Don Abney; Jazz Pianist, Studio Musician

Don Abney, 76, jazz pianist and studio musician who appeared in the 1955 movie “Pete Kelly’s Blues.” Abney began playing with the Bubby Johnson Band in clubs in his native Baltimore, and then played French horn with the Army Band during his military service. In 1947, he moved to New York to attend the Manhattan School of Music and join the Terry Gibbs Trio, performing in Greenwich Village. Abney worked with the National Broadcasting Co. and, in the 1960s, as a studio musician at Universal. In addition to “Pete Kelly’s Blues,” he appeared in the film “Cinder Ella” with Ella Fitzgerald. He recorded and performed with Fitzgerald and such other stars as Pearl Bailey, Rosemary Clooney, Jack Jones and Benny Carter. With stellar singers, he toured Europe and Japan as well as the United States and appeared with Bailey at the White House. On Jan. 20 in Los Angeles of a heart attack.