Al Klink

Al Klink (December 28, 1915 in Danbury, Connecticut – March 7, 1991 in Bradenton, Florida) was an American swing jazz tenor saxophonist.

Career

Klink played with Glenn Miller from 1939 to 1942, and is heard trading solos with Tex Beneke on the most well-known version of "In the Mood". When Miller started playing in the U.S. military, Klink played with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, and did work as a session musician after World War II. From 1952 to 1953 he played with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra. In 1955, he recorded his only session as a bandleader, doing six songs for a Bob Alexander album which won a Grammy award. In the late 60's to early 70's, he was a tenor saxophone doubler on the staff of NBC's Tonight Show Band under Doc Severinsen where he was an occasional featured soloist. After the 1950s he disappeared from the record until 1974, when he began playing with the World's Greatest Jazz Band. Later in the 1970s he played with Glenn Zottola and George Masso, and continued playing until the mid-1980s, when he retired in Florida. He died there in 1991.