PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia-born tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna died Sunday at the age of 86 after a long battle with heart disease.
McKenna was a masterful saxophonist and a king of a human being, said musician Elliot Levin. Levin has played saxophone on the stage of nearly every jazz venue in the city and with almost every well-known musician, including McKenna.
McKenna performed with greats like Frank Sinatra, Woody Herman, Tony Bennett and Shirley Scott. He was respected in the community as a teacher and mentor.
Levin said McKenna will be remembered for both his kindness and his structured playing technique.
“He was really a master of the more traditional form of jazz,” he said, “coming from bebop, and he was really very knowledgeable in that world.
“I know quite a few saxophonists around the city who spent time with him and studied with him, and I’ve never heard anything but admiration and respect for him.”
Levin said McKenna believed supporting peers was paramount in the music business. One night while Levin was struggling at his own concert, McKenna came through with some brotherly love and support.
“I walked off stage and who was sitting right in front there but Larry McKenna,” he remembered. “He had this big smile on his face and said, ‘Man, Elliot, that was really beautiful.’ That really affected me so much and turned me around. And then when we came back to play the second set, I really felt better.”
Levin said it’s an accomplishment to be in the Philly jazz scene for as long as McKenna was — and to do so without a single enemy. “His reputation as just being a very nice person, a good person, was universal. I never heard anyone speak anything bad about Larry.”
McKenna lived in the Olney section of Philadelphia for most of his career. He leaves behind his son, Matthew McKenna, who said his father died after a long battle with heart disease.