Conte Candoli
Encyclopedia
Secondo "Conte" Candoli (July 12, 1927–December 14, 2001) was an American
jazz
trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman
, Stan Kenton
, Benny Goodman
, and Dizzy Gillespie
, and in Doc Severinsen
's NBC Orchestra
on The Tonight Show
. He played with Gerry Mulligan
, and on Frank Sinatra
's TV specials. He also recorded with Supersax
, a Charlie Parker tribute band that consisted of a saxophone quintet, the rhythm section, and either a trumpet or trombone.
. He was born in Mishawaka, Indiana
, on July 12, 1927. During the summer of 1943, before his junior year at Mishawaka High School in Mishawaka, Indiana
, that Secondo "Conte" Candoli first sat in with Woody Herman's
First Herd. After graduation in 1945, he joined the band full-time where he sat side-by-side with brother Pete Candoli
in the trumpet section. Conte immediately went on the road, where he stayed for the next ten years, with Woody as well as with the legendary bands of Stan Kenton
, Benny Goodman
and Dizzy Gillespie
.
In 1954, after leaving Stan Kenton, Candoli formed his own group with sidemen Chubby Jackson
, Frank Rosolino
, and Lou Levy
, playing all the top jazz rooms in the country. He soon moved to Los Angeles
to join the Lighthouse All-Stars with Shorty Rogers
, Bud Shank
, and Bob Cooper
, and was with them for four years.
His Dizzy-inspired playing brought him many performing and recording opportunities with major jazz names and the top names in show business, such as Gerry Mulligan
, Shelly Manne
, Terry Gibbs
, Teddy Edwards
, Frank Sinatra
, Bing Crosby
, Sammy Davis Jr., and Sarah Vaughan
.
Candoli's long relationship with the Tonight Show began in 1967 and he became a permanent fixture in the orchestra's trumpet section when Johnny Carson
moved the show to Burbank, California
in 1972. He performed with the group at the 1988 Wichita Jazz Festival.
Conte has played all over the world with Stan Kenton, his own group, Gerry Mulligan, the Lighthouse All-Stars, and others. He has appeared in many motion pictures with various orchestras and worked in all of Frank Sinatra's TV specials. For many years he preferred to stay in California
where he could do the Tonight Show, take all the studio work he wanted, and do occasional concerts and clinics. He ventured to Kansas
in 1986 as a WJF All-Star with Jerome Richardson
, Barney Kessel
and Monty Alexander
at the 1986 Wichita Jazz Festival. After Johnny Carson’s retirement in 1992, he traveled occasionally with Doc Severinsen
, but still enjoyed his solo playing.
Conte was inducted into The International Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997. He died at the age of 74 on December 14, 2001 at Monterey Palms Convalescent home in Palm Desert, California
, following a long battle with prostate cancer
.
|-
! Band
! Years
|-
| Woody Herman's First Herd
| 1943 Summer 1945–
|-
| Chubby Jackson’s Fifth Dimensional Jazz Group
|
|-
| Stan Kenton
| 1948
|-
| Charlie Ventura’s “Bop For The People”
| 1949
|-
| Stan Kenton
| 1951–1954
|-
| Terry Gibbs Dream Band
| –
|-
| Gerry Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band
| 1960–1961
|-
| Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars
| 1956–1960
|-
| Supersax
|
|-
| The Tonight Show
| 1967–1972 Guest 1972–1992 Regular
|-
| Candoli Brothers
| 1957–1962
|-
|}
Don't forget his work with Mancini on the Peter Gunn Sound tracks. Outstanding!
|-
!Album
!Release
|-
| Sincerely, Conte Candoli
| 1954
|-
| Groovin' High: Conte Candoli, Vol. 2
| 1955
|-
| West Coast Wailers
| 1955
|-
| Rhythm Plus One
| 1956
|-
| Conte Candoli Quartet
| 1957
|-
| Mucho Calor
| 1957
|-
| Little Band, Big Jazz
| 1960
|-
| Conversation
| 1973
|-
| Candoli Brothers
| 1970s
|-
| Old Acquaintance
| 1985
|-
| Sweet Simon
| 1992
|-
| Meets the Joe Haider Trio
| 1994
|-
| Portrait of a Count
| 1966
|-
| Candoli Live
| 2002
|-
| The Complete Phoenix Recordings, Vol. 1
| 2002
|-
| Fine and Dandy
|
|-
|}
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
, Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, and in Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
's NBC Orchestra
The Tonight Show Band
The Tonight Show Band is the band which plays on the American television variety show, The Tonight Show. From 1962 to the 1990s, during the years the show was known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the band was a 17-piece Big Band, and was an important outlet for jazz on American...
