Conrad Gozzo
Conrad Joseph Gozzo (born February 6, 1922 in New Britain (Connecticut) , † October 8, 1964 in Los Angeles ) was an American trumpeter of swing and light music and studio musician.
Life
Gozzo studied with his father, the then famous trumpet teacher Jimmy Gozzo. In 1938 he got his first job in Isham Jones' band . He then played with Red Norvo , Johnnie Scat Davis , from 1939 to 1941 in Bob Chester's band , 1941/42 with Claude Thornhill and three months in Benny Goodman's band . During World War II he was in Artie Shaw's Navy band . After the war he was back with Goodman and in 1946 in the first "herd" of Woody Herman . He played with Boyd Raeburn and Tex Benekebefore settling in Los Angeles in 1947. There he played four and a half years on radio shows with Bob Crosby . He was later a sought-after studio musician and a member of the NBC Hollywood Orchestra. He played in numerous TV shows such as the Dinah Shore Show, can be heard as "Lead Trumpet" and soloist in the soundtrack of numerous films (including Ben Hur (1959) , Benny Goodman Story , Glenn Miller Story and Cleopatra ), played among others with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin (both on his records and regularly at least for the first three days in their Las Vegas shows), on the recordings of his friend Henry Mancini , with Stan Kenton , Les Brown , Ray Anthony , Ray Conniff , Red Skelton and many others. He died of a heart attack.
His nickname was "Gopher" (ground squirrel), for example immortalized in his composition "Gopher Mambo" for Billy Wilder's "The Frontpage". Another nickname was "The Goz".
He also played, for example, in The Complete Harry James on Hi-Fi (1955/56, alongside James himself). Gozzo himself only made one album recording, Gozz the Great in 1955 for Victor .
He married the singer of Claude Thornhill's big band, Betty Clare , with whom he had two children.
literature
- Leonard Feather New Encyclopedia of Jazz , 1960 (and its follow-up volume Encyclopedia of Jazz in the 60s )
Web links
- One Night Stand with the Bigbands, radio show from 1972 about him, with music from Gozzo and an interview with Woody Herman and others
- Conrad Gozzo at Discogs (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gozzo, Conrad |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gozzo, Conrad Joseph (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz trumpeter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 6, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New Britain , Connecticut |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 8, 1964 |
| Place of death | los Angeles |