Santo Pecora

Santo " Pec " Pecora ( born March 21, 1902 in New Orleans as Santo Joseph Pecoraro, † May 29, 1984 ) was an American trombonist with the New Orleans Jazz.

Life and work

To distinguish himself from his cousin of the same name, the drummer Santo Pecoraro, he was called Santo Pecora; The two played together at times together. Pecora began on the French horn and moved as a teenager to the trombone. He then worked at the beginning of his career in film orchestras that accompanied silent films, also with Johnny De Droit and Leon Roppolo. In the 1920s, he went with the singer Bee Palmer on tour; 1924 to 1925 he was a member of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.

In the late 1920s he moved to Chicago and played in both jazz bands as well as in theater orchestras; In the 1930s Ben Pollack and other big bands as well as with Paul Mares ( 1935) and Sharkey Bonano (1936). With Wingy Manone and with his own ensembles, he worked in Holywood, where he also had appearances in the movies Rhythm on the River ( 1940) and Blues in the Night ( 1941). In 1942 he returned to his hometown, where he played in 1951 with Sharkey Bonano, otherwise had regular appearances with their own groups on Mississippi riverboats and in nightclubs. In 1959, he played in Chicago in 1960 and returned back to New Orleans. Until the 1960s, he remained active in the local music scene. He also took up with his Tailgaters and with the bands of Tony Parenti, Turk Murphy, Armand Hug, Doc Souchon and George Girard.

His best-known compositions are "She 's Crying for Me " and "I Never Knew What a Gal Could Thu "

Lexigraphic entries

• Carlo Bohländer: Reclams jazz leader. Reclam, Stuttgart, 1970
• Wolf Kampmann: Reclam Jazz Encyclopedia Stuttgart 2003; ISBN 3-15-010528-5