Buldrini, Frederick

Violinist who was a Naumburg competition winner in 1936 and parlayed that early success into a fascinating recording career, often gravitating toward jazz projects, and frequently playing with the greats. Case in point: Some of his early recordings include the Frank Sinatra compilations, The Best of the Columbia Years: 1943-1952 and The Columbia Years (1943-1952): The Complete Recordings, and The Divine Sarah Vaughan: The Columbia Years 1949-1953. (You get the feeling they liked him at Columbia.) In 1965, he worked on the aptly titled Ruth Brown '65, and helped Milton Nascimento display Courage in 1968. The end of the decade found him in the studio making Round Trip with Phil Woods. In 1970, he teamed up with Antonio Carlos Jobim on Stone Flower and Tide. Things got spiritual three years later with Jan Akkerman's Tabernakel. In 1975, he was in the strings section for Joe Beck's self-titled album, Beck. A year later, he was in the strings section for John Tropea's self-titled ablum, Tropea, and appeared on Bob James' Three and O'Donel Levy's Windows. In 1977, he hooked up with Maynard Ferguson on New Vintage and Earl Klugh on Living inside Your Love. The following year, he helped Jimmy Ponder All Things Beautiful, lent his string support to Phil Upchurch's eponymous album and Thijs Van Leer's Nice to Have Met You, and played violin on the soundtrack of The Wiz. In 1979, he was part of B. Baker Chocolate Co.'s delicious self-titled confection, and joined fellow violinist Noel Pointer on his laconically titled Feel It. He opened the 1980s by accompanying Aretha Franklin on Aretha and getting Naughty with Chaka Khan, as well as appearing on the soundtrack of Fame. Another famous female with whom he recorded during this time was Janis Ian, making the cut on Souvenirs: Best of Janis Ian 1972-1981. 1982 was another busy year, Sharing Your Love with Change, recording Little Jazz Bird with Meredith d'Ambrosio, going Incognito with Spyro Gyra, and playing in the string section on Luther Vandross's Forever, For Always, For Love. He joined forces with jazz guitarist George Benson on his 1983 release, In Your Eyes. In 1985, he played violin on two vastly different projects, the original Broadway cast recording of Les Miserables, and Philip Glass's three-act opera, Satyagraha. A year later, he returned to jazz, with George Shearing & Barry Tuckwell Play the Music of Cole Porter. You can walk into just about any record store today and find the CD shelves brimming with recordings featuring Frederick Buldrini, from Carly Simon's Spy to the original Broadway cast recording of Chess and Hugh Montenegro's massive series, Overture: American Musical Theatre, a four-volume set that spans the years from 1924 through 1966.

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