Friday, October 19, 2012


CHARLIE BERTINI
 
from: thebeachsideresident.com
October 18, 2012
Charlie Bertini first began trumpet lessons at the age of nine in Cortland, NY and soon thereafter became active in marching band, concert band, orchestra, chorus, and conducting classes.

Eager to work professionally, he started his own dance band in the ninth grade, and at 19 joined the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus with whom he toured for six years as first trumpeter and later as musical director. The Circus relocated him to Florida where he began to play a variety of gigs — stage shows with nightclub performers like Al Martino, Mel Tormé, and Patti Page; Broadway shows; Dixieland show clubs; and freelance engagements at Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and Church Street Station in Orlando.

Orlando exerted such a strong pull on Bertini that he played for four years at Circus World Theme Park as first trumpeter and assistant conductor, a gig that prepared him for a year’s tour as musical director for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In demand as a first-call trumpeter, he has backed up artists such as Burt Bacharach, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mathis, and Ray Charles. He has also played on network TV specials for Walt Disney, the Ringling Bros. Circus, and PBS. His “AppleJazz” cable show from his 1995 AppleJazz concert was nominated for a CableAce Award for “Best Music Program for 1995.”

As a recording artist, Bertini has six solo albums under his belt, as well as two Christmas albums on Arbors Records that have become holiday jazz classics. He has also recorded 13 albums with Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band and has produced over 85 albums for other artists, with more in the works. If that weren’t enough, he is also a teacher, lecturer, a popular clinician, and the current executive director of the annual AppleJazz Festival held in upstate New York. Still based in Orlando, Bertini enjoys a variety of musical settings and challenges and continues to be one of the most versatile and respected trumpeters and producers in the industry.

Charlie Bertini performs on Friday, October 26 at Heidi’s Jazz Club with Terry Myers and the Ron Teixeira Trio from 8:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. Drop by Heidi’s at 7 N. Orlando Ave. in downtown Cocoa Beach for tickets, or call 783-4559.
 

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