Frank Rehak

Frank Rehak was an American jazz trombonist and Broadway performer born on July 6, 1926, in New York City. He died on June 22, 1987, in Badger, California, at the age of 60, from throat cancer.

Rehak began his musical training on piano and cello before transitioning to trombone. His career placed him among the most active session and ensemble trombonists of the 1950s and 1960s, with collaborations spanning some of the most significant figures in jazz. He worked alongside Gil Evans and Miles Davis, appearing as a sideman on Davis recordings including Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, and Sketches of Spain, all released on Columbia. He also participated in the television broadcast The Sounds of Miles Davis. His association with Evans extended to recordings such as New Bottle Old Wine and The Individualism of Gil Evans.

Beyond his work with Davis and Evans, Rehak contributed as a sideman to recordings by Dizzy Gillespie, including World Statesman, Dizzy in Greece, and Gillespiana. He appeared on sessions with Woody Herman across multiple editions of the Herd, as well as on recordings with Quincy Jones, Gene Krupa, Tony Bennett, Al Cohn, and Hugo Montenegro, among many others. As a leader, he recorded the Frank Rehak Sextet session released on Jazzville Vol. 2 for the Dawn label in 1957.

In 1957, Rehak appeared on Broadway in the musical Copper and Brass. That same year he recorded with Art Blakey, Bob Brookmeyer, and several other prominent jazz musicians, reflecting the breadth of his activity during that period.

His personal life included a marriage to nightclub dancer Jerri Gray, which ended in failure, and a struggle with heroin addiction that, combined with financial difficulties, contributed to his gradual withdrawal from the music world. He spent time at Synanon, a rehabilitation organization, an experience that earned him a mention in Art Pepper's autobiography. Rehak spent his final years in relative obscurity before his death in Badger, California.