Kai Winding

Kai Chresten Winding (May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with trombonist J. J. Johnson.

Biography
Winding was born May 18, 1922 in Aarhus, Denmark. His father, Ove Winding was a naturalized U.S. citizen, thus Kai, his mother and sisters, though born abroad were already U.S. citizens. In September 1934, his mother, Jenny Winding, moved Kai and his two sisters, Ann and Alice. He graduated in 1940 from Stuyvesant High School in New York City and that same year began his career as a professional trombonist with Shorty Allen's band. Subsequently, he played with Sonny Dunham and Alvino Rey until he entered the United States Coast Guard during World War II.

After the war, Winding was a member of Benny Goodman's orchestra, then Stan Kenton's. He participated in Birth of the Cool sessions in 1949, appearing on four of the twelve tracks, while J. J. Johnson appeared on the other eight, having participated on the other two sessions.

In 1954, at the urging of producer Ozzie Cadena, he began a long association with J. J. Johnson, recording trombone duets for Savoy Records, then Columbia. He experimented with instruments in brass ensembles. The album Jay & Kai + 6 (1956) featured a trombone octet and the trombonium. He composed and arranged many of the works he and Johnson recorded.

During the 1960s, he began an association with Verve Records and producer Creed Taylor. He released the first version of "Time Is On My Side" in 1963 before it was recorded by Irma Thomas and The Rolling Stones. His best selling recording from this period is "More," the theme from the movie Mondo Cane. Arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman, "More" featured what is probably the first appearance of the French electronic music instrument the ondioline on an American recording. Although Winding was credited with playing the ondioline, guitarist Vinnie Bell, who worked on the session, claimed that it was played by Jean-Jacques Perrey, a pioneer of electronic music. Winding experimented with ensembles again, recorded solo albums, and one album album of country music with the Anita Kerr Singers. He followed Creed Taylor to A&M/CTI and made more albums with J. J. Johnson. He was a member of the all-star jazz group Giants of Jazz in 1971.

His son, Jai Winding, is a keyboardist who has worked as a session musician, writer and producer in Los Angeles.

Kai Winding died of a brain tumor in New York City in 1983.

As leader/co-leader

 * Loaded (1945)
 * Kai Winding All Stars (Roost, 1949–51 [1952])
 * Arrangements by Gerry Mulligan (1951)
 * Brass Fever (1956)
 * Trombone Panorama (Columbia, 1956)
 * The Trombone Sound (Columbia, 1956)
 * The Axidentals with the Kai Winding Trombones (ABC-Paramount, 1958)
 * The Swingin' States (Columbia, 1958)
 * Dance to the City Beat (Columbia, 1959)
 * The Incredible Kai Winding Trombones (Impulse!, 1960)
 * Kai Olé (Verve, 1961)
 * Brand New Swinging Together Again (1961)
 * Suspense Themes in Jazz (Verve, 1962)
 * The Great Kai Winding Sound (1962)
 * Soul Surfin' (Verve, 1963) featuring Kenny Burrell – also released as !!!More!!!
 * Solo (Verve, 1963)
 * Kai Winding (Verve, 1963)
 * That's Where It Is (SESAC, 1963)
 * Mondo Cane No. 2 (Verve, 1964)
 * Modern Country (Verve, 1965)
 * Rainy Day (Verve, 1965)
 * The In Instrumentals (Verve, 1965)
 * Dirty Dog (Verve, 1966)
 * More Brass (Verve, 1966)
 * Penny Lane & Time (Verve, 1967)
 * Danish Blue (1974)
 * Caravan (Glendale, 1977)
 * Jazz Showcase (1977)
 * Lionel Hampton Presents Kai Winding (1977)
 * Duo Bones (Red, 1979) with Dino Piana
 * Giant Bones '80 (1980)
 * Bone Appétit (Black & Blue, 1980) with Curtis Fuller
 * Trombone Summit (MPS, 1981) with Albert Mangelsdorff, Bill Watrous, Jiggs Whigham
 * In Cleveland 1957 (1994)

With J. J. Johnson
 * The Four Trombones: The Debut Recordings (1953)
 * An Afternoon at Birdland (RCA, 1954)
 * Dec. 3, 1954 (Prestige, 1954)
 * Jay & Kai (Savoy, 1952–54 [1955])
 * K + J.J. (Bethlehem, 1955)
 * Trombone for Two (Columbia, 1955)
 * Trombone by Three (Prestige, 1949 [1956])
 * Jay and Kai + 6 (Columbia, 1956)
 * Dave Brubeck and Jay & Kai at Newport (Columbia, 1956)
 * Jay and Kai (Columbia, 1956)
 * The Great Kai & J. J. (Impulse!, 1960)
 * Israel (A&M/CTI, 1968)
 * Betwixt & Between (A&M/CTI, 1968)
 * Stonebone (A&M/CTI [Japan], 1969)

As sideman
With Quincy Jones
 * 1963 Plays Hip Hits
 * 1969 Walking in Space
 * 1976 I Heard That!

With Stan Kenton
 * Stan Kenton's Milestones (Capitol, 1943–47 [1950])
 * Stan Kenton Classics (Capitol, 1944–47 [1952])
 * Artistry in Rhythm (Capitol, 1946)
 * Encores (Capitol, 1947)
 * The Kenton Era (Capitol, 1940–54, [1955])

With King Pleasure
 * 1954 King Pleasure Sings/Annie Ross Sings
 * 1954 The Original Moody's Mood
 * 1955 King Pleasure

With Pete Rugolo
 * Rugolomania (Columbia, 1955)
 * New Sounds by Pete Rugolo (Harmony, 1954–55, [1957])

With Zoot Sims
 * 1949 The Brothers
 * 1952 Zoot Sims All Stars
 * 1962 Good Old Zoot

With Sarah Vaughan
 * 1955 In the Land of Hi-Fi
 * 1957 The George Gershwin Songbook, Vol. 1
 * 1958 The Rodgers & Hart Songbook
 * 1965 Viva! Vaughan

With others
 * 1950 Carnegie Hall X-Mas '49, Charlie Parker
 * 1950 Chubby Jackson All Star Big Band, Chubby Jackson
 * 1951 The George Wallington Trio, George Wallington
 * 1954 Oscar Pettiford Sextet, Oscar Pettiford
 * 1955 This Is Chris, Chris Connor
 * 1955 Jumping with Ventura, Charlie Ventura
 * 1956 Drummer Man, Gene Krupa
 * 1957 Chris, Chris Connor
 * 1957 Birth of the Cool, Miles Davis
 * 1957 The Beat of My Heart, Tony Bennett
 * 1959 Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements, Gene Krupa
 * 1962 I Wanna Be Loved, Dinah Washington
 * 1962 Rhythm Is My Business, Ella Fitzgerald
 * 1962 Cabin in the Sky, Curtis Fuller
 * 1963 Any Number Can Win, Jimmy Smith
 * 1963 Broadway, Gerry Mulligan
 * 1964 New Fantasy, Lalo Schifrin
 * 1965 Jazz Dialogue, Modern Jazz Quartet
 * 1965 The Shadow of Your Smile, Astrud Gilberto
 * 1967 Prezervation, Stan Getz
 * 1968 Summertime, Paul Desmond
 * 1969 Chubby Jackson Sextet and Big Band, Chubby Jackson
 * 1971 The Giants of Jazz with Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk
 * 1972 Strictly Bebop, Dizzy Gillespie
 * 1973 The Art of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Modern Jazz Quartet
 * 1975 Chase the Clouds Away, Chuck Mangione
 * 1977 Featured with the Tadd Dameron Band, Fats Navarro
 * 1978 Children of Sanchez, Chuck Mangione
 * 1979 Giant Bones, Curtis Fuller
 * 1979 The New Mel Lewis Quintet Live, Mel Lewis