Secondo "Conte" Candoli (July 12, 1927–December 14, 2001) was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast of the US. 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 a band called Supersax, a Charlie Parker tribute band that consisted of a saxophone quintet, the rhythm section, and either a trumpet or trombone.
Career
It was the summer of 1943, before his junior year at Mishawaka High School in Mishawaka, IN, 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.
Band memberships
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Solo recordings
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| 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 |
| 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 |
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Personal life
Conte was the younger brother of trumpeter Pete Candoli.
He was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, on July 12, 1927 and died at the age of 74 on December 14, 2001 at Monterey Palms Convalescent home in Palm Desert, Ca., after a long battle with prostate cancer.
References
See also
External links
Official Candoli Brothers Site
