RODNEY, RED

RODNEY, RED (Robert Chudnick; 1927–1994), U.S. jazz trumpeter. Rodney received his first trumpet as a bar mitzvah gift from an aunt and uncle. He became one of the premier bebop trumpeters, playing alongside Charlie Parker and other giants of the music, but he also was a heroin addict who spent seven years in prison and rehab centers. The Philadelphia-born Rodney got his first musical training at Mastbaum High, where his classmates included John Coltrane and Buddy DeFranco. Rodney quickly mastered his instrument and was playing professionally with Jimmy Dorsey at age 15. He would be a featured trumpeter with many other dance bands of the 1940s, culminating in a stint with Woody Herman's bop-influenced Second Herd. Then Parker invited him to join his quintet in 1949. It was perhaps the most highly visible trumpet gig in jazz and, although the compulsively modest Rodney tried to turn Parker down, Bird insisted. When the band played the segregated South, Bird passed off the red-haired, freckle-faced Rodney as a "blues singer" named "Albino Red." Although Parker repeatedly warned his young trumpeter not to follow his lead into heroin, Rodney became a drug addict. Rodney supported his habit with steady musical work for a while before turning to non-violent crimes. When he kicked the drug, he enjoyed considerable financial success leading society bands out of Las Vegas, but the pleasure of banking regular checks was outweighed by the boredom of the musical drivel he was forced to play. In the late 1970s he reteamed with longtime collaborator Ira Sullivan, and the two were responsible for several brilliant albums of post-bop jazz in the 1980s. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: "Red Rodney," MusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular Music, at www.musicweb.uk.net\>\> ; G. Robinson, "Red Rodney Hits the High Note," in: Manhattan Jewish Sentinel (July 7, 1993); P. Watrous, "Red Rodney, Jazz Trumpeter and Band Leader, Dies at 66," in: New York Times (May 28, 1994). (George Robinson (2nd ed.)