MAX KAMINSKY

Max Kaminsky was a reliable Dixieland player who was featured on many sessions with Eddie Condon's gang in the 1940s and '50s. He played early on in Boston and was a veteran of 1920s Chicago, where he gigged with Bud Freeman, Frank Teschemacher, and Condon. Moving to New York in 1929, Kaminsky had a short stint with Red Nichols and then worked in commercial bands, although he did have opportunities to record with Condon, Benny Carter (1933), and Mezz Mezzrow (1933-1934). Kaminsky gained some fame for his work with Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra (1936), including broadcasts with an early version of the Clambake Seven. He was with Artie Shaw briefly in 1938, returned to TD, and then was perfectly at home in Bud Freeman's freewheeling Summa Cum Laude Orchestra (1939-1940). After periods with Tony Pastor (1940-1941) and Artie Shaw's 1942 orchestra, Kaminsky went in the military, where he played with Shaw's read more...