Quick Facts
Biography
Al Dennie (September 27, 1903 – April 22, 1995) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and music teacher.
Life and career
Al Dennie was born Alfred Stanley Dennie on September 27, 1903, in Wellston, Oklahoma.
He attended Douglass High School and was heavily influenced by Zelia N. Breaux's music lessons.
After moving to Kansas City, Dennie took music lessons from Tuskegee graduate, Professor William H. Dawson. He began his career in Kansas City Jazz bands such as the Chauncey Downs Society Orchestra and the Rinky Dinks, George Wilkerson's Musical Magnets, and in the territory bands of Jesse Stone and Bennie Moten. Together with Moten, he formed the Jap Allen Band, with which he toured the Midwest and performed in numerous band battles in Kansas City.
Dennie also played an important role in the Paul Banks Orchestra and was considered one of the first to recognize the talent of 17-year-old pianist Jay McShann (1916 – 2006), who had his first lessons in big band music with Dennie in Tulsa.
Dennie spent most of his life in Kansas City. In 1990, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Dennie was married to his wife Ruth Ann Morris Dennie. One of their children, George L. Dennie, is a noted Tulsa-based jazz pianist.
Death
Dennie died on April 22, 1995, at the age of 91, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.