Sammy Nestico

Sammy Nestico (born Samuel Louis Nistico, February 6, 1924) is an American composer and arranger. Nestico is best known for his arrangements for the Count Basie orchestra.[1]

Sammy Nestico
Background information
Birth nameSamuel Louis Nistico
Born (1924-02-06) February 6, 1924
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Composer, arranger
Associated actsCount Basie

Biography

Nestico was born on February 6, 1924 in Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania. Nestico joined his high school's beginner orchestra in 1937 as a trombonist. In 1939, he wrote his first arrangement. At age 17, Nestico joined the ABC radio station WCAE in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a trombonist.[2]

During his career, he arranged music for the Count Basie Orchestra (1967–1984), the U.S. Air Force Band (fifteen years) and the U.S. Marine Band (five years) both in Washington, D.C. In addition, he played trombone in the big bands of Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, and Charlie Barnet.

In 1998–1999 Nestico was a professor at the University of Georgia, teaching commercial orchestration and conducting the studio orchestra. He also directed music programs at Los Angeles Pierce College, Woodland Hills, California, Westinghouse Memorial High School, and Wilmerding, Pennsylvania.

During his long career in the television and film industry, he arranged and conducted projects for Bing Crosby, Sarah Vaughan, Toni Tennille, Frank Sinatra, Phil Collins, Barbra Streisand, and Count Basie. As orchestrator, he has worked on nearly seventy television programs, including Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Charlie's Angels, and The Mod Squad.

He has written commercial jingles for Anheuser-Busch, Zenith, Ford Motor Company, Mattel Toys, Pittsburgh Paints, the National Guard, Dodge, Remington Bank, and Americard.

He has published nearly 600 numbers for school groups and many for professional big bands. He has conducted and recorded his arrangements with several leading European Radio Jazz Orchestras, including the BBC Big Band in London, Germany's SWR Big Band and NDR Big Band and the DR Big Band.

Nestico received a Bachelor's degree in music education from Duquesne University in 1950, and he has received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from his alma mater.

Discography
  • 1982 Dark Orchid (Palo Alto)
  • 1986 Night Flight (Sea Breeze)
  • 1998 Big Band Favorites of Sammy Nestico (Summit)
  • 2000 Sammy Nestico – For You to Play (Jamey Aebersold)
  • 2000 Basie & Beyond The Quincy Jones-Sammy Nestico Orchestra (Qwest / Warner Bros.)
  • 2005 No Time Like the Present (Hänssler)
  • 2005 Basie Cally Sammy: The Music of Count Basie and Sammy Nestico (Hänssler)
  • 2009 Sammy Nesticol, Vol. 3: Fun Time (Hänssler)
  • 2011 Fun Time & More Live (Hänssler)
  • 2017 A Cool Breeze with Sammy Nestico with the SWR Big Band (SWR Music)

Source: [3]

As arranger

With Count Basie

With Frank Sinatra

With Sarah Vaughan

  • Send in the Clowns (Pablo, 1981)

The Sammy Nestico Award

The Airmen of Note, the premier jazz ensemble of the USAF, sponsor an annual competition[4] for composers and arrangers of big band music, in honor of Sammy Nestico. Previous winners are:

YearAward RecipientPlace of Residence
2016Ike KalaposDeep River, CT
2014William Longo IIMiramar, FL
2011Scott NimmerTaylorville, IL
2010Jeremy LevyHannibal, MO
2009Sara JacovinoMiddlebury, CT
2008Michael DeaseAugusta, GA
2007Christopher SchmitzAnchorage, AK
2006Carl MurrDallas, TX
2005David CutlerPittsburgh, PA
2004Stephen SmithDenton, TX
2003Aaron LingtonDenton, TX
2002Earl MacDonaldMansfield Center, CT
2001Curtis StephanCarrollton, TX
2000Jeff AntoniukAnnapolis, MD
1999no award issued-
1998Joey SellersBrooklyn, NY
1997Lyle DurlandProvo, UT
1996William StraubSyracuse, NY
1996Charles BayneDallas, TX

References
  1. Allmusic
  2. Nestico, Sammy; Boddicker, Michael; Piestrup, Don (1993). The Complete Arranger. Fenwood Music Co., Inc. p. 324.
  3. "Sammy Nestico | Album Discography | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  4. http://www.usafband.af.mil/competitions/nesticoaward/index.asp
Archives at
LocationLibrary of Congress
SourceSammy Nestico papers, 1930s-2006
Using archival material
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