Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) DeFranco was raised in South Philadelphia. He was playing the clarinet by the time he was nine years old and within five years had won a national Tommy Dorsey swing contest.
He began his professional career just as swing music and big bands—many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman—were in decline. While most jazz clarinet players did not adapt to this change, DeFranco successfully continued to play clarinet exclusively, and was one of the few bebop clarinetists.
In 1950, DeFranco spent a year with Count Basie's septet.
He was bandleader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1966 to 1974,
Awards and honors
DeFranco won twenty awards from DownBeat magazine, nine awards from Metronome, and sixteen Playboy All-Stars awards.