Pete Candoli, Trumpet, 1923, Mishawaka, In
Pete was one of the most prominent big-band lead trumpeters in jazz history. He started in the big-band of Sonny Dunham in the 1940s. From there he went with Will Bradley, Ray McKinley, Tommy Dorsey, Teddy Powell, Woody Herman, and Boyd Reaburn. After moving to the West Coast in the 1950s, Pete worked with Les Brown and then Stan Kenton. He also established a reputation as an excellent studio player. From the late '50s to the mid '60s he co-led a band with his younger brother, trumpeter Conti Candoli. In 1972 he formed a night-club act with his wife, singer Edie Adams. In this show he sang, danced, played and directed the orchestra. Years earlier, while with Woody Herman, Pete was featured on a number entitled "Superman with a Horn". It became an act unto itself. When his solo started he jumped up on the stage dressed in a Superman costume and played his high-note powerful solo. The audience loved it. Pete performed with his brother well into the 1980s.
Jimmy Mundy, Arranger, 1907, New York, NY
Jimmy's first music education was as a classical violinist, and while still in his teens, toured with an evangelist's orchestra, performing on violin and tenor sax. It was during the mid '20s that Jimmy began studying big-band arranging. While working with the band of Earl Hines, Mundy recorded a tenor sax solo on a number he had written called" Cavernism" that revealed the influence of Coleman Hawkins in his playing. In 1936 Jimmy began arranging for the Benny Goodman band, and wrote many of the band's finest charts. His arrangements were also recorded by other leaders, including Gene Krupa, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie. At this point Jimmy was concentrating entirely on writing and arranging, not playing, and during the early '50s he became less involved in jazz. Jimmy Mundy died in 1983.
Richard Rodgers, Composer, 1902, New York, NY
Richard Rodgers' contribution to the American musical theatre is legendary, to say the least. With a career that lasted over sixty years, he composed music that has become what we call "standards", music that is timeless. He wrote 40 Broadway plays, and over 900 published songs during his dynamic career. He wrote for the Broadway stage and Hollywood films. From around 1920, he and Lorenz Hart wrote a series of musicals for Broadway, London, and Hollywood. They averaged two new shows each season during the first ten years of their collaboration, beginning with "Poor Little Rich Girl", "The Garrick Gaieties", "Dearest Enemy", "Peggy-Ann", "A Connecticut Yankee", and "Chee-Chee". For Hollywood the wrote "Love Me Tonight", "Hallelujah", and "The Phantom President". The list goes on and on ,until 1942, when Hart died at the age of 48. Rodgers then teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein, and the huge hits kept coming. What they were producing now were operettas; "Oklahoma", "Carousel", "Allegro", "South Pacific", "The King And I", "Me And Juliet", "Pipe Dream, "Flower Drum Song", "State Fair", and "Cinderella". Collectively they earned 34 Tony Awards, 15 Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Grammy Awards, and two Emmy Awards. Time Magazine cited them as among the top 20 most influential artists of the 20th century. Despite Hammerstein's death in 1950, Rodgers continued producing hits, such as, "No Strings", "Do I Hear A Waltz?", "Two by Two", and "I Remember Mama". He also composed the music for the documentary, "Victory At Sea", which eaened him a Gold Record and a commendation from the U.S. Navy. The 46th Street Theatre was renamed The Richard Rodgers Theatre in his honor in 1979. The theatre houses the Richard Rodgers Gallery, a permanent exhibit in the lobby areas presented by ASCAP. Richard Rodgers died in 1979.
