Orloff, Gene (1922/3-23rd March 2009)

Violinist who graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1931 and went on to become the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. He also appeared on a staggering number of albums. One of his first performances took place on 10^th May 1939. He performed Paul Creston’s “Partita for Flute, Violin and Strings, Op. 12” with the New York Phil-Sym String Orchestra at the American Women’s Association.

His recording career dates back to the 1950s. He recorded several sides with Tony Bennett, including “Stranger in Paradise”. The balance of the decade was spent recording with the likes of Cannonball Adderley, Ruth Brown, Conte Candoli, Harry Carney, Chris Connor, Eartha Kitt, Lou Levy, Charlie Parker, and Ben Webster.

In 1960, he appeared on the Mercury album, Frederick Fennell Conducts Cole Porter & George Gershwin, and recorded “A Taste of Honey” with Bobby Scott. He did a pair of albums with Benny Golson, Just Jazz! and Pop + Jazz = Swing. In 1963, he served as concertmaster on Loads of Love by Shirley Horn and appeared on a pair of Wes Montgomery albums, Fusion! andIn the Wee Small Hours. Wes would continue to use him on other albums such as Bumpin’, A Day in the Life, Down Here on the Ground, Just Walkin’, and Tequila. In 1969, Gene was the music supervisor for the movie Joe and appeared on Dusty Springfield’s popular crossover album, Dusty in Memphis.

He opened the 1970s with Louis Armstrong and His Friends. In 1971, he appeared on Don McLean’s breakthrough album, American Pie. He served as concertmaster on Bette Midler’s self-titled album and had the distinction of performing on one of the longest-titled albums ever, The Dissection and Reconstruction of Music from the Past as Performed by the Inmates of Lalo Schifrin’s Demented Ensemble as a Tribute to the Memory of the Marquis de Sade. More concise was Bob James’ One.

In 1974, he collaborated with Richard Harris and Arif Mardin on The Prophet. He appeared on two of Faith, Hope & Charity’s eponymous records, in 1975 and 1978. Van McCoy also employed his services on African Symphony, Disco Baby, From Disco to Love, Lonely Dancer, The Real McCoy, Rhythms of the World, and Van McCoy and His Magnificent Movie Machine. As concertmaster, Gene was instrumental, pun intended, in helping to create the final, polished sound of Van’s blockbuster disco hit, “The Hustle”. He also recorded with a Beatle, on Ringo’s Rotogravure, and several Muppets, on Sesame Street Fever.

Other ’70s albums on which he appeared include: the Bee Gees’ Main Course; C’est Chic; Aretha Franklin’s La Diva; Janis Ian’s Between the Lines; Chaka Khan’s Chaka; The Manhattan Transfer; Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell; Peaches & Herb; Sister Sledge’s We Are Family; and, Stuff It!, on which he plays the violin solo on “Gordon’s Theme”. (Gene was a member of ensembles for so much of his life that people were astounded by what a good soloist he was.)

In 1980, he appeared on Chaka Khan’s Naughty album and Diana Ross’s self-titled Diana. This found him working with Chic producers Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers again and they used his services on Tongue in Chic. He collaborated with Frank Sinatra and Sylvia Syms on Syms by Sinatra and continued his work with the Bee Gees on Living Eyes in 1981 and Heartbreaker by Dionne Warwick in 1982. In the late ’80s, he was in the pit band for the Broadway production of Les Miserables and appeared on the original Broadway cast album in 1989.

In 1990, he double-tasked as concertmaster and conductor on Some People’s Lives by Bette Midler. He returned to the orchestra pit in 1991 for the original cast recordings of Secret Garden and Will Rogers Follies. In 1992, he did another turn with Chic on Chic-ism. He helped accompany Irene Worth on her 1993 spoken-word album, Her Infinite Variety: Women of Shakespeare. In 1995, The Scandinavian Suite No. 1 by Gene DiNovi appeared on CD. DiNovi wrote this piece for Gene in 1958 because he loved his solo playing and wanted to hear him perform something in a Swedish idiom.

Much of Gene’s output in the ’90s and beyond consists of re-masterings and re-packagings, but there are some original recordings to be found in the mix, such as Jewel’s Joy: A Holiday Collection, and Britney Spears’ Oops!… I Did it Again.

Gene passed away in 2009. There is no dearth of his recordings to be found, and the lists above comprise only a thumbnail sketch of his total output. In memoriam, his name graces the Eugene Orloff Auditorium at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, New York.

Van McCoy recordings
The Shuffle (Van McCoy)
That’s the Joint (Richard Harris/Van McCoy)

Diana Ross recordings
Give Up (Bernard Edwards/Nile Rodgers)
Motown (M 1491F) (US 45)

He performs here with Coleman Hawkins….

Sources:

Orloff, Gene (1922/3-23rd March 2009)

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