Charlie Barnet

Bandleader, born in New York City, New York, USA. He was a saxophonist from a New York socialite family who led his first band on the SS Republic (1929) and subsequently played on many Atlantic crossings for the Cunard and Red Star lines. In 1933 he formed a big band in New York, and the following year it became the first white orchestra to appear at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. His personal wealth enabled him to resist racial and musical barriers, and he became one of the first bandleaders to routinely employ African-American musicians and to perform compositions by Duke Ellington. He recorded his hit theme song ‘Cherokee’ (1939) and continued to lead an orchestra until he disbanded (1949). He occasionally formed bands for specific engagements in the 1950s and 1960s. His autobiography Those Swinging Years was published in 1984.

Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader.

He was one of the first bandleaders to integrate his band; Ellington once lent Barnet his charts after Barnet's had been destroyed in a fire.

Barnet was at the height of his popularity between 1939 and 1941, a period that began with his hit "Cherokee." During his swing period his band included Buddy DeFranco, Roy Eldridge, Neal Hefti, Lena Horne, Barney Kessel, Dodo Marmorosa, Oscar Pettiford, and Art House, while later versions of the band included Maynard Ferguson, Doc Severinsen, and Clark Terry.

In 1949 he retired, apparently because he had lost interest in music;