Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Surprise meSurprise meSubscribe
Encyclopedia

Gene Orloff

American jazz violinist (1921-2009)

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
4 min read
Source updated September 8, 2026

Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921, March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician.

01Background

The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from the piano and try to play it. He was only three at the time. By the time he was five, he was playing recitals in his home city of Boston. Later, he was playing concerts at venues which included performances at Carnegie Hall and with the Boston Symphony. Having won a scholarship at the Curtis Institute of Music, he left due to the schedule and found work as a commercial musician and, on occasion, was working 15 hours per day.

During his time, the artists that Orloff performed with included Meat Loaf, The Bee Gees, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. Orloff's daughter Marcy said that one of his favorites was Van McCoy.

02Career

In the late 1940s, he was in Neal Hefti's orchestra, together with, among others, Curley Russell, Shelley Manne and Flip Phillips, on a recording date backing Charlie Parker, and with Nat King Cole's trio/The Muleskinners, backing Woody Herman on vocals.

1970s

Working under Van McCoy's direction, he handled the arrangements for the horns and strings on the Faith Hope & Charity album by Faith Hope and Charity which was released in 1970. Other musicians to play on the album were Richard Tee and Leon Pendarvis on keyboards, guitarists Eric Gale and David Spinozza, bassists Gordon Edwards, percussionists Arthur Jenkins, George Devens and drummer Steve Gadd. He also played on the Disco Baby album by Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony which was released in 1975 and featured "The Hustle".

03Discography

As sideman
Watch videos about Gene OrloffExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Gene Orloff”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.