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Robert Roland Chudnick, known professionally as Red Rodney, was an American jazz trumpeter born on September 27, 1927, in Philadelphia. He began his career at 15, playing with big bands including those led by Jerry Wald, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. Inspired by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, Rodney transitioned to bebop and joined Parker's quintet in 1949, often billed as "Albino Red" to avoid prejudice. He recorded extensively during this period and faced challenges due to heroin addiction, which led to periods of absence from jazz. In the late 1970s, he reunited with Ira Sullivan and performed with Dizzy Gillespie. As a band leader, he released several albums, including Bird Lives! (1974) and Social Call with Charlie Rouse in 1984. Rodney also worked as an adviser for Bird, a movie about Charlie Parker directed by Clint Eastwood. He died on May 27, 1994, from lung cancer.
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