July 3, 1928 – November 12, 2022

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Multi-reedist Gene Cipriano passed away on Nov. 12, 2022, at the age of 94.

He was born on July 3, 1928, in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of a father who played clarinet in pit bands and later on Broadway.

Cipriano (who was known throughout his life as “Cip”), started playing the clarinet when he was eight, soon adding saxophone and flute; in his career, he would play tenor, alto, baritone, soprano and bass saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet, all of the flutes, piccolo, oboe, bass oboe, and English horn.

He gained experience playing in local bands in New Haven, moved to New York, worked with Claude Thornhill, Lee Konitz, Tony Pastor (with whom he made his recording debut in 1947), and Tex Beneke, and was a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra during 1952-53.

Cipriano became a very busy studio musician from that point on, playing in countless situations in films and television.

He played the flute for the Peter Gunn show, ghosted on tenor for Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot, and worked with such composers as Henry Mancini, Johnny Mandel, Michel Legrand, Neal Hefti, Andre Previn, and Lalo Schifrin.

Clip was considered part of Los Angeles’ Wrecking Crew; and he was also in the band for the Academy Awards show for 53 years.

One of the most recorded woodwind players in history (he was on thousands of dates), Cipriano was a very valuable section player who could take occasional solos on any of his instruments as he showed on jazz sessions with the who’s who of the West Coast jazz scene.

With all of that recording, it is surprising that Gene Cipriano only led one album of his own, the swinging two-CD set First Time Out in 2006.

He remained active into his nineties and was a beloved and good-humored personality.

Here is Gene Cipriano (who was then 84) on clarinet trading off with Terry Harrington as part of a Terry Gibbs all-star big band in 2012 playing “Lemon Drop.”

-Scott Yanow

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