Pat Rizzo (November 30, 1941 – April 15, 2021) was an American saxophonist and

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, best known for his work with funk band

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi ...

Career

Rizzo started performing in the sixties with

The Cuff Links The Cuff Links were an American rock/pop studio group from Staten Island, New York, United States. The band had a US No. 9 hit in 1969 with " Tracy", with rich harmonized vocals provided entirely by Ron Dante. The track was produced as part of ...

. He is best known for his work as

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

and

with funk band

. He was intended as a replacement for founding member

Jerry Martini Gerald L. Martini (born October 1, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the saxophonist for Sly and the Family Stone. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of Sly and the Family Stone. Early lif ...

, who got into trouble with

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (born March 15, 1943), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the ...

and his accountants for inquiring about money rightfully due to him, but both Martini and Rizzo remained in the band and became good friends. He later replaced Charles Miller in

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. During this period he also performed with

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...

and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

. Rizzo appeared on Ry Cooder's 1976 album ''

Chicken Skin Music ''Chicken Skin Music'' is Ry Cooder's fifth studio album, released in 1976, on the Reprise label. Reception Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Brett Hartenbach said: "Even more than usual, Cooder refuses to recognize borders -- geographical or ...

'', 1977

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' Show Time'' and his 1978 album ''

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 ...

'' and he accompanied Cooder on his 1977 tour of Europe.

Compositions

