Santo Pecora (born Santo Joseph Pecoraro, March 21, 1902 – May 29, 1984) 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 ...

trombonist known for his longtime association with the New Orleans jazz scene. He was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States. Pecora changed his name because his cousin, a drummer, was also named Santo Pecoraro. The two sometimes performed in ensembles together. Pecora began on

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

but settled on trombone as a teenager. He played in orchestras accompanying

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s as well as with the bandleaders Johnny De Droit and

Leon Roppolo Leon Joseph Roppolo (March 16, 1902 – October 5, 1943) was an American early jazz clarinetist, best known for his playing with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. He also played saxophone and guitar. Life and career Leon Roppolo (nicknamed "Rap" and ...

. He toured with singer

Bee Palmer Beatrice C. "Bee" Palmer (11 September 1894 – 22 December 1967) was an American singer and dancer born in Chicago, Illinois. Palmer first attracted significant attention as one of the first exponents of the "shimmy" dance in the late 1910s. ...

early in the 1920s, then joined the

New Orleans Rhythm Kings The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (NORK) were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early to mid-1920s. The band included New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians. History The ...

in the middle of the decade. He moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

late in the decade, playing both in jazz bands and in theater palaces, then became a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

sideman in the 1930s. He toured with

Sharkey Bonano Joseph Gustaf "Sharkey" Bonano (April 9, 1904 – March 27, 1972), also known as Sharkey Banana or Sharkey Bananas, was an American jazz trumpeter, band leader, and vocalist. His musical abilities were sometimes overlooked because of his lo ...

in the 1930s, then played with

Wingy Manone Joseph Matthews "Wingy" Manone (February 13, 1900 – July 9, 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His recordings included " Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In the 1940s he returned to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, where he continued working with Bonano in addition to regular gigs on

riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...

s and at

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s. He remained a staple of the local scene into the 1960s. He died in May 1984, in his hometown, at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pecora, Santo 1902 births 1984 deaths American jazz trombonists Male trombonists Jazz musicians from New Orleans 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians New Orleans Rhythm Kings members Southland Records artists