Columnist Jerry Fink: Despite illness, Fontana still flashes legendary skills

Friday, Jan. 18, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@ lasvegassun.com or 259-4058.

Carl Fontana is one of the world's greatest trombone players, a gentle giant in his profession. Usually, as he waits for his part in a number, he meticulously oils his slide or puts the instrument on a stand and sits expressionless on a stool, looking like a musical Buddha -- and to many he is a god.

"At his peak, Carl was one of the top five in the world," said 70-year-old Ed Millar, who hosts a jazz program Wednesdays on KUNV 91.5-FM. "He doesn't play with the fire he once had, since Alzheimer's caught up with him, but even on a bad day he plays better than most good trombonists."

Millar was among the handful of fans listening to Fontana one recent Thursday evening at the Jazzed Cafe at West Sahara Avenue and South Durango Drive.

Because of failing health, the 73-year-old Fontana sometimes becomes disoriented and forgets where he is. He has even forgotten how to put his beloved trombone together. But once the slide is in place, as if by magic the legend can still play with the best of them.

Because of his condition, Fortuna is unable to drive and so family and friends and fellow musicians pick him up at the assisted living facility where he resides and escort Fontana wherever he needs to go.

Fontana performs at the Jazzed Cafe most Thursday nights, and sometimes he can be found playing Fridays with Irv Kluger's band at Pogo's on North Decatur Boulevard. Or he may be seen sitting and listening to jazz at any number of other clubs around Las Vegas.

He usually performs with Marv Koral and his All-Stars. During his performance the expression on his face never changes. An interview is all but impossible -- Fontanta rarely speaks, and when he does the words are usually "Yes," "No" and "What key?"

"He is the trombonist's trombonist," said UNLV music professor Ken Hanlon, who is himself a trombone player and for the past 10 years has been piecing together a book about Fontana.

Hanlon last talked to Fontana a month ago.

"His long-term memory is amazing," Hanlon said. "If there's a tune he doesn't know, I don't know what it is."

Hanlon has interviewed Fontana many times.

"Carl was never talkative," he said. "He's a guy who let his horn do his talking."

Hanlon said Fontana is different now than he was 10 years ago, "in terms of facility, not as far as musicality. The man is a natural. His musical ability will never leave. Carl at 80 percent is better than 99 percent of all living trombone players.

"You are dealing with a phenomenon. He is so incredible. It might be possible that Carl Fontana has never made a mistake."

Medical experts say it is not unusual for artists to cling to their art in such conditions.

"Words and language are things (Alzheimer's victims) forget early on," said Myra Davis, executive director of the Alzheimer's Association of Southern Nevada.

Davis described the fading memory as similar to peeling an onion, layer by layer.

"What happens is ... the latest thing remembered is the first thing forgetten," she said. "Many times musicians and other artists, as their memory is ripped away, their artistic ability -- their music or their art -- ends up being the way they communicate."

Kluger, who has known Fontana almost 40 years, continues to be amazed by the way the maestro of the trombone communicates.

"Carl is a monster musician," the 80-year-old Kluger said. "He's outstanding for his athleticism with the horn, his velocity of playing is almost supernatural."

Fellow trombonist Brian O'Shea was a teenager living in Scotland when he first heard Fontana.

"I saw him in Glasgow," O'Shea said. "It was 1957. He was with the Stan Kenton band. Carl is the guy who influenced me through the years more than anybody. His sound is different, more mellow than most trombonists.

"I aspired to be like him. I adopted that kind of playing, not loud, but very mellow, a smooth liquid sound. He developed the doodle tongue technique -- using a very soft tongue. He puts the bell right in the mike and plays very soft, like a whisper."

Everyone is amazed at Fontana's creativity. One of his major recordings was "If I Only Had a Brain," from the movie "The Wizard of Oz." His rendition added a cool feel to a song many fans considered corny.

And he recorded "America the Beautiful" with a bossa nova beat, which many of his admirers say is typical of the way Fontana's mind works -- or used to work.

Bassist Christopher Gordon has performed with Fontana off and on for about 12 years.

"I got to play with him when he was as good as he had ever been," Gordon said.

But he has watched Fontana's slow decline.

"It really started a couple of years ago, creeping up slowly," Gordon said.

He said Fontana had to move into an assisted living facility last year.

"He hates it. He can't stand it, but he needs to be there," Gordon said.

Gordon said his own grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's for almost 15 years.

"She didn't know who I was, but she could still harmonize the church music she learned as a child," he said. "Fortunately for Carl, it looks like music will be the last thing to go.

"He doesn't have the tone or the endurance he had, but his timing is flawless. It's amazing."

Sometimes, there is a miscue during a song.

"He does repeat himself, occasionally," Gordon said.

But that is a minor problem for a musician of Fontana's stature.

As Gordon said, "There is still a lot of wonderful music in the man."

Lounging around

Cole's career was launched when he was with the Buddy Rich band in the '60s. He also performed with Manhattan Transfer and many others, as well as having a stellar solo career. Also, impressionist/singer Bill Acosta at the mike.

"The last show in Branson starts at 8 (p.m.) and by 10 everything is closed," Seybold said. I'm going to do a show at 11. We'll be the only one in town doing business."