Paul Faulise

Paul Faulise, 88, of River Vale, NJ, passed away on Sunday, July 5th, 2020. He is survived by his beloved wife of 58 years, Karen; his children, Noelle Beckemeyer and her husband Tim, Sheryl Kilby and her husband Jim and his grandchildren Nicole, Kyle, Jake and Shane.

Paul could readily be described as a Renaissance Man. In addition to a highly successful 60+ year career in virtually every aspect of the music business, he found time to write bass trombone instruction books, and had a passion for wine, photography, and the latest technology, all while being a devoted husband and loving father.

A native of Buffalo, NY, he studied the tenor trombone in high school before switching to the bass trombone in his senior year. He played with the Buffalo Philharmonic before being drafted into the Army. While serving in Europe, he toured with the Seventh Army Symphony. After being discharged in 1956 he moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music. It was at this time that he began playing with the big bands of Les Elgart and Billy May.

Paul first became known to jazz audiences for his work with Kai Winding's trombone group. He can be heard on recordings of such jazz luminaries as Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Peterson, Art Farmer, JJ Johnson, Jimmy Smith, Paul Desmond, Charlie Mingus and Bill Evans.

Paul has been one of the most in demand studio musicians, having performed on countless jingles, feature films and TV sound tracks. On staff at NBC he spent ten years in Johnny Carson's Tonight Show Band before the program moved to Los Angeles.

Paul has recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Paul Anka as well as many others. He also toured with Frank Sinatra and performed on two world tours with Gene Harris and the Philip Morris Super Band.

During the course of his diverse career, he played many Broadway shows, among them No Strings, The Music Man, The Will Rogers Follies and Beauty and the Beast.

In 1987 and 1989 he had the honor of being named "Most Valuable Player" by the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

The family will receive guests at Becker Funeral Home, 219 Kinderkamack Rd., Westwood, NJ on Monday, July 13th from 4-7pm with a celebration of his life and military service following. In lieu of flowers, donations in Paul's memory can be made to the Musicians' Emergency Relief Fund at Erf.local802afm.org/donate or by check to Emergency Relief Fund Attn: Andrew Schwartz, PO Box 153, Local 802 AFM, 322 W. 48th Street, NYC, NY 10036.