Buddy Arnold

Who was Buddy Arnold?

Arnold Buddy Grishaver, better known as Buddy Arnold, was an American jazz saxophonist.

Arnold played in Joe Marsala's and Georgie Auld's bands in the 1940s before serving in the Army from 1944 to 1946. Following this he played with Herbie Fields, Buddy Rich, George Williams, and Claude Thornhill in the late 1940s before leaving active performance to study music and economics at Columbia University. In 1951 he began playing regularly again, touring with Buddy DeFranco, then worked with Jerry Wald, Tex Beneke, Elliot Lawrence, Stan Kenton, and Neal Hefti. His debut release as a leader, Wailing, was issued on Paramount Records in 1956; he did further work for the label with Phil Sunkel.

Arnold's career was sporadic after the mid-1950s, due in no small part to continuing problems with drug addiction. In 1958, Arnold was imprisoned for attempted burglary, but returned in 1960 after his sentence ended to play with Kenton and Tommy Dorsey.