Frank Sinatra’s oboe has died
RIPHollywood’s go-to wind soloist Gene Cipriano has died at the great age of 94.
Among thousands of session calls, Cip played tenor sax for Tony Curtis in ‘Some Like It Hot’ and indelible oboe at the start of Sinatra’s ‘It Was a Very Good Year.’
To quote Tennis Commentator Dan Maskell……”OH, that’s extraordinary !”
Great orchestral arrangement and recording of same. Lovely spatial depiction.
Gene Cipriano playing those lovely Gordon Jenkins arrangements?
Heavenly!
Addio, paesan.
The few times I met cip were full of laughs and yo’s his trademark. Impossible to be down around cip. His playing speaks for itself. Fabulous and flexible like cip himself. I wish I could have spent more time with him.
Sinatra had any number of “key” players who did so many of his recording sessions. Milt Bernhart (trombone), Irv Cottler (drums) to name just two.
Cip was a gentleman with a savvy presence on sound stages, courteous to all musicians, a guy with true savoir-faire and boundless good will. In Los Angeles we miss him dearly. His recording credits, spanning decades from Sinatra/Riddle to Miles Davis/Gil Evans to Streisand/Matz to TV’s ‘Family Guy’, to name a few, number in the thousands. Just a few years ago, he was still getting numerous calls for recording sessions. For those interested, Recording Musicians Association Los Angeles (RMALA) put out a tribute to him in its annual directory several years ago. As with many studio musicians, he is an unsung hero of the business. But his good humor, empathy, and joie de vivre also made him a shining light to do many more.