Pete Rugolo
Encyclopedia
Pietro "Pete" Rugolo was an Italian-born jazz
composer and arranger.
, Sicily
, Italy
. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa
, California
. He began his career in music playing the baritone horn
, like his father, but he quickly branched out into other instruments, notably the French horn and the piano. He received a bachelor's degree from San Francisco State College, and then went on to study composition with Darius Milhaud
at Mills College
in Oakland, California
and earn his master's degree.
After he graduated, he was hired as an arranger and composer by guitarist and bandleader Johnny Richards. He spent World War II
playing with altoist Paul Desmond
in an army band.
After WWII, Rugolo worked for Stan Kenton
, who headed one of the most musically 'progressive' big bands of the era. Rugolo provided arrangements and original compositions that drew on his knowledge of 20th century music, sometimes blurring the boundaries between jazz and classical music.
While Rugolo continued to work occasionally with Kenton in the 1950s, he spent more time creating arrangements for pop and jazz vocalists, most extensively with former Kenton singer June Christy
on such albums as Something Cool
, The Misty Miss Christy
, Fair and Warmer!
, Gone for the Day
and The Song Is June!
. Other singers he arranged for included Ernestine Anderson
, Harry Belafonte
, Nat King Cole
, Billy Eckstine
, the Four Freshmen, Peggy Lee
, Patti Page
, Mel Tormé
and Kitty White
. During this period he also worked for a while on film musicals at MGM, and served as an A&R director for Mercury Records
in the late 1950s. Among his many albums were Adventures in Rhythm, Introducing Pete Rugolo, Rugolomania, Reeds in Hi-Fi and Music for Hi-Fi Bugs.
, Thriller, The Fugitive
, Run For Your Life
, Felony Squad
, The Challengers
, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers and Family
. He also provided scores for a number of TV movies and a few theatrical features. Rugolo's small combo jazz music featured in a couple of numbers in the popular movie Where The Boys Are
, under the guise of Frank Gorshin
's "Dialectic Jazz Band." While his work in Hollywood often demanded that he suppress his highly original style, there are some striking examples of Rugolo's work in both TV and film. The soundtrack for the last movie on which he worked, This World, Then the Fireworks (1997), demonstrates his gift for writing music that is both sophisticated and expressive.
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...
composer and arranger.
Life and career
Rugolo was born in San Piero PattiSan Piero Patti
San Piero Patti is a comune in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about 140 km east of Palermo and about 50 km southwest of Messina...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
, 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...
. He began his career in music playing the baritone horn
Baritone horn
The baritone horn is a member of the brass instrument family. The baritone horn has a predominantly cylindrical bore as do the trumpet and trombone. A baritone horn uses a large mouthpiece much like those of a trombone or euphonium, although it is a bit smaller. Some baritone mouthpieces will sink...
, like his father, but he quickly branched out into other instruments, notably the French horn and the piano. He received a bachelor's degree from San Francisco State College, and then went on to study composition with Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and earn his master's degree.
After he graduated, he was hired as an arranger and composer by guitarist and bandleader Johnny Richards. He spent World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
playing with altoist Paul Desmond
Paul Desmond
Paul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...
in an army band.
After WWII, Rugolo worked for 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....
, who headed one of the most musically 'progressive' big bands of the era. Rugolo provided arrangements and original compositions that drew on his knowledge of 20th century music, sometimes blurring the boundaries between jazz and classical music.
While Rugolo continued to work occasionally with Kenton in the 1950s, he spent more time creating arrangements for pop and jazz vocalists, most extensively with former Kenton singer June Christy
June Christy
June Christy , born Shirley Luster, was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool...
on such albums as Something Cool
Something Cool
Something Cool is a studio album recorded by June Christy in 1953, 1954, and 1955, and featuring Christy singing 11 jazz songs backed by the orchestra of Pete Rugolo...
, The Misty Miss Christy
The Misty Miss Christy
The Misty Miss Christy is a 1956 studio album by June Christy. Christy sings several jazz standards, along with a few lesser-known tunes, all arranged by Pete Rugolo, who also conducted the orchestra, which actually consisted of different combinations of musicians assembled on different recording...
, Fair and Warmer!
Fair and Warmer!
Fair and Warmer! is a 1957 studio album by singer June Christy. The songs were all arranged by Pete Rugolo, and players on the record include the well-known jazz musicians Don Fagerquist on trumpet, trombonist Frank Rosolino, altoist Bud Shank, and tenor saxophonist Bob Cooper ; none of the notable...
, Gone for the Day
Gone for the Day
Gone for the Day is a 1957 studio album by singer June Christy. The songs were all arranged by her longtime collaborator Pete Rugolo.Gone for the Day was repackaged and released on August 25, 1998 as a part of a 2-albums-on-1-CD release along with Fair and Warmer!.- Track listing :#"It's So...
and The Song Is June!
The Song Is June!
The Song Is June! is a 1958 album by June Christy recorded with Pete Rugolo’s Orchestra. It was re-issued in 1997 as a double-CD together with Off-Beat.-Track listing:# “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” – 4:13...
. Other singers he arranged for included Ernestine Anderson
Ernestine Anderson
Ernestine Anderson is an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than five decades, she has recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She has sung at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival , as well as at jazz festivals all...
, Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
, the Four Freshmen, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
and Kitty White
Kitty White
Kitty White was a 1950s/60s jazz vocalist, who for years was a nightclub favorite among audiences in Los Angeles, known for her sophisticated songs with well-traveled lyrics....
. During this period he also worked for a while on film musicals at MGM, and served as an A&R director for Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
in the late 1950s. Among his many albums were Adventures in Rhythm, Introducing Pete Rugolo, Rugolomania, Reeds in Hi-Fi and Music for Hi-Fi Bugs.
Television and film scoring work
In the 1960s and 1970s Rugolo did a great deal of work in television, contributing music to a number of popular shows including Leave It to BeaverLeave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
, Thriller, The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
, Run For Your Life
Run for Your Life (TV series)
Run for Your Life is an American television drama series starring Ben Gazzara as a man with only a short time to live. It ran on NBC from 1965 to 1968. The series was created by Roy Huggins, who had previously explored the "man on the move" concept with The Fugitive.-Synopsis:Gazzara plays lawyer...
, Felony Squad
Felony Squad
Felony Squad is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966 to January 31, 1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.-Overview:...
, The Challengers
The Challengers (game show)
The Challengers was an American syndicated game show from Ron Greenberg Productions, Dick Clark Productions, and Buena Vista Television. The show was hosted by Dick Clark. The show premiered on September 3, 1990 and ended on August 30, 1991...
, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers and Family
Family (TV series)
Family is an American television drama series that aired on ABC from 1976 to 1980. Creative control of the show was split between executive producers Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling and Mike Nichols...
. He also provided scores for a number of TV movies and a few theatrical features. Rugolo's small combo jazz music featured in a couple of numbers in the popular movie Where The Boys Are
Where the Boys Are
The kind of cool modern jazz popularized by such acts as Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, and Chico Hamilton, then in the vanguard of the college music market, features in a number of scenes with Basil...
, under the guise of Frank Gorshin
Frank Gorshin
Frank John Gorshin, Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He was perhaps best known as an impressionist, with many guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show...
's "Dialectic Jazz Band." While his work in Hollywood often demanded that he suppress his highly original style, there are some striking examples of Rugolo's work in both TV and film. The soundtrack for the last movie on which he worked, This World, Then the Fireworks (1997), demonstrates his gift for writing music that is both sophisticated and expressive.