Carl Fontana is considered a phenomenon. More than even the supreme compliment one can pay: The trombonists' trombonist!
"Carl at 80% is better than 99% of all living trombone players"
He devised a technique considered "a self-defense against saxophone players."

While Fontana may produce technical fireworks on the trombone, it is his  lyrical playing that melts people's hearts. The words of his dad, Collie, best express Carl's philosophy of ballad playing: "Whenever you play a ballad, play it as if you were talking to your best girl."
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OBITUARIES
CARL FONTANA, 75: INNOVATIVE JAZZ TROMBONIST

Los Angeles Times
From Staff and Wire Reports
October 11, 2003

Carl Fontana, a jazz trombonist who created a technique called "doodle tonguing" and once played with Woody Herman and Duke Ellington, died Thursday in Las Vegas. He was 75.

Though slowed by Alzheimer's disease, Fontana continued to play almost until his death, said his brother, Michael "Mickey" Fontana.

Fontana called his technique "a self-defense against saxophone players." It let trombonists play extremely fast and cleanly, said Jeremy Davis, leader of the Equinox Jazz Orchestra.

"The trombone is a different instrument after that guy," Davis told the News-Star in Monroe, La. "He raised the bar and set the standard."

Fontana was born in Monroe and got his start with a dance band headed by his father, Charles "Collie" Fontana, a saxophonist.

"My dad put a horn in his hand when he was about 6 years old," Michael Fontana said. Another brother, George "Bootsie" Fontana, said, "That's about all he ever wanted to do — play music."

Fontana graduated from Neville High School and was pursuing a master's degree from Louisiana State University when jazz master Woody Herman invited him to join the Third Herd. Fontana toured with Herman, Stan Kenton and Kai Winding for several years, performing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show" and at Carnegie Hall.

In 1957, he settled in Las Vegas.

"I was on the road with the alto saxophonist Al Belletto and we came to Vegas for a gig," Fontana told the Herald of London in 1999. "I just decided to stay. I was tired of the road, and there was a lot of work back then."

In Las Vegas, he played with Ellingson, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra.

Ken Hanlon, a music professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where Fontana gave workshops, called him a phenomenon.

"Carl at 80% is better than 99% of all living trombone players," Hanlon said

Fontana is survived by his two brothers, two sons, a daughter and eight grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

Carl Fontana, 75; Innovative Jazz Trombonist
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/
la-me-fontana11oct11,1,5860467.story?coll=la-news-obituaries
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Carl Fontana: the trombonists' trombonist
by Ken Hanlon trombonist and UNLV Music Professor

During the second week of January while attending the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Annual Conference, I was standing in line in a fast-food restaurant when the two young college men in front of me turned around and recognized my IAJE T-shirt. They asked me how I was enjoying the conference, which they were also attending. I responded that I was enjoying it very much and that I was especially looking forward to interviewing Al Belletto, whose big band was scheduled to perform at the conference, for a biography of Carl Fontana on which I was working.

    One of the young men enthusiastically reacted with "Carl Fontana! He's my favorite jazz trombonist. I saw him a few years ago and had no idea who he was then, but the minute that I heard him play I was an instant fan."

    Reactions of this sort are also common among jazz professionals and afficionados everywhere. Ask jazz trombonist Bill Watrous who his favorite trombonist is and he will immediately answer: "Carl Fontana!" L.A. trombonist Bob McChesney was so impressed with Carl that he wrote a method book on "doodle tonguing," a technique invented by Fontana, in his words, "in self-defense against tenor saxophone players." (With doodle tonguing it is considerably easier to play rapidly and cleanly on the trombone, thus making it easier to keep up with pyrotechnical tenor saxophonists.) Perhaps one of the more humorous and endearing reactions comes from trombonist/vocalist Bob Flanagan of the Four Freshmen who has turned to me on more than one occasion when we were listening to Carl and laughingly said, "Don't you just hate this guy?"

    Carl Charles Fontana was born in Monroe, Louisiana, on July 18, 1928, the son of band leader/saxophonist/violinist Collie Fontana, in whose band Carl played during his teen years. Unlike many young musicians in the '30s and '40s who opted to go right from high school into touring musical groups, Carl attended the two-year school in his home town (now University of Northeast Louisiana) and then transferred to LSU where he received his Bachelor's degree and finished nearly all of the requirements for a Master's as well, before receiving a phone call from Woody Herman that eventually led to a three year stint with the Third Herd in a trombone section that included the Green brothers, Urbie and Jack.

    From there he moved on to engagements with Al Belletto, Lionel Hampton, Hal McIntyre, Stan Kenton and Kai Winding before becoming a permanent resident of Las Vegas. Fontana has recorded albums with nearly every group mentioned above, plus the World's Greatest Jazz Band, Supersax and Georgie Auld. As a leader or co-leader, Carl has recorded albums with Jake Hanna, Al Cohn, Jiggs Whigham, Arno Marsh, Andy Martin and his own quartet.

In the last few years, he has appeared as guest soloist on CDs featuring Bobby Shew, Paul McKee, Bill Trujillo and vocalist Joni Janak. Considered a virtuoso by musicans everywhere, Fontana is not only a model for younger players, but is also an inspiration to the other musicans who share the bandstand with him. Like a great actor who brings out the best in fellow thespians, Carl raises the bar for all who perform with him and they in turn rise to the greater musical expectations.

    Perhaps jazz chronicler and critic Leonard Feather best expresses Fontana's place in the lineage of jazz trombonists: "Fontana has long been regarded as the most fluid, innovative trombonist after J. J. Johnson--a modern trombonist with exceptional technique and ideas." In the collective opinion of his fans, while he may produce technical fireworks on the trombone, it is his lyrical playing that melts their hearts. The words of his dad, Collie, best express Carl's philosophy of ballad playing: "Whenever you play a ballad, play it as if you were talking to your best girl." May he serenade us all for many years to come!

Carl Fontana Profile
http://vegasjazz.org/fontanaprofile.html

Carl Fontana: The Trombonists' Trombonist
http://www.ita-web.org/journal/PDF/fontana.pdf