Chuck Wayne was born in 1923 in New York. He started out playing the mandolin but then taught himself to play the guitar. By the 1940s he had already developed an advanced technique and begain playing with various bands around New York during the early days of the be-bop revolution.
After some time with Joe Marsala and Woody Herman, he joined George Shearing's famous quintet in 1949. The instrumentation consisted of piano, vibes, guitar, bass, and drums and was particularly interesting for the novel interplay between the piano, vibes, and guitar.
In 1952 Wayne left Shearing and cut his first record as a leader for Discovery Records. He worked with Tony Bennett and then became a staff musician with CBS. During the 1950s and 1960s Chuck made several more records. In 1972 he formed a very successful guitar duo with Joe Puma which lasted for several years.
In the 1980s he became a teacher at Westchester Conservatory of Music. He continued to perform jazz in clubs and still cut the occasional record. He passed away in 1997.
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