Monty Budwig, 62; Veteran L.A. Jazz Bass Player

Monty Budwig, a figure on the Los Angeles jazz scene since his high school days and an alumnus of the Benny Goodman and Woody Herman bands, among others, died Monday night at his Eagle Rock home.

Lou Levy, a pianist and longtime friend, said the veteran bass player was 62 and lost a monthlong fight with liver cancer.

Born in Pender, Neb., to musical parents, Budwig studied the bass while in high school in Los Angeles. He played with Vido Musso and in the early 1950s with the U.S. Air Force band after enlisting and attending band school.

He returned to Los Angeles in 1954 and joined the Barney Kessel and Zoot Sims combos before working with Herman and Goodman.

Budwig played and recorded with Shelley Manne, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee and others.

Most recently he had been recording with Herb Alpert, Levy said, for an album yet to be released and last month played with the Joe Pass quartet in Northern California.

Survivors include his wife, Arlette, and a son, Darin. Funeral arrangements are pending.