Conte Candoli
It was the summer of 1943, before his junior year at the Mishawaka, Indiana High School, that Secondo 'Conte' Candoli first sat in with Woody Herman's exuberant First Herd. After graduation in 1945, he joined the band full-time where he sat side-by-side with the other Candoli, his brother 'Pete,' in the trumpet section.

Conte immediately went on the road, where he stayed for the next ten years, with Woody as well as with the legendary bands of Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman and Dizzy Gillespie.

In 1954, after leaving Stan Kenton, Candoli formed his own group with sidemen Chubby Jackson, Frank Rosolino, and Lou Levy, playing all the top jazz rooms in the country. He soon moved to Los Angeles to join the Lighthouse All-Stars with Shorty Rogers, Bud Shank, and Bob Cooper, and was with them for four years.

His Dizzy inspired playing brought him many performing and recording opportunities with major jazz names and the top names in show business -- Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne, Terry Gibbs, Teddy Edwards, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr., and Sarah Vaughan, to name only a few.

Candoli's long relationship with the Tonight Show began in 1967 and he became a permanent fixture in the orchestra's trumpet section when Johnny Carson moved the show to Burbank in 1972. He performed with the group at the 1988 Wichita Jazz Festival.

Conte has played all over the world with Stan Kenton, his own group, Gerry Mulligan, the Lighthouse All-Stars, and others. He has appeared in many motion pictures with various orchestras and worked in all of Frank Sinatra's TV specials. For many years he preferred to stay in California where he could do the Tonight Show, take all the studio work he wanted, and do occasional concerts and clinics. He ventured to Kansas in 1986 as a WJF All-Star with Jerome Richardson, Barney Kessel and Monty Alexander at the 1986 Wichita Jazz Festival.

After Johnny Carson’s retirement in 1992, he traveled occasionally with Doc Serverinsen, but still enjoyed his solo playing. (Source: www.candoli.com)

Best-known as the trumpet section leader in Doc Severinsen's Tonight Show Band, Conte Candoli was a fine all-around jazz stylist most at home in the worlds of bop and West Coast cool jazz. Younger by four years than his similarly accomplished trumpet-playing brother Pete, Conte was born Secondo Candoli in Mishawaka, IN, on July 12, 1927. He first patterned himself after players like Harry James, Roy Eldridge, and Dizzy Gillespie, later discovering Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. His first job came at age 16, when brother Pete recommended him for a summer gig with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd; after graduating high school, he joined full-time. He went on to play with several other bands, including Stan Kenton, whom he left in 1954 to form his own band. After leading some recording dates, he soon found a more comfortable existence, moving to Los Angeles and taking session jobs in between gigs with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars. After about four years, he left in 1960 to work with drummer Shelly Manne, while he and Pete both enjoyed top-dog status in the L.A. session community. In 1968, Candoli took a part-time gig with the Tonight Show Band and joined permanently in 1972, when the show officially moved to Burbank. During the '70s, he was also a member of Supersax, among other L.A. all-star outfits, and also continued his periodic collaborations with his brother. Candoli retired from the Tonight Show along with Johnny Carson in 1992, and continued to play until a battle with cancer slowed his activities. Candoli died in a convalescent home on December 14, 2001. (Steve Huey)