Conte Candoli

Known primarily for heading the trumpet section of Doc Severinsen's Tonight Show Band, Conte Candoli distinguished himself as a versatile jazz musician most comfortable within bop and West Coast cool idioms. Four years younger than his brother Pete, another gifted trumpeter, he was born Secondo Candoli on July 12, 1927, in Mishawaka, Indiana. Early on he modeled his approach after Harry James, Roy Eldridge, and Dizzy Gillespie before absorbing the styles of Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. His professional career began at sixteen when Pete secured him a summer spot with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd; after finishing high school he became a permanent member. He later performed with multiple ensembles, among them Stan Kenton's orchestra, which he left in 1954 to launch his own group. Although he led a handful of recording sessions, Candoli soon gravitated toward the more stable environment of Los Angeles, where he balanced studio work with engagements alongside Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars. After roughly four years he departed in 1960 to join drummer Shelly Manne, a move that coincided with both brothers achieving leading status among the city's session players. He began part-time work with the Tonight Show Band in 1968 and joined full-time in 1972 when the program relocated to Burbank. During the 1970s he also performed with Supersax and other Los Angeles all-star units while sustaining periodic collaborations with Pete. Candoli retired from the Tonight Show in 1992 alongside Johnny Carson yet continued performing until cancer curtailed his activities; he died at a convalescent home on December 14, 2001.