on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
. He played with Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
, and on Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's TV specials. He also recorded with Supersax
Supersax
Supersax was a Charlie Parker tribute band formed by Med Flory and Buddy Clark that debuted in 1972. Their music consisted of harmonized arrangements of Charlie Parker's music played by a saxophone section , rhythm section, and a brass instrument...
, a Charlie Parker tribute band that consisted of a saxophone quintet, the rhythm section, and either a trumpet or trombone.
Biography
Conte was the younger brother of trumpeter Pete CandoliPete Candoli
Pete Candoli was an American swing and West Coast jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and many others, and worked extensively in the studios of the recording and television industries...
. He was born in Mishawaka, Indiana
Mishawaka, Indiana
Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River and a Twin city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 48,252 as of the 2010 Census...
, on July 12, 1927. During the summer of 1943, before his junior year at Mishawaka High School in Mishawaka, Indiana
Mishawaka, Indiana
Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River and a Twin city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 48,252 as of the 2010 Census...
, that Secondo "Conte" Candoli first sat in with Woody Herman's
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
First Herd. After graduation in 1945, he joined the band full-time where he sat side-by-side with brother Pete Candoli
Pete Candoli
Pete Candoli was an American swing and West Coast jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and many others, and worked extensively in the studios of the recording and television industries...
in the trumpet section. Conte immediately went on the road, where he stayed for the next ten years, with Woody as well as with the legendary bands of Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
.
In 1954, after leaving Stan Kenton, Candoli formed his own group with sidemen Chubby Jackson
Chubby Jackson
Greig Stewart 'Chubby' Jackson was an American jazz double-bassist and band leader.Born in New York City, Jackson began at the age of seventeen as a clarinetist, but quickly changed to bass....
, Frank Rosolino
Frank Rosolino
Frank Rosolino was an American jazz trombonist.- Biography :Born in Detroit, Michigan, Frank Rosolino studied the guitar with his father from the age of 9. He took up the trombone at age 14 while he was enrolled at Miller High School where he played with Milt Jackson in the school's stage band and...
, and Lou Levy
Lou Levy (pianist)
Louis A. Levy , generally known as Lou Levy, was a bebop-based pianist who worked with many top jazz artists, later coming to embrace the cool jazz medium and playing in that style as well .Levy was born to Jewish parents in Chicago and started playing piano when he was 12...
, playing all the top jazz rooms in the country. He soon moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to join the Lighthouse All-Stars with Shorty Rogers
Shorty Rogers
Milton “Shorty” Rogers , born Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and...
, Bud Shank
Bud Shank
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank, Jr. was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and throughout the decade worked in various small jazz combos. He spent the 1960s as a first...
, and Bob Cooper
Bob Cooper (musician)
Bob Cooper was a West Coast jazz musician known primarily for playing tenor saxophone, but also for being one of the first to play solos on oboe. He worked in Stan Kenton's band starting in 1945 and married the band's singer June Christy...
, and was with them for four years.
His Dizzy-inspired playing brought him many performing and recording opportunities with major jazz names and the top names in show business, such as Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
, Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing...
, Terry Gibbs
Terry Gibbs
Terry Gibbs is an American jazz vibraphonist and band leader.He has performed and/or recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, Louie Bellson, Charlie Shavers, Mel Tormé, Buddy DeFranco, and others...
, Teddy Edwards
Teddy Edwards
Theodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards was an American jazz tenor saxophonist based on the West Coast of the US. Some consider him to be one of the most influential jazz saxophonists.-Biography:...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Sammy Davis Jr., and Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
.
Candoli's long relationship with the Tonight Show began in 1967 and he became a permanent fixture in the orchestra's trumpet section when Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
moved the show to Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
in 1972. He performed with the group at the 1988 Wichita Jazz Festival.
