CORCORAN, CORKY

Homebase: Tacoma, WA
Stats: 7/28/1924 - 10/3/1979
Misc Notes: Born in Tacoma in 1924, Gene Patrick “Corky” Corcoran was a natural sax soloist whom locals were admiring even as a kid. At age 15 he was “discovered” by a major touring bandleader, Jimmie Lunceford, and lured into a life on the road. By 17, Corcoran stepped up and joined the Harry James Orchestra—just in time to appear in various films and on The Chesterfield Hour. Corcoran was among the star players promoted on Chesterfield tobacco cards. During WWII—when manly-man G.I.s smoked butts like they were the equivalent of Popeye’s muscle-enhancing spinach—the tobacco industry’s ad campaigns resembled battle plans drawn up by generals. And part of the technique for pacifying civilians was to seduce them into the addictive habit by associating smoking with glamorous movie stars, radio singers, and vibrant young jazz musicians—like Corcoran, who died of cancer in Tacoma in 1979.

Note: Corcoran has been listed as possibly being the tenor saxman on this record:

Jazz At the Philharmonic
Philharmonic Auditorium, CA,
February 12, 1945
"Body and Soul" Billie Holiday (vocal); Howard McGhee (trumpet); possibly Willie Smith (alto sax); Illinois Jacquet, possibly Charlie Ventura and/or Corky Corcoran (tenor sax); Milt Raskin (piano); probably Dave Barbour (el-g); Charles Mingus (bass); Dave Coleman (drums);

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