Gene Cipriano was a renowned woodwind session player who recorded with Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Prince, Miles Davis, Olivia Newton-John, and Paul McCartney.
- Died: Saturday, November 12, 2022. (Who else died on November 12?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 94.
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Famed Woodwind Session Player
Gene Cipriano was invited to join Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra as a woodwind player and then joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He moved to Los Angeles where he worked with Henry Mancini, playing flute on the iconic “Peter Gunn” TV show theme song. He played soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones, all the clarinets and flutes, the oboe and bass oboe, the piccolo and the English horn. He recorded music for many TV series including “Batman,” “The Flintstones,” and “Star Trek.” and did music for the films “The Wild Bunch,” “The French Connection,” and “The Karate Kid,” among many others. He was a member of the famed session players “The Wrecking Crew,” working on records by the Monkees, Beach Boys, and Nancy Sinatra. He played oboe at the beginning of the Frank Sinatra classic “It was a Very Good Year” and worked with Elvis Presley, Rosemary Clooney, Prince, Paul McCartney, and Glen Campbell. He was a longtime member of the Academy Awards Orchestra.
Notable Quote
“It was a lot of fun because a lot of times the composer would say to the rhythm section, ‘Think of something wild that would fit this particular piece of music.’” “They would think of something and then they’d ad lib and tell us what to play. Sometimes we’d make up music right on the spot.” – 2019 interview with Making Life Swing on being a Wrecking Crew member
Tributes to Gene Cipriano
Full Obituary: Billboard
