Pete Candoli

Pete Candoli
Background information
Birth name	Walter Joseph Candoli
Born	June 28, 1923
Origin	Mishawaka, IN, USA
Died	January 11, 2008 (aged 84)
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	Trumpet
Years active	1936–2008
Associated acts	Candoli Brothers

Pete Candoli (June 28, 1923 – January 11, 2008), born Walter Joseph 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.

Career

Candoli's professional career began at the age of 13, when he became a member of the American Federation of Musicians. He quickly found a spot as lead trumpeter, and by 1940 had become a part of Sonny Dunham's band. In 1941 he left the band to replace Ziggy Elman of the Tommy Dorsey band. During this time the band performed in three films, Las Vegas Nights (1941), Girl Crazy (1943) and Upbeat In Music (1943). In 1944 Candoli joined the Teddy Powell band. It was while with Teddy Powell that he brought his younger brother Conte into the big band major league.

After 1945, Candoli worked with several bands including notably that of Stan Kenton. Later, he drifted into the "West Coast Jazz" and studio scenes. Despite his range, he rarely played lead, reserved instead for feature roles. He became a favorite collaborator of many influential musicians and performers, including Peggy Lee, Henry Mancini, and Frank Sinatra, and was widely sought for studio work. In 1957 Pete and Conte reunited to form the Candoli Brothers band.

Pete was inducted into The International Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997. He has been noted at this time to say his popular catch phrase "CAZAM BEBOP". It was at this time where his good friend Jaroo shouted this out loud as well.

He was inducted into the "Big Band Hall of Fame" in 2003.

He won the Down Beat, Metronome, Esquire "All American Band Trumpet Bronze Award".

Look magazine named him one of the seven all-time outstanding jazz trumpet players—the others being Louis Armstrong, Bix Biederbecke, Harry James, Bunny Berigan, Dizzy Gillespie and Bobby Hackett.

Band memberships

Band	Years
Sonny Dunham	1940–1941
Will Bradley	1941
Ray McKinley	1942
Benny Goodman	1942
Tommy Dorsey	1943–1944
Teddy Powell	1944
Woody Herman's First Herd	1944–1946
Tex Beneke	1947–1949
Jerry Gray	1950–1951
Les Brown	1952
Stan Kenton	1954–1956
Glen Gray	1956–1963
Candoli Brothers	1957–1962

Musical style

Pete Candoli's solo work is notable for his eloquent roles, supportive of the efforts of others. His adroit use of staccato was rare among modern jazz trumpeters. Despite his reputation for his high-note ability, he rarely used it unless explicitly called for by the conductor, the band leader, or the composer. More often, his solos began with low-to-mid-register staccato riffs which built into rolling cadenzas and ending, when appropriate, in high-note, bravura climaxes.

Strong evidence of his restraint can be found in his work on Peggy Lee's "Black Coffee", one of the first 33⅓ rpm long-play vocal albums. Pete appears on all of the original 10" tracks (recorded in 1953; expanded in 1956 to 12" with a different set of musicians). Muted but felicitously omnipresent on all the 10" tracks, he performs open-horned on the last chorus of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", building from modest fills to a full-throated high-note climax that helps to make the song the centerpiece of the album and gives Lee arguable co-ownership of this song with Mary Martin.

Candoli performs sublimely on the two Mancini Peter Gunn albums, albeit as only one of similarly adroit group of musicians. He and his brother Conte were often seen playing in the background during scenes in "Mother's" nightclub. Most of Candoli's best solos are rather short. One of his best longer solos was wasted in the Peter Gunn medley on a forgettable concert album of Mancini's. It is an almost quintessential Pete Candoli performance in the staccato-to-climax mode described earlier. He is also the attributed soloist for the superb high-note work in the "Dance at the Gym" sequence in the movie version of West Side Story.

Personal life

Candoli married numerous times, typically to other musicians, including singer-actress Betty Hutton and singer Edie Adams. He had two daughters, Tara Clair from another marriage, and Carolyn with Betty Hutton. In 1980, the trumpeter Jack Sheldon said, "I get a lot of my work playing at Pete Candoli's weddings. He's married a lot of people." Hardly fair, because Pete was married no more than three times and had lived his last 18 years loyally with his longtime love Sheryl. He was an avid animal lover and born under the astrology sign Cancer.

His younger brother, Conte, achieved an arguably stronger critical reputation. They often worked together in anonymous recording gigs and in several joint albums on minor labels. Pete did not shine noticeably in these efforts, possibly because he adjusted to Conte's rather different and more conventional solo trumpet style. In particular, Pete almost never showed his extended range in any joint performance with his brother.

Both Pete and Conte were diagnosed with prostate cancer in later life. Both underwent treatment. Pete Candoli died of problems related to prostate cancer on January 11, 2008 at the age of 84.

See also

• Conte Candoli

References

• Profile on JazzProfessional.com
• Memorium on AllAboutJazz.com
• http://news.independentminds.livejournal.com/

External links

• Official Candoli Brothers Site