One of a coterie of effective big-band trombonists influenced by Bill Harris, Dick Kenney hailed from the governmental center of New York state but couldn't wait to get to the jazz center once his chops were together. Cello had been his first ax, but it was as a trombonist that he got into the Toots Mondello band in the early '40s, initial steps on a career staircase that would lead to the big-band balcony of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman. A bandleader named Paul Villepigue took care of the chore of getting the trombonist from Albany to New York City. From 1946 there ensued two years with Johnny Bothwell, then Kenney headed for the West Coast and a return to college studies prior to hitting the big band big time, first with Charlie Barnet. Les Brown added the trombonist to his low brass section in 1957, Kenney having migrated to Brown's New England stomping -- or rather fox-trotting -- grounds to ease up after the Kenton and Herman experience. The trombonist's work with many of the big bands mentioned is well documented on recording, part of a discography of some 100 sides Kenney is featured on, the most recent of which were tracked in the late '60s. The list includes some of the most famous locations in the history of jazz, such as Stan Kenton's visionary City of Glass as well as addresses from forgotten artists, a good example being the Bothwell collection entitled Street of Dreams. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi