Pete Rugolo

Pietro Rugolo (December 25, 1915 – October 16, 2011), known professionally as Pete Rugolo, where his father earned a living as a shoemaker. He began his career in music playing the baritone horn, like his father, but he quickly branched out into other instruments, notably the French horn and the piano. He received a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State College and then went on to study composition with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he earned a master’s degree. After he graduated, Rugolo was hired as an arranger and composer by guitarist and bandleader Johnny Richards. 1940s and 1950s Rugulo spent World War II playing with altoist Paul Desmond in an Army band (1942-1945). While Rugolo continued to work occasionally with Kenton in the 1950s, he spent more time creating arrangements for pop and jazz vocalists, most extensively with former Kenton singer June Christy on such albums as Something Cool, Among his albums were Adventures in Rhythm, Introducing Pete Rugolo, Rugolomania, An Adventure in Sound: Reeds in Hi-Fi, and Music for Hi-Fi Bugs. Rugolo’s arrangements for the album The Four Freshmen and Five Trombones propelled the group to recognitio