Conte has played all over the world with Stan Kenton, his own group, Gerry Mulligan, the Lighthouse All-Stars, and others. He has appeared in many motion pictures with various orchestras and worked in all of Frank Sinatra's TV specials. For many years he preferred to stay in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
where he could do the Tonight Show, take all the studio work he wanted, and do occasional concerts and clinics. He ventured to Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
in 1986 as a WJF All-Star with Jerome Richardson
Jerome Richardson
Jerome Richardson was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet and piccolo...
, Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century, he was noted in particular for his vast knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies...
and Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...
at the 1986 Wichita Jazz Festival. After Johnny Carson’s retirement in 1992, he traveled occasionally with Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
, but still enjoyed his solo playing.
Conte was inducted into The International Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997. He died at the age of 74 on December 14, 2001 at Monterey Palms Convalescent home in Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...
, following a long battle with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.
Band memberships
-
-
- {| class="wikitable"
-
|-
! Band
! Years
|-
| Woody Herman's First Herd
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
| 1943 Summer 1945–
|-
| Chubby Jackson’s Fifth Dimensional Jazz Group
Chubby Jackson
Greig Stewart 'Chubby' Jackson was an American jazz double-bassist and band leader.Born in New York City, Jackson began at the age of seventeen as a clarinetist, but quickly changed to bass....
|
|-
| Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
| 1948
|-
| Charlie Ventura’s “Bop For The People”
Charlie Ventura
Charlie Ventura was a tenor saxophonist and bandleader.Ventura was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had his first successes working with Gene Krupa. In 1945 he won the Down Beat readers' poll in the tenor saxophone division...
| 1949
|-
| Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
| 1951–1954
|-
| Terry Gibbs Dream Band
Terry Gibbs
Terry Gibbs is an American jazz vibraphonist and band leader.He has performed and/or recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, Louie Bellson, Charlie Shavers, Mel Tormé, Buddy DeFranco, and others...
| –
|-
| Gerry Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
| 1960–1961
|-
| Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars
Howard Rumsey
Howard Rumsey is a Californian bassist primarily known for his leadership of the Los Angeles group the Lighthouse All-Stars in the 1950s.-Life:...
| 1956–1960
|-
| Supersax
Supersax
Supersax was a Charlie Parker tribute band formed by Med Flory and Buddy Clark that debuted in 1972. Their music consisted of harmonized arrangements of Charlie Parker's music played by a saxophone section , rhythm section, and a brass instrument...
|
|-
| The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
| 1967–1972 Guest 1972–1992 Regular
|-
| Candoli Brothers
| 1957–1962
|-
|}
Don't forget his work with Mancini on the Peter Gunn Sound tracks. Outstanding!
Discography
-
-
- {| class="wikitable"
-
|-
!Album
!Release
|-
| Sincerely, Conte Candoli
| 1954
|-
| Groovin' High: Conte Candoli, Vol. 2
| 1955
|-
| West Coast Wailers
| 1955
|-
| Rhythm Plus One
| 1956
|-
| Conte Candoli Quartet
| 1957
|-
| Mucho Calor
| 1957
|-
| Little Band, Big Jazz
| 1960
|-
| Conversation
Conversation
Conversation is a form of interactive, spontaneous communication between two or more people who are following rules of etiquette.Conversation analysis is a branch of sociology which studies the structure and organization of human interaction, with a more specific focus on conversational...
| 1973
|-
| Candoli Brothers
| 1970s
|-
| Old Acquaintance
Old Acquaintance
Old Acquaintance is a 1943 film drama made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Vincent Sherman and produced by Henry Blanke with Jack L. Warner as executive producer from a screenplay by John Van Druten, Lenore Coffee and Edmund Goulding based on Van Druten's play.The film starred Bette Davis and...
| 1985
|-
| Sweet Simon
| 1992
|-
| Meets the Joe Haider Trio
| 1994
|-
| Portrait of a Count
| 1966
|-
| Candoli Live
| 2002
|-
| The Complete Phoenix Recordings, Vol. 1
| 2002
|-
| Fine and Dandy
|
|-
|}
External links
- Conte Candoli Collection, part of the International Jazz Collections at the University of Idaho Library