Larry Bunker R.I.P.

[garthsj]

I have just received the news that Larry Bunker has died. He was one of the great west coast percussionists, appearing on many important dates. I will post more details when I know them.

Edited March 9, 2005 by garthsj

[GA Russell]

I'm sorry to hear this.

My favorite work of his was with the Mulligan/Baker quartet. He also played the vibes on one of my favorite albums, Henry Mancini's Music from Peter Gunn. And of course he played with Bill Evans in the 60s.

[BruceW]

Oh man, I've got to let vibists know on the vibe network

will miss my man Larry

[Guest DizzySpells]

I love them doorbells.

Sorry to hear this.

[medjuck]

Oh, no! I think he was on every film scoring session I ever attended. I used to love talking to him about his earlier jazz recordings.

[brownie]

Very sad to hear this.

He was an excellent musician!

[couw]

RIP

[Jazz Kat]

I just have Bill Evans's track, I Should Care on the Evans's Finest Hour.

[catesta]

The man made some great music.

RIP, LB.

[Brad]

Sorry to hear about this. RIP.

[Jazz Kat]

I think they got a lot on him on the Bill Evans book. (softcover) Where they tell each and every one of Evans's trios.

[JohnS]

Sad news.

[sheldonm]

...what a drag ; I was just watching him on old dvd. I always liked his playing! RIP

[DMP]

Listening to Mel Torme's "Comin' Home Baby" album today, wondered who the swinging drummer was on the big band tracks - actually made a trip to the library to check the Tom Lord discography. Larry Bunker! (He gave up a lot of lucrative studio work to go with Bill Evans, but ultimately couldn't deal with the personal problems that haunted Evans, according to the bio mentioned above.)

[mikeweil]

RIP

A real great musician, equally good on vibes or drums, small group or big band. Subtle with Bill Evans, powerful with the Clare Fischer big band. Always tasteful, and a real pro.

IIRC he was one of the first to feature Gary Burton on one of his LPs.

[Bill Fenohr]

Im sorry to hear about Larry's passing.

Mike, if you are referring to the Bunker/Burton dates from Shelly's Mannehole, they are both fine sides. I have one on a Japanese label and one on Vault. I dont know if they ever made it to cd, mine are both vinyl.

Larry was one of those players that when you saw his name on a date,either on drums or vibes, you knew you were going to get a nice performance.

[king ubu]

Sorry to hear this! Sad news

r.i.p.

[mikeweil]

Mike, if you are referring to the Bunker/Burton dates from Shelly's Mannehole, they are both fine sides. I have one on a Japanese label and one on Vault. I dont know if they ever made it to cd, mine are both vinyl.

Larry was one of those players that when you saw his name on a date,either on drums or vibes, you knew you were going to get a nice performance.

I have the Fresh Sound LP reissue of the Vault - not sure whether they also released a CD of this. Very collgeial move to feature Burton!

Didn't know there was a second LP.

Very well said - "a nice performance"!

How he fit in with Bill Evans on short notice when he visited California with Cuck Israels is a marvel!

[Bill Fenohr]

Now that i checked my stacks, there are two volumes of the Manne-Hole gig on Interplay records and the Vault lp.

I think Larry owned the tapes from that gig and licenced them to Interplay and Vault.

[Daniel A]

Bill, those Manne-Hole discs do sound interesting. Who else were playing on them besides Bunker and Burton?

[Bill Fenohr]

Daniel,

The quartet was Larry on cans, Burton on vibes, Mike Wofford piano and Bob West bass. They were recorded in Nov. & Dec. of 1963.

Looking at the Lord Disco i see the Interplay lp's were on cd at one time.

[Daniel A]

Thanks, Bill! I'll look out for these for sure.

[garthsj]

This was published in today's L A Times:

March 17, 2005

Larry Bunker, 76; Respected Drummer

By Jon Thurber, Times Staff Writer

Larry Bunker, a drummer and percussionist who played with a who's who of jazz giants and fashioned a busy career as a film musician, has died. He was 76.

Bunker died March 8 at Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from a recent stroke, said his wife, Brandyn.

A native of Long Beach, Bunker was musically inclined from an early age and was self-taught on piano, accordion, drums and saxophone. In 1946, he was accepted into the U.S. Army band and played drums and piano while serving at Ft. Ord until his discharge in 1948.

In the early 1950s, he played with trombonist Howard Rumsey at the fabled Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach. From then on, he played with the top names in jazz, including saxophonists Stan Getz, Art Pepper and Gerry Mulligan, and guitarist Barney Kessel. He was also a member of singer Peggy Lee's band.

He joined Bill Evans in 1964 for one of the pianist's better trios. In an interview with Down Beat magazine in 1964, Evans called Bunker a "marvelous musician."

"He plays excellent vibes as well as being an all-round percussionist, and being so musical he just does the right thing because he's listening," Evans said. "He really knows music, feels music - and is a superlative drummer."

Throughout his long career, Bunker was a highly sought-after studio musician for movies who worked with a number of leading film composers, including Henry Mancini, Alfred Newman, Miklos Rosza, Jerry Goldsmith, Johnny Mandel and John Williams. His first film was "Stalag 17" in 1953 and his last was "The Incredibles" in 2004.

He also was a timpanist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and, according to his family, performed on more than 30 Academy Awards programs, including the 77th in February. In his later life, he listened primarily to classical music.

According to the late critic Leonard Feather, Bunker's avocations included collecting and restoring antiques, repairing instruments and making custom instruments.

In addition to his wife, Bunker is survived by his daughter, Tracy; his brother, George; and a granddaughter.

[ghost of miles]

I completely missed this news... heard about it this morning from a friend of mine who works at a health-food co-op here (one of the joys of living in Bloomington--you walk into the downtown grocery store and can talk jazz with the guy behind the counter). Very sad to hear of this... somebody at AAJ said that he was also on Tom Waits' SWORDFISHTROMBONES.