Chester Conn (né Master Chester Cohn; April 14, 1894 in San Francisco, California – April 4, 1973 in Flushing, Queens) was an American composer of popular music and music publisher.^[1]

Early life and career

Chester was born to David Cohn and Minnie (née Newman; 1871–1946).^[2] At an early age, Chester was raised by his mother, who had become a widow sometime before 1900. In 1918, Cohn was working for Broadway Music Corp^{[lower-alpha 1]} in New York.^[3] In 1922, Cohn was working for Leo Feist, Inc., in its Chicago office.^[4] In 1937, Conn co-founded the New York music publishing of Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc. ("BVC"). The other name partners were Jack Bregman (né Joseph Bregman; 1901–1967) and Rocco Vocco (1887–1960). Chester Conn's only child, a son, Jack D. Conn (1926–1966), had been an executive at BVC. Given that Bregman, Vocco, and Jack Conn all predeceased Chester, Chester sold the firm in May 1967 to 20th Century Fox for 4.5 million dollars in cash.^[5]

Selected works

Conn's best-known song is the jazz standard "Sunday" (Jule Styne, Ned Miller, Benny Krueger, lyrics; ©1926).^{[lower-roman 1]} The Jazz Discography Online, as of June 2017, lists 497 recording sessions for "Sunday" – from 1926 to 2015.^[6] Other songs include "My Suppressed Desire" (Ned Miller, lyrics; ©1928), "Outside of Heaven" (Sammy Gallop, lyrics; ©1952), "Just Like Before" (co-composed with Bill Huston and Sammy Gallop; ©1953),^{[lower-roman 2][lower-roman 3]} "I Don't Think You Love Me Anymore" (Sammy Gallop, lyrics; ©1953),^{[lower-roman 4]} "Make Her Mine" (Sammy Gallop, lyrics; ©1954),^{[lower-roman 5]} "Forgive My Heart" (Sammy Gallop, lyrics; ©1955), "Night Lights" (Sammy Gallop, co-composer; ©1956), "It's None of My Affair" (Sam Gallop, lyrics; ©1957), "Time To Go Home" (Sam Gallop, lyrics; ©1958),^{[lower-roman 6]} "Blue Waltz (La Valse Bleue)" (1960), "Anything I Do" (co-composed with George Douglas; ©1965),^{[lower-roman 7]} "Oh Well", and "Because You Lied."

Performers of Conn's work

The performers who have recorded Conn's songs include Nat King Cole, John Coltrane, Eddie Fisher, Coleman Hawkins, Milt Jackson, Carmen McRae, Gerry Mulligan, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Clark Terry, and Ben Webster, Lester Young.

Death

Chester Conn died of a heart attack April 4, 1973, while living in Flushing, Queens, aged 78. He was stricken at the Aqueduct Racetrack. Conn was survived by his wife, Grace (née Grace Belle Goodman; 1885–1978), whom he married May 1, 1921, in Chicago. He was also survived as daughter-in-law, Ella Conn (née Raffaella Nardino; 1928–2010), and a grandson, Brian Conn (born 1961). Ella Conn (Chester's daughter-in-law) was an aunt to Gary Nardino (1935-1998), a notable Hollywood TV and film director, producer, and industry executive.

References

External links

• Chester Conn at AllMusic