Jazz legend DeFranco dies at 91

Renowned jazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, who lived part time in Whitefish for two decades, died on Christmas Eve at age 91.

DeFranco performed on the international stage for 75 years and was considered a leader of the bebop movement. He was dubbed the “Charlie Parker of the clarinet.”

DeFranco’s wife, Joyce, said he had been in declining health in recent years. He died Dec. 24 at a Panama City, Fla. hospital.

DeFranco and his family called Whitefish their second home for more than 20 years.

They first arrived in Whitefish thanks to DeFranco’s involvement in the Flathead Festival in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In the late 1990s, the University of Montana in Missoula began hosting the annual Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival each spring.

In his career, DeFranco shared the stage with the legendary jazz bands of Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Gene Krupa, Charlie Barnett and a host of others.

He was featured in solo recordings with Frank Sinatra, Art Tatum, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Billie Holliday, Oscar Peterson and George Shearing. He also travelled around the world conducting The Glenn Miller Orchestra.

DeFranco was a Grammy nominee and winner of 20 Downbeat Magazine Awards, nine Metronome Magazine Awards and 16 Playboy All-Stars Awards.

In 2006 DeFranco was named National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master and later received the title “Living Jazz Legend” at The Kennedy Center.

DeFranco is survived by his wife, and his son Chad DeFranco.

DeFranco’s family has asked that contributions in his memory be given to the Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival at the University of Montana.