Claude Thornhill

Claude Thornhill (b. Terre Haute, August 10, 1909 – d. Caldwell, New Jersey, July 1, 1965) – Pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. As a teenager in the 1920s, Thornhill gained experience playing piano in the theaters and dance halls of Terre Haute. At that time, he also formed a novelty jazz duo with the much-older Danny Polo, who lived in nearby Clinton. While a student at Terre Haute’s Garfield High School, he played in a group called the Twelve Points Harmonious Outcasts with saxophonist Harold "Ish" Malone, who played with local groups into his '90s. After studying music at the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Thornhill became one of New York’s top studio musicians along with Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and the Dorsey brothers. Over several years, he worked from coast to coast as pianist and arranger for bands led by Benny Goodman, Skinnay Ennis (Bob Hope Radio Orchestra), Andre Kostelanetz, Hal Kemp, Russ Morgan, Freddy Martin, Ray Noble, Irving Aaronson, and Austin Wylie. Nonetheless, Thornhill truly made his mark by leading his own progressive big band (1940-1942; reorganized following military service, 1946-48, and more attempts in the 1950s). The Thornhill band’s sophisticated arrangements with colorful orchestration and vibratoless sound foreshadowed “Cool” jazz of the 1950s. In fact, Thornhill’s band functioned as a breeding ground for future innovators, such as arranger Gil Evans, saxophonist/arranger Gerry Mulligan, saxophonist Lee Konitz, and trumpeter Red Rodney. In terms of Thornhill’s own career, the 1950s and early 1960s were unremarkable, although he was planning a comeback before dying of a heart attack in 1965.