Willie Dennis

Willie Dennis (née William DeBerardinis, January 10, 1926 – July 8, 1965) was an American jazz trombonist known as a big band musician but who was also an excellent bebop soloist.
Career.
After working with Elliot Lawrence, Claude Thornhill, and Sam Donahue, Dennis also performed with Charles Mingus, appearing on two of Mingus's more successful albums in 1959, "Blues & Roots" and "Mingus Ah Um." In 1953, Dennis recorded "Four Trombones" (released in 1957) for Mingus's Debut Records. The other three trombones were J. J. Johnson, Kai Winding and Bennie Green.
In 1951, Dennis began studying with Lennie Tristano. To make ends meet, he worked as an attendant at the Museum of Modern Art. The fullest recorded example of Dennis's solo work is on a little-known 1956 Savoy disc by English pianist Ronnie Ball (also a student of Tristano), "All About Ronnie", in the company of Ted Brown and Kenny Clarke.
Dennis toured with Mingus in 1956. He published an essay, "The History of the Trombone," in "Metronome". In the late 1950s Dennis returned to his big band roots, joining Buddy Rich in 1959 after stints with Benny Goodman (with whom he travelled to the Soviet Union in 1962) and Woody Herman.
In the 1960s, Dennis also performed often with Gerry Mulligan.
Personal life.
Relationships and family.
He married singer Morgana King in 1961. They had no children.
They had only been married for a few years when he died in 1965 in an automobile accident in Central Park, New York City.
Legacy.
Style and influence.
Dennis was renowned for his extremely fast articulation on the trombone, obtained by means of varying the natural harmonics of the instrument with minimal recourse to the slide (a technique known as "crossing the grain").
Discography.
With Cannonball Adderley
With Manny Albam
With Al Cohn
With Mundell Lowe
With Gary McFarland
With Charles Mingus
With Gerry Mulligan
With Oliver Nelson
With Anita O'Day
With Buddy Rich
With Shirley Scott
With Zoot Sims
With Phil Woods