Covington, who was born in
Philadelphia, played early on with
Isham Jones (1939), then with
Les Brown in 1945-46 and
Gene Krupa later in 1946. Following this he became a staff musician for
CBS radio. With
Ralph Flanagan in 1949 and again in 1955-56. He played briefly with
Tommy Dorsey in 1950. In 1956, he replaced Eddie Grady as leader of the Commanders, a Decca recording and touring band which lasted until the middle of 1957. Covington recorded two albums and one single with this band. After Tommy Dorsey died suddenly in November 1956, the Dorsey band continued under the direction of Jimmy Dorsey. However, the Tommy Dorsey estate soon took back Tommy's arrangements and approached Covington to form a new Tommy Dorsey band, which he led, touring and recording for Decca, into 1961. Among his hits with the Dorsey band was "Tea for Two Cha Cha", which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc. The track peaked at #3 in the
UK Singles Chart in 1958.{{cite book A player who also occasionally played, with a variety of the baritone horn, baritone and tenor saxophone, Covington participated in the big bands of
Charles Mingus,
Randy Weston,
Bobby Hackett, and
George Benson on recordings, and also a number of
film soundtracks. He died in 1999 in
New York. ==Discography==