Died On This Date (October 16, 2011) Pete Rugolo / Jazz Composer & Arranger
Pietro Rugolo
December 25, 1915 – October 16, 2011
Pete Rugolo was an Italian born American jazz composer and arranger who, over a career that spanned over five decades worked on albums by the likes of June Christy, Nat King Cole, Harry Belafonte, Mel Torme, and Stan Kenton. Throughout the ’60s and ’70s, Rugolo focused primarily on television, helping create music for such TV programs as Leave It To Beaver, The Fugitive, Run For Your Life, and many others. He also arranged and composed music for several films up until his retirement in the late ’90s. Pete Rugolo was 95 when he passed away on October 16, 2011.
Thanks to Paul Bearer for the assist.

Joe Morello was a world renowned jazz drummer who is perhaps best remembered for his 12-year run with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Morello had a birth defect that partially impaired his vision, so he tended to spend much of his free time participating in indoor activities . He took up the violin first and soon found himself as a featured soloist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 15, he switched over to the drums and eventually moved to New York City to further his career. It was there he began playing with the likes of 

Chris Connor was a jazz vocalist who moved to New York City in 1948 to broaden her career beyond the night clubs of Kansas City where she was raised. Her first significant job came when she was hired by Claude Thornhill to sing in his vocal group, the Snowflakes. She toured and recorded with Thornhill until 1952, and about a year later found herself singing in 

Stan Kenton was a popular jazz pianist and band leader who made his mark as part of the West Coast jazz scene of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. He was considered an innovator in his day – taking what others called a “dance band,” and filling it out to what he preferred to call an “orchestra.” In doing so, he created what was then labeled a “wall of sound,” a term hijacked by Phil Spector in later years. His influence can be heard today across America’s high school and college jazz bands. Stan Kenton died on August 25, 1979 following a stroke. He was 67.

