from Bob Diedrich:
Charles McCarty was born in January of 1920. He grew up listening to his father sing the show tunes and pop songs of the day. Charlie sang them too. His father pointed out that the words were as important as the music, something Charlie never forgot. He probably knew the words to every song he knew.
When Charlie was in high school, he got a job at CBS as an usher. He had a lot of free time, so he would find an empty room, and practice his trumpet. One day one of the staff musicians at CBS, a trumpet player, said, “Hey kid, you don’t sound bad, who you studying with?” When Charlie said, “nobody” the musician wrote on a piece of paper, handed it to Charlie, and said, “Here, go buy this music, come back to me, and I’ll teach you”.
Charlie did, the musician did, and that’s pretty much how Charlie became a musician.
When WWII started, he enlisted in an army band. When the war ended and he got out of the band, he started playing club dates. Somebody recommended him to a new band going into The Stork Club, the most famous nightclub of the era. Charlie was the right man for the job. He knew all the songs, and he could, and did, sing every one of them. Furthermore, he sang every song in the original key, so any pianist could work with him.
After the Stork Club, he became one of the busiest club date players. About the last 30 years of his career, Charlie was the first sub leader for Lester Lanin, probably the best job in the club date business. He played parties for the Royalty of England and most of the rest of Europe, representing Lester Lanin. They all loved him.
A few years after he retired, he started having a jam session once a week in his apartment, and we discovered he had a real feel for jazz, and his rhythm was impeccable.
He died Friday, August 28th, 2015. We will miss you, Charlie.