Johnny Costa (born John Costanza; January 18, 1922 – October 11, 1996) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist. Given the title "The White Art Tatum" by jazz legend

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

, Costa is best known for his work as musical director of the children's television series ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' debut ...

''.

Biography

Costa learned to play accordion at age seven and was reading music three years later. Frank Oliver, Costa's high school music teacher, urged him to learn the piano after discovering that Costa had

perfect pitch Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection, completeness, excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (2018 film), a science ...

. Costa graduated from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

with degrees in music and in education. In case he failed as a musician, Costa prepared himself to teach. On the day of his graduation, he began work as the house pianist for a radio station in Pittsburgh. Eventually he performed the same role for

KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Jeannette-licensed CW affil ...

in Pittsburgh. He provided piano and organ music for many programs, eventually teaming with

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

to arrange and perform the music heard on ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.'' Costa's first recording was ''The Amazing Johnny Costa'', a Savoy LP released in 1955 and reissued on CD as ''Neighborhood'' in 1989. Although his increasingly lucrative career was beginning to bring him international attention, the amount of time away from his family and friends led him to live and perform only in western Pennsylvania. He stopped traveling and gave up his job as musical director of ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into nati ...

''. He returned to Pittsburgh and remained there for the rest of his life. Costa appeared along with guitarist

Joe Negri Joseph Harold Negri (born June 10, 1926) is an American jazz guitarist and educator. He appeared as himself and as "Handyman Negri" in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments on ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''. He appeared on the 1959 children' ...

on the 1954 Ken Griffin TV series ''67 Melody Lane''. Johnny and Joe played two numbers, "After You've Gone" and "Little Brown Jug", the latter with Ken Griffin at the organ.

''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''

Costa served as musical director, arranger, and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

for the children's television series ''

'' from the show's debut in 1968 until his death in 1996. The show's creator and host,

, regarded Costa as one of the most gifted musicians he had ever met. Rogers' choice was surprising because Costa's style was regarded as too complicated and sophisticated for a children's show. Costa accepted the job without hesitation because it wouldn't require him to travel away from Pittsburgh, and because Rogers offered him the same amount he needed to pay his son's college tuition ($5,000). Although ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' was a children's show, Costa made it a point not to play "baby" music. He believed children understood good music and that he could experiment with his own musical styles and techniques, even for a kids' show. Each day, Costa and his trio (Carl McVicker Jr. on bass, Bobby Rawsthorne on percussion) played live in the studio for the filming. In addition to the show's recognizable main theme, they played the trolley whistle, Mr. McFeely's frenetic Speedy Delivery piano plonks, the vibraphone flute-toots (on a synthesizer) as Fred fed his fish, dreamy celesta lines,

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

, and Rogers' entrance and exit tunes.

Death

Costa died of

aplastic anemia Aplastic anemia is a cancer in which the body fails to make blood cells in sufficient numbers. Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow by stem cells that reside there. Aplastic anemia causes a deficiency of all blood cell types: red blood ...

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the age of 74. After his death, Michael Moricz took over as musical director on ''Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood'' until the show ended in 2001. Much of Costa's music continued to be used, including the celesta music at the beginning of each episode. At Moricz's request, the show's

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the Cast member, cast and Film crew, crew of a particular Film, motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear clos ...

continued to list Costa alongside Moricz as its musical directors.

References

External links

Johnny Costa
tribute site *
Johnny Costa
at Pittsburgh Music History * {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Johnny 1922 births 1996 deaths American jazz pianists American male pianists Musicians from Pittsburgh People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Top Rank Records artists Celesta players 20th-century American pianists Warner Records artists Omnivore Recordings artists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Deaths from anemia