Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 2… Read Full Bio ↴Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an American jazz clarinet player.

DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman — were in decline. While most jazz clarinet players did not adapt to this change, DeFranco successfully continued to play clarinet exclusively, and was one of the few bebop clarinetists.

In 1950, DeFranco spent a year with Count Basie's Septet.

He then led a small combo in the early 1950s which included pianist Sonny Clark and guitarist Tal Farlow.

In this period, DeFranco recorded for MGM Records, Norgran and Verve, the latter two labels were owned by Norman Granz.

He was bandleader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1966 to 1974, under the name, "The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, Directed By Buddy DeFranco".

He also performed with Gene Krupa, Charlie Barnet, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and many others, and released dozens of albums as a leader.

Discography:

As leader:

Mr. Clarinet (as the Buddy DeFranco Quartet) with Art Blakey, Milt Hinton, Kenny Drew, 1953
Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson Play George Gershwin, 1954
Cooking the Blues with Sonny Clark, Tal Farlow, Gene Wright, Bobby White, 1954
Sweet and Lovely with Sonny Clark, Tal Farlow, Gene Wright, Bobby White, 1954
Generalissimo with Harry "Sweets" Edison, Bob Hardaway, Jimmy Rowles, Barney Kessel, Curtis Counce, Alvin Stoller, 1958
Plays Nelson Riddle's Cross Country Suite, 1958
Live Date! with Herbie Mann, Bob Hardaway, Victor Feldman, Pete Jolly, Barney Kessel, Scott LaFaro, Frank DeVito, 1958
Blues Bag with Victor Feldman, Curtis Fuller, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Freddie Hill, Victor Sproles, 1964
Do You Want To Dance with The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, Directed By Buddy DeFranco, 1969
Free Fall with Victor Feldman, John Chiodini, Joe Cocuzzo, Victor Sproles, 1974
Like Someone in Love with Tal Farlow, Derek Smith, George Duvivier, Ronnie Bedford, 1977
Jazz Party: First Time Together with Terry Gibbs, 1981, Palo Alto Records
Hark with Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Martin Drew, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, 1985
Holiday for Swing with John Campbell, Terry Gibbs, Todd Coolman, Gerry Gibbs, 1988
Born to Swing! with Al Grey, Lin Biviano, Dave Cooper, 1988
Nobody Else But Me, 1989
Chip off the Old Bop with Jimmy Cobb, Keter Betts, Joe Cohn, Larry Novak, 1992
Buenos Aires Concerts with Jorge Navarro, 1995
Mr. Lucky, Live album with Albert Dailey, George Duvivier, Ronnie Bedford, Joe Cohn, 1981/1997
Gone with the Wind with Todd Coolman, Jerry Coleman, 1999
Do Nothing Till You Hear from Us with Dave McKenna, Joe Cohn, 1999
Cookin' the Books with Butch Miles, John Pizzarelli, Martin Pizzarelli, Raymond Louis Kennedy, 2004
Wailers with Harry "Sweets" Edison, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Rowles, 2006

Rose Room
Buddy DeFranco Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I want to take you to a little room
A little room where all the roses bloom
I want to lead you into Nature's hall
Where ev'ry year the roses give a ball
They have an orchestra up in the trees
For their musicians are the birds and bees
And they will sing us a song
As we are strolling along

In sunny Roseland, where summer breezes are playing
Where the honey bees are "A-Maying"
There all the roses are swaying
Dancing while the meadow brook flows
The moon when shining is more than ever designing
For 'tis ever then I am pining
Pining to be sweetly reclining
Somewhere in Roseland
Beside a beautiful rose

The ball is over and tulips meet
Their little kisses are so short and sweet
The lilies nod to the forget-me-nots
When they're departing in their flower pots
But all the roses with their spirits high
Remain to love until they droop and die
And dear, why shouldn't it be
Just so with you and with me

In sunny Roseland, where summer breezes are playing
Where the honey bees are "A-Maying"
There all the roses are swaying
Dancing while the meadow brook flows
The moon when shining is more than ever designing
For 'tis ever then I am pining
Pining to be sweetly reclining

Somewhere in Roseland
Beside a beautiful rose

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Buddy De Franco's song Rose Room are an invitation to a beautiful hidden paradise, a room where all the roses bloom and nature reigns supreme. The singer is inviting a loved one to join them in this room, where the roses "give a ball" every year and where musicians are the birds and bees. The song paints a picture of a magical place where the summer breezes are playing, the honey bees are busily buzzing, and the roses are swaying to the rhythm of the meadow brook. The singer expresses a yearning to be in this place, reclining beside a beautiful rose, and pining for the moment when the moon is shining the brightest.

The metaphorical language in the song suggests that the room is a place of love, and the roses represent the sweetness of love that blooms and eventually droops and dies. The ball is a symbol of the fleeting nature of life, but the beauty of love, like the roses, remains constant. The singer seems to be suggesting that, even though nothing lasts forever, the beauty of love and nature can endure.

Overall, the lyrics to Rose Room are a romantic invitation to a hidden paradise, where the beauty of nature and the joy of love can be experienced in their purest form.

Rose RoomBuddy DeFranco Lyrics

Rose Room
Buddy DeFranco Lyrics