Torrie Zito
Salvatore "Torrie" Zito (October 12, 1933 – December 3, 2009) was an American pianist, music arranger, composer and conductor.
Life and career
He is widely known for his popular work with John Lennon on the classic album Imagine, as string arranger.[1]
He wrote advertising jingles, including a famous one for Maxwell House, and background music for many television programs.
In 1964, he conducted and did the arrangements for singer Morgana King's classic album, Miss Morgana King. Those with a good ear might like to compare the voicing of the first few bars of Torrie's arrangement of the track "All Blues" with that of the first few bars of Symphony No. 11 by Dmitri Shostakovich. They are remarkably similar; a hint by Torrie that long sections of the symphony are inspiration for variations on All Blues. Helen Merrill confirms that Torrie was interested in the music of Shostakovich.
A New York City resident, Zito was married to singer Helen Merrill, with whom he recorded several albums. He had one daughter, Lisa Zito, from his first marriage, and a stepson, a singer-songwriter Alan Merrill (most known for his 1975 hit "I Love Rock'n'Roll"), by his second marriage (to Merrill). His brother is the drummer Ronnie Zito.[2]
Death
Zito died from emphysema on December 3, 2009 at his Manhattan home.[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Lennon's Imagine Orchestrator Zito Dies". Contactmusic.com. 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
- ^ Grimes, William (8 December 2009). "Torrie Zito, Pianist and Arranger, is Dead at 76". The New York Times.
- ^ William Grimes, Torrie Zito, Pianist and Arranger, Is Dead at 76 The New York Times; retrieved December 18, 2009.
External links
Archives at | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
How to use archival material |
- Interview with Torrie Zito on JazzProfessional.com
- Torrie Zito - All Music Guide entry
- v
- t
- e
- Peter Matz (1970)
- Dominic Frontiere (1971)
- Elliot Lawrence (1972)
- Peter Matz (1973)
- Jack Parnell, Ken & Mitzie Welch (1974)
- No Award (1975)
- Seiji Ozawa (1976)
- Ian Fraser (1977)
- Ian Fraser (1978)
- No Award (1979)
- Ian Fraser (1980)
- Ian Fraser, Chris Boardman, Billy Byers, and Bob Florence (1981)
- Bill Elton, Elliot Lawrence, Lanny Meyers, Tommy Newsom, Jonathan Tunick, and Torrie Zito (1982)
- Dick Hyman (1983)
- Ian Fraser, Chris Boardman, Billy Byers, J. Hill, and Lenny Stack (1984)
- Ian Fraser, Billy Byers, and Angela Morley (1985)
- Elliot Lawrence, James Lawrence, Lanny Meyers, Tommy Newsom, Glen Roven, Larry Schwartz, and Torrie Zito (1986)
- Buster Davis, Don Pippin, and Eric Stern (1987)
- Ian Fraser, Chris Boardman, Alexander Courage, and Angela Morley (1988)
- Ian Fraser, Chris Boardman, and J. Hill (1989)
- Ian Fraser, Billy Byers, Chris Boardman, Bob Florence, J. Hill, and Angela Morley (1990)
- Ian Fraser, Billy Byers, Chris Boardman, and J. Hill (1991)
- Bill Conti, Jack Eskew, Julie Giroux, Ashley Irwin, and Hummie Mann (1992)
- Ian Fraser (1993)
- Michael Rafter (1994)
- Marvin Hamlisch (1995)
- Glen Roven (1996)
- Mark Watters (1997)
- Bill Conti (1998)
- Mark Adler (1999)
- Paul Bogaev (2000)
- Marvin Hamlisch (2001)
- Mark Watters (2002)
- Bill Conti (2003)
- Harry Connick Jr. (2004)
- Michael Kosarin (2005)
- Paul Gemignani (2006)
- William Ross (2007)
- Steve Jordan and Mark Watters (2008)
- William Ross (2009)
- Dave Pierce (2010)
- Harry Connick Jr. (2011)
- Rob Berman and Rob Mathes (2012)
- Elliot Lawrence (2013)
- Don Was (2014)
- Greg Phillinganes (2015)
- Danny Elfman (2016)
- Rickey Minor (2017)
- Gregg Field (2018)
- Alex Lacamoire (2019)
- Rickey Minor (2020)
- Bo Burnham (2021)
- Adam Blackstone (2022)
- Greg Phillinganes (2023)
This article about an American pianist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e