Kai Winding

Kai Chresten Winding (May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a popular Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is well known for a successful collaboration with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson.
Winding was born in Aarhus, Denmark. In 1934 his family immigrated to the United States. He graduated in 1940 from Stuyvesant High School in New York City. His career as a professional trombonist began in 1940 with Shorty Allen's band. Subsequently, he played with Sonny Dunham and Alvino Rey until he entered the United States Coast Guard during World War II.

After the war, Winding joined Benny Goodman's band, and later moved on to Stan Kenton's orchestra. Winding participated in the first of the Birth of the Cool sessions in 1949, appearing on 4 of the 12 tracks (while Johnson appears on the other eight, having participated on the other two sessions). In 1954, at the urging of producer Ozzie Cadena, he joined forces with Johnson to produce a highly successful series of trombone duet recordings, which were initially on Savoy Records and then on the Columbia Records label. While at Columbia, Winding experimented with different instrumentation in brass ensembles: the 1956 album Jay & Kai + 6 features a trombone octet, as well as Winding and Johnson performing on the trombone-like valved horn called the trombonium. Winding also arranged and/or composed many of the tracks he and Johnson recorded.
During the 1960s, Kai had a long stint at Verve Records and under producer Creed Taylor made some of his most memorable jazz-pop albums. His best-known recording from this period is More, the theme from the movie Mondo Cane.

Arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman, "More" featured what is probably the first appearance of the French electronic music instrument the Ondioline on an American recording. Though Winding himself was credited with playing the Ondioline, guitarist Vinnie Bell, who worked on the session, has said he remembers distinctly that the French electronic-music pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey was the actual player.
While at Verve, Kai further experimented with various ensembles, made solo albums, and even an album of country music with the Anita Kerr Singers. In the late 1960s, Kai followed Creed Taylor to his new recording label at A&M/CTI and made at least two more albums with Johnson.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Kai recorded for a number of independent record labels. During this time, he continued to give clinics, play jazz concerts and even reunited with Johnson for a live concert in Japan. He was a member of the all-star jazz group Giants of Jazz in 1971-2. He also wrote instructional jazz trombone books that included transcribed solos.

Winding died of a brain tumor in New York City in 1983. He was survived at the time by his wife, the accomplished painter Ezshwan Winding, and his son, the session keyboardist Jai Winding.



Kai Winding fue un trombonista estadounidense de jazz de origen danés.

Nacido en Dinamarca, la familia de Kai Winding emigró a Estados Unidos en 1934, cuando el músico contaba sólo con 12 años. Tras su paso por las orquestas de Alvino Rey y Sonny Dunham, Winding ingresa en una banda militar y permanece allí durante tres años. En 1946 entra en la orquesta de Benny Goodman, pero su salto a la fama tiene lugar poco más tarde, cuando ingresa en la orquesta de Stan Kenton. Allí, su estilo y sonido son imitados por otros músicos de la orquesta, lo que eventualmente daría lugar a un cambio en el sonido de la orquesta misma. A finales de la década de 1940 Winding participa en sesiones con músicos bebop, toca con Tadd Cameron y toma parte en las grabaciones del noneto de Miles Davis que darían lugar al surgimiento del cool jazz. Tras ello, Winding trabaja con Charlie Ventura y Buddy Steart, y finalmente forma un quinteto con el gran trombonista J. J. Johnson que efectuaría diversas grabaciones para vario sellos discográficos de 1954 a 1956, período durante el cual el sonido de ambos trombonistas es indistinguible. La banda pasa a la historia del jazz por la calidad de su propuesta, pero tras 1956 las reuniones de Winding y Johnson tendrían lugar ya sólo esporádicamente.

Desde finales de la década de 1950, Winding lidera intermitentemente un septeto con cuatro trombones, y ya en la década de 1960 se convierte en el director musical de los Playboy Clubs en Nueva York. En la década de 1970 forma parte de Giants of Jazz, una All-Stars Band que contaba con la participación de figuras de la talla de Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, Thelonious Monk o Art Blakey; sus trabajos se van haciendo cada vez más esporádicos y el músico establece su segunda residencia en España. Kai Winding pasó los últimos años de su vida en Nueva York, retirado de la actividad musical.