Charlie Ventura

Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992) was an American tenor saxophonist and bandleader from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands of Gene Krupa and Teddy Powell. In 1945 he was named best tenor saxophonist by DownBeat magazine. He led a band which included Conte Candoli, Bennie Green, Boots Mussulli, Ed Shaughnessy, Jackie Cain, and Roy Kral. He led big bands in the 1940s and 1950s and formed the Big Four with Buddy Rich, Marty Napoleon, and Chubby Jackson. He was a sideman with Krupa through the 1960s, then worked in Las Vegas with comedian Jackie Gleason. In 1992 he died of lung cancer.

• Stomping with the Sax (Crystalette, 1950)
• Gene Norman Presents a Charlie Ventura Concert (Decca, 1953)
• F.Y.I. (EmArcy, 1954)
• In Concert (GNP, 1954)
• An Evening with Charlie Ventura and Mary Ann McCall (Norgran, 1954)
• Another Evening with Charlie Ventura and Mary Ann McCall (Norgran, 1954)
• Jumping with Ventura (EmArcy, 1955)
• An Evening with Mary Ann McCall and Charlie Ventura (Norgran, 1955)
• Charlie Ventura's Carnegie Hall Concert (Norgran, 1955)
• The New Charlie Ventura in Hi-Fi (Baton, 1956)
• Plays Hi-Fi Jazz (Tops, 1957)
• Crazy Rhythms (Regent, 1957)
• Adventure with Charlie (King, 1957)
• Here's Charlie (Brunswick, 1957)
• East of Suez (Regent, 1958)
• A Battle of Saxes (King, 1959)
• Plays for the People (Craftsmen, 1960)
• Live at the 3 Deuces! (Phoenix Jazz, 1975)
• Aces at the Deuces (Phoenix Jazz, 1976)

As sideman

• Dizzy Gillespie, The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Bluebird, 1995)
• Gene Krupa, The Great New Gene Krupa Quartet Featuring Charlie Ventura (Verve, 1964)