Kenny davern biography
John Kenneth Davern (January 7, – December 12, ) was an American jazz clarinetist..
His family was mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic. He was born in Huntington on Long Island.
John Kenneth Davern was an American jazz clarinetist.
His maternal grandparents were originally from Vienna, Austria. Alfred Roth, his great-grandfather, was a colonel in Austro-Hungarian’s cavalry. This rank is the highest available to a Jew in Habsburg Imperial army. He heard Pee Wee Russell for the first time and was immediately convinced that he wanted a career as a jazz musician.
At the age of 16, he joined the musician’s union, initially as a baritone player. After only a few days, he was able to make his first jazz recordings. He joined Jack Teagarden’s Band in 1954.
Davern is a native of Huntingdon, Long Island.He worked later with Pee Wee Erwin and Phil Napoleon before joining the Dukes of Dixieland, 1962. In the late 1960s, he was freelancing, working with Red Allen, Ralph Sutton and Yank Lawson, as well as his long-time friend Dick Wellstood.
He had taken up the soprano and was soon joined by fellow reedman Bob Wilber at Dick Gibson’s Colorado Jazz Party. This resulted in the