Pete Rugolo
Pete Rugolo ( born December 25, 1915 in San Piero Patti, Sicily, † October 16, 2011 in Sherman Oaks, California ) was an American jazz composer and arranger of Italian origin.
Life
Rugolo emigrated in 1920 with his family to the United States and grew up in Santa Rosa, California. Like his father, he first played baritone saxophone, but then moved on to other instruments, notably the French horn and the piano. After graduating from the San Francisco State College with a bachelor, he studied at Mills College in Oakland composition with Darius Milhaud.
After his studies he worked as an arranger for the band of guitarist Johnny Richards. His military service during the Second World War he served as a military band in which he met Paul Desmond.
After discharge from the army Rugolo worked for Stan Kenton, who was then one of the most advanced led big bands. He wrote numerous arrangements and also some of the " Artistry in. .." compositions for this band ( " Bass, " " Percussion, " "Bolero, " " Boogie" ), then even more original compositions for the innovation in Kenton then initiated Modern Music Orchestra, where he helped his knowledge of contemporary music to break through the boundaries between dance hall and concert hall. Rugolos work for Kenton contributed strongly at that image of the progressive jazz. He approached at this time but also pop music, which he as musical director of Capitol Records also supervised. Although he produced the Birth -of-the -Cool - Sessions by Miles Davis, but himself wrote arrangements for Nat King Cole, June Christy, Peggy Lee, the Four Freshmen and Harry Belafonte. In 1954 he led his own big band for a short time. For MGM musicals he produced before he worked for Mercury Records in the late 1950s as a musical director and even presented a series of recordings with this record label.
Work for the studios
During the 1960s and 1970s Rugolo worked mainly for television, for example, for popular shows like Leave It to Beaver, the thriller series Dr. Kimble - The Fugitive or An American family. He also wrote music for television films and features. His work for the Hollywood studios it has often requires that he suppressed his own style; yet there are some good examples of Rugolos work for film and television. To demonstrate the soundtrack of Without Conscience ( This World, Then the Fireworks. 1997) its ability both sophisticated and expressive music to write.
Discography
- Rugolomania
- Introducing Pete Rugolo
- Adventures in Rhythm