American Jazz Trombonists - Part 2: Carl Fontana

Introduction

Jazz trombonist Carl Fontana (1928-2003) has left an indelible mark on the jazz community. His skill is undeniable, but he is best appreciated as a virtuoso improviser. It is a true mark of the master of any skill that they make it appear effortless, and in the case of Fontana his playing not only looked but sounded effortless. His smooth riffs both lulled and energized the listener as only the best jazz can do, moving the heartbeat into a steady dancing rhythm and cooling the mind. Fontana set new standards for jazz trombonists which have yet to be eclipsed by contemporary players who still regard him as a modern master.

Taking on the Horn with Soul

Fontana began his professional career with a splash in 1951, and with a dash of good luck. It began when the Woody Herman band was featured at the Blue Room in New Orleans. However, their renowned trombone soloist, Urbie Green, had to tap out for a time in order to be with his wife as she gave birth. This opened the slot into which Fontana would make his first of many splashes. The story goes;

A young local musician hired as a temporary replacement arrived in the band room. ‘Can I help you?’ asked the tenor player Dick Hafer. ‘I’m here to replace Urbie Green,’ said Fontana. ‘You’re here to replace Urbie Green?’ repeated Hafer, as the band musicians roared with sardonic laughter. (Laanen)

No musician will ever give real respect to another until they hear them play, the ultimate test and revealing of moxie. In response to their laughter, “an hour or so later, their jaws dropped as Fontana ripped off a series of agile and eloquent solos that instantly announced him as a challenger to the crown of Jay Jay Johnson, the trombonist who dominated the era” (Laanen). This was the first of many such surprises, but soon the name of Fontana would be imminently well known, and his supremacy was never challenged. 

Fontana came from a musical family, his father Collie playing violin and saxophone to supplement his income as a work-a-day plumber. However, one day, “Fontana was a child, his father, Collie, had walked into the house and placed a box in front of his son. ‘What's that?’ asked Carl. ‘It’s what you're going to play,’ his father told him, opening up the trombone case” (Laanen). Fontana practiced and earned his showmanship cred from playing with his father’s band, and in his school’s concert orchestra. Understanding how difficult it was to “make it” as a musician, Carl and Collie had their share of arguments about his future. Fontana admits, “Dad and I had a few run-ins about whether I was supposed to be playing music jobs on the weekends or playing ball in some tournament or other. He won all the arguments” (Laanen). Collie may have won the arguments, but nothing would quell the passion his son had for the movements of jazz.

Fontana was a large man who could be intimidating when he wanted to, but that size made wielding the large instrument more natural. Fontana felt so united to his instrument that “he had developed the unique way of combining a plump tone with the fast-tonguing of notes that caused a re-thinking of trombone techniques the world over” (Laanen). Fontana’s virtuosity came from his balanced skill from being able to sumptuously expresses the languid movement of slower soul jazz, but with equal ease and soul be able to move with speed and grace through up-tempo songs. His skill in the slow “exemplified Collie Fontana's advice to his son: ‘Whenever you play a ballad, play it as if you were talking to your best girl’” (Laanen). This vulnerability and intimacy was often hidden behind large shades when he played, but was obvious for all to hear. His faster paced improvisations were added through, “Invent[ing] a technique he called '’doodle-tonguing,’ in which a trombonist creates legato by mouthing ’doodle doodle’ in the mouthpiece. He developed it, he once said, ‘in self-defense against tenor saxophone players’” (Ratliff). This was a creation of a natural passion and expression of the joy of wielding the unique trombone. 

Timeline

A limited timeline of Carl Fontana’s career illustrates the lasting relationships he cultivated as his reputation grew:

(Timeline redacted for preview. Available via download).

Relationships Flow Through the Music

Carl had a way of humbling people with his skill, and created strong and affectionate relationships due to his natural humility. Longtime friend Gus Mancuso recalls, “I was a trombone player, but he hired me on the piano at the Moulin Rouge in 1955…Once I heard Carl on the trombone, I decided maybe I should be a piano player” (Fink). This is the clarifying way of the master, and earned him the moniker “the trombonist’s trombonist.” Carl is remembered this way;

In the world of music, as in all of the arts, there are only a few truly original voices that emerge in each generation, and an even smaller number of those voices transcend their time to become a major influence and inspiration for succeeding generations. Carl Fontana was--and is through his recorded legacy--such a voice. Truly a master of his art, Fontana had the Mozartian quality of impeccability. As Mozart's scores were absent of corrections or deletions, Fontana's mellifluous solos were unscarred by errant notes. One of the most often heard remarks from Carl's peers has been ‘I've never heard him play a wrong note.’ (Hanlon)

Fontana lived his life in a supportive role, and is not as well known to the public as he is within the jazz community. This is in part because he did not release many headlining albums, but was content to support and tour with his friends under their name. Leonard Feather, jazz historian, sums up Fontana’s career as, “Fontana has long been regarded as the most fluid, innovative trombonist after J. J. Johnson–a modern trombonist with exceptional technique and ideas” (Sullivan). Many people investigate his inspirations, however,

As with all original voices, Carl Fontana spent little time emulating the solo styles of other jazz performers; he quickly developed a style that was uniquely his own. In his first recording with Woody Herman, ‘Mother Goose Jumps,’ he gives a clear tip of the hat to one of his great predecessors, Bill Harris, but by his second recorded solo on ‘Moten Swing,’ he had clearly moved on to establish his own mode of musical expression that is by now so familiar to Fontana fans. (Hanlon)

This originality is what stamps him as such a masterful musician. Not only was he a natural player and performer, “Although Carl could readily sit down and write out the melodies and chord changes to any tune, he scrupulously avoided reading chord progressions, because he felt it interfered with his creativity” (Hanlon). This is a common preoccupation with natural genius-one does not desire to look too closely into the mechanisms of perfection, and is content to let the magic flow. 

Closing the Curtain

Living in the zone of the music was the entire world to Fontana, and thus it was especially difficult when he succumb to Alzheimer ’s disease (Porter). A year before his death in 2003, he was invited to perform at the Bootlegger Bistro in his home city of Las Vegas. It was a difficult night, as Fontana went on stage, but was unable to perform. Friends remember, 

Emotions were fragile. Tears flowed freely as musicians played and Janak, Lorraine Hunt, Maggie Mancuso (Gus' wife) and others performed. Someone placed a trombone in Fontana's hand during the singing. The once towering musician held the familiar instrument in his left hand, placed the mouthpiece to his lips and began to blow gently as he worked the slide. His motions and his timing were perfect -- but no sound came from the horn. (Fink)

Although some people criticized his daughter for bringing him in such a condition, she emphasized that he was lucid in the car on the way over, and one never knows when the moments of clarity will be there (Voce). She knew Fontana wanted to be there, and said “A lot of people are heartbroken about seeing him that way…But he is still very much alive. He has a heart and he feels things. He knows if his kids don't come by to see him. He misses us” (Fink). For those who did not have the opportunity to see Fontana play live the best way to get to know him is through his numerous recordings. In these recordings Fontana can be heard, “Mixing an interesting combination of mainstream jazz with bebop technique, Carl had the ability to convincingly perform a variety of styles effortlessly” (Halon). Jazz sets the scene for the multiplicity of expression which so defines the strength of the human spirit. 

Conclusion

Carl Fontana will remain a jazz legend for all those who peer into the quality of history. His innovation, passion, sensitivity, and humor all come through the music, moving listeners to a new place through the subtly and power of the trombone. His life was a roadmap of this singular passion, and as such he inspired great passions within others. Content to exist as a supporting force his legacy is one much like the style in which he played-unmistakable for those in the know.

Works Cited

Fink, Jerry. “Carl Fontana.” The Las Vegas Sun, 27 Sep. 2002. Retrieved from: http://www.nationaljazzarchive.co.uk/stories?id=347

Hanlon, Ken. “Carl Charles Fontana.” Trombone-usa.com, n.d. Retrieved from: http://www.trombone-usa.com/fontana_carl.htm

Laanen, Rene. “Carl. Fontana 1928-2003.” Trombone-usa.com, 1998. Retrieved from: http://www.trombone-usa.com/fontana_carl.htm

Porter, Christopher. “Carl Fontana Dies.” Jazz Times, 17 Oct. 2003. Retrieved from: http://jazztimes.com/articles/22482-carl-fontana-dies

Ratliff, Ben. “Carl Fontana, 75, Trombonist Who Improved Jazz Technique.” The New York Times, 15 Oct. 2003. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/15/arts/carl-fontana-75-trombonist-who-improved-jazz-technique.html

Sullivan, Leo T. “Biography.” CarlFontana.com, n.d. Retrieved from: http://www.carlfontana.com/biography/

Voce, Steve. “Carl Fontana.” The Independent, 10 Oct. 2003. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/carl-fontana-37255.html