Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992)^[1] was an American tenor saxophonist and bandleader from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

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Charlie Ventura
Charlie Ventura, c. October 1946
Background information
Birth name	Charles Venturo
Born	(1916-12-02)December 2, 1916 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 17, 1992(1992-01-17) (aged 75) Pleasantville, New Jersey
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Saxophone
Years active	1940s–1980s

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During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands of Gene Krupa and Teddy Powell.^[2] In 1945 he was named best tenor saxophonist by DownBeat magazine.^[2][3] He led a band which included Conte Candoli, Bennie Green, Boots Mussulli, Ed Shaughnessy, Jackie Cain, and Roy Kral.^[2] He led big bands in the 1940s and 1950s and formed the Big Four with Buddy Rich, Marty Napoleon, and Chubby Jackson.^[2] He was a sideman with Krupa through the 1960s, then worked in Las Vegas with comedian Jackie Gleason.^[2] In 1992 he died of lung cancer.^[2]

• Stomping with the Sax (Crystalette, 1950)
• Gene Norman Presents a Charlie Ventura Concert (Decca, 1953)
• F.Y.I. (EmArcy, 1954)
• In Concert (GNP, 1954)
• An Evening with Charlie Ventura and Mary Ann McCall (Norgran, 1954)
• Another Evening with Charlie Ventura and Mary Ann McCall (Norgran, 1954)
• Jumping with Ventura (EmArcy, 1955)
• An Evening with Mary Ann McCall and Charlie Ventura (Norgran, 1955)
• Charlie Ventura's Carnegie Hall Concert (Norgran, 1955)
• The New Charlie Ventura in Hi-Fi (Baton, 1956)
• Plays Hi-Fi Jazz (Tops, 1957)
• Crazy Rhythms (Regent, 1957)
• Adventure with Charlie (King, 1957)
• Here's Charlie (Brunswick, 1957)
• East of Suez (Regent, 1958)
• A Battle of Saxes (King, 1959)
• Plays for the People (Craftsmen, 1960)
• Live at the 3 Deuces! (Phoenix Jazz, 1975)
• Aces at the Deuces (Phoenix Jazz, 1976)