Trombonist Kai Christen Winding was one of the founding fathers of be-bop music and truly one of the finest-ever jazz trombonists.
Kai was born in Denmark and came to the U.S. with his family in 1934. In 1940, he made his professional debut as trombonist with Shorty Allen’s band, and played with the bands of Sonny Dunham and Alvino Rey before joining the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II.
After becoming a civilian in 1945, he worked with Benny Goodman’s band and moved onto Stan Kenton’s orchestra, where he helped defined the brassy Kenton sound and became a featured soloist. Thereafter, he hooked himself up with a number of emerging stars of be-bop, the “new jazz,” and recorded prolifically “ most notably, as part of one of the nonets featured on the historic “The Birth of the Cool” (Capitol/1949).
Experience his 1971 rendition of Lover Man ...