Phil Bodner

Philip L. Bodner (June 13, 1917 – February 24, 2008) was an American multi-instrumentalist and studio musician, active in jazz and popular music idioms. Best known as a reedist, he played clarinet, saxophone, oboe, English horn, and flute. Bodner was born in Waterbury, Connecticut and played in the 1940s and 1950s as a sideman for studio recordings in New York City; he did jazz sessions with Benny Goodman in 1958 and with Miles Davis and Gil Evans in 1958. He organized The Brass Ring, a group modeled after Herb Alpert, which had popular success in the mid-1960s, and also played with Oliver Nelson and J.J. Johnson in that decade. Associations in the 1970s included Oscar Peterson, Yusef Lateef, Peanuts Hucko, Wild Bill Davison, and Ralph Sutton. Bodner also played the signature piccolo part on the international disco hit "The Hustle" by Van McCoy. He worked in a swing style with Marty Napoleon, Mel Lewis, and George Duvivier in the 1980s, and also played with Maxine Sullivan and Barbara Carroll. He released an album under his own name, Jammin' at Phil's Place, on Jazzmania Records in 1990, with Milt Hinton, Bobby Rosengarden, and Derek Smith as sidemen. Other work in the 1970s included playing with Ralph Sutton and Johnny Varro, working with Mingus Epitaph, and arranging Louie Bellson's tribute to Duke Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige. Bodner died on February 24, 2008 at age 90.