is that your best?”
He continued to play into the 1990s, overcoming severe dental problems, and even after the onset of Parkinson’s disease in 1975. Though his deteriorating health eventually made playing difficult, he still practiced regularly and managed to perform several times during the past years with a group of friends at the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in Westchester. He is survived by his wife Ethel, two daughters, three grandchildren and nine sisters and brothers.