Milt Bernhart

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Milt Bernhart (born 1926 in Valparaiso, Indiana; died January 22, 2004 in Glendale, California) was a jazz trombonist who worked with Stan Kenton, Frank Sinatra, and others.

He began on tuba, but switched to trombone in high school. At 16 he worked in Boyd Raeburn's band and later had some "gigs" with Teddy Powell. After time in the United States Army he worked, off and on, with Stan Kenton for the next ten years. He is perhaps most associated with Kenton, but in 1955 he had his first album as a leader. In 1986 he was elected President of the Big Band Academy of America.^[1]

Although known as "mild-mannered" or humorous his brief period with Benny Goodman was one area that brought out his ire. He indicates working with Goodman was "the bottom", except for basic training in the Army, of his first 23 years of life. He called Goodman a "bore" and claimed he did nothing about the treatment Wardell Gray faced at a segregated club in Las Vegas. He even alleges that he quit because Goodman publicly humiliated Gray in front of an audience.^[2]

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