Torrie Zito
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
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .
- Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
Web links
- Obituary in the New York Times
- Interview with Torrie Zito at JazzProfessional.com
- Torrie Zito on AllMusic
personal data | |
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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 |