There’s this guy I used to know...
His name was Sammy Nestico.
He was born in 1924. A little guy from the Italian side of Pittsburgh. Discovered he had a musical bent early on. When he was 13 he joined his high school orchestra as a trombonist. Wrote his first piece at15. Was a seasoned pro at 17, playing with the local radio orchestra. By 18 he had joined the Air Corps and was assigned to a band.
After the war, he stayed in and after a while the Air Force came to him (by then a band leader) and told him they wanted a Jazz Band, like Glenn Miller had started for the Army and Artie Shaw had for the Navy, so he started an invitation only group called “The Airmen of Note”which still exists, and is the premier military jazz band in the world (don’t laugh - listen to their records - they kick some serious ass, and have groomed some world class musicians).
Alas,his fame reached beyond the band room, and after his first few tours,he was convinced to leave the Air Force and join the Marines. This was actually not a demotion or a bad gig at all - he was invited to change branches specifically so he could run The President’s Own for Kennedy and Johnson (he had some great stories about both of them).
When he finally retired, he didn’t have to look far for work. He was approached by numerous band leaders, including Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman Gene Krupa and Charlie Barnet to work as a trombonist and composer/arranger, and he did. But because cream does rise to the top, he ended up working as music director and head writer for Count Basie from 1967 to 1984.
When Bill Basie got mostly retired, the trombonist thought about starting his own band, but by then he’d seen the top and bottom of the business, and knew all too well how hard life on the road could be,even when working with what was arguably the best big band in the world.
So he moved to Georgia and became a professor, teaching music and instrumentation and composition and conducting and all of that jazz. He wrote a couple of books on the subject that are still standards in the field (and are much better reads and more complete that a lot of the competition). But he was getting older and wanted to be warm,without benefit of mosquitoes and hurricanes.
So he went to Hollywood and worked on the scores of numerous motion pictures and TV shows as a staff Arranger at ABC..
He wrote everything. He backed everybody -Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra,Sarah Vaughan, Phil Collins... all of the greats, and never once got stuffy or obnoxious about it. He was always just himself.
He defined a half century’s worth of music. It is guaranteed you have heard his stuff, even if you don’t know it. Every jazz player in the world knows his stuff, and when you bring a “Sammy chart” to a gig or rehearsal or classroom, everyone will be happier for it because it is THAT GOOD.
And like I said, he was one of the nicest people on the planet. You walk into a room with Sammy, and that gigantic cheesy grin will light your way like a beacon.
A story: The MD (music director) in my band lived just down the street from Sammy. When Carl turned 80 we threw him a surprise birthday party at a local Italian restaurant. The band got there early (and free) and were set up a good 15-20 minutes before Carl was due to arrive, and on the spot came up with a set list. Once that was done and everyone had their music pulled a couple of us were debating what to start with, and one of the other guests was keeping an eye out,and said “His car just pulled up!”
“What do we do?” I asked.
Sammy grinned his signature grin, picked up a bread stick, looked at the band and as the door opened said “Happy Birthday, in “F”! One two three!” and conducted with a bread stick while grinning and laughing like a maniac.
I will miss him far too much for words.