Torrie Zito

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Torrie Zito (born October 12, 1933 in Utica (New York) , † December 3, 2009 in New York City ) was an American pianist , composer and arranger in the field of jazz , classical and popular music . He was best known for his collaboration with various musicians such as Bobby Darin , Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra as well as John Lennon , Sinéad O'Connor and Clay Aiken .

Live and act

Zito comes from a musical family; his father played the piano as background music for silent films; his brother Freddie was a trombonist with Charlie Barnet and Stan Kenton . He himself first played the flute and trumpet, then switched to the piano, on which he is self-taught and began as a jazz pianist in the bebop environment under the influence of Bud Powell . In 1957/58 he studied composition with Vittorio Giannini at the Manhattan School of Music and received private lessons with Marion Evans . After a tour with the singer Jerry Vale, he worked as a freelance musician in New York from the late 1950s, a. a. in the studios for the production of jingles .

In the early 1960s he wrote for albums by Cannonball Adderley , James Moody , ( Moody With Strings , 1961), worked on several albums as arranger for Morgana King ( A Taste of Honey , 1964), Quincy Jones , Perry Como ( Lightly Latin , 1966) and for Herbie Mann ( String Album , 1967). During this time he also worked for Les Double Six , Billy Eckstine , Sarah Vaughan , Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand . In 1967 Tony Bennett hired him as a touring pianist, musical director and at times also as an arranger; Zito worked with Bennett for the next seven years. In the late 1960s he worked for John Lennon orchestrating his album Imagine .

After his time with Bennett, Zito worked mostly with his wife, singer Helen Merrill ; he can be heard as the pianist on her album with Stan Getz ( Just Friends , 1989) and arranged a. a. her Clifford Brown homage Brownie (1994) and her album Carousel (1996) with songs by the Finnish composer Heikki Sarmanto . He was most recently heard on their album Lilac Wine (2002) with Lew Soloff and George Mraz . His late works include arrangements for pop singers such as Carly Simon ( Film Noir , 1997) and George Michael's 1999 Songs From the Last Century . His last major work before his death was Clay Aiken's album Merry Christmas With Love (2004); most recently in 2008 he contributed an arrangement to Tony Bennett's album A Swingin 'Christmas (with the Count Basie Band) .

As a composer he is heavily influenced by the Impressionist composers such as Claude Debussy , Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré ; he wrote a Concert Waltz for Harp and String Orchestra and the Divertimento for Clarinet and Strings . In the area of ​​crossover he also worked with the classical clarinetist Sabine Meyer and Eddie Daniels . He also wrote the jazz compositions "Lisa" (for Cannonball Adderley) and "Somerset" and "A Summer Thing" for Zoot Sims .

swell

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Zito, Torrie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Utica (New York)
DATE OF DEATH December 3, 2009
Place of death New York City