Valley of Life | Online Memorial Blog

One of the top high-note lead trumpeters in jazz, Pete Candoli, passed away last week at the age of 84 while at his home in Studio City. For over 60 years, Pete played with some of the great jazz musicians the country had ever heard – Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Les Brown and Tex Beneke – to name a few.

During WWII, Candoli played with Herman’s First Herd and became known for his high-register playing. In the early 1950s he moved to California and worked as a studio musician where he played on some of Henry Mancini’s albums and for television programs. While working in L.A., he worked with incredible singers like Judy Garland, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

Pete’s gift was in part contributed to his father, a factory worker who encouraged Pete and his brother, Conte, to learn music. Pete self-taught himself to play the trumpet and was soon playing for Polish weddings in his home town.

Pete Candoli’s funeral service was held this past Tuesday at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

For information on using music and other mediums to help with grief, read “Creative Grieving a Good Way To Help With Loss.”

Photo by Tony Gieske

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 19th, 2008 at 9:32 am and is filed under Memorial News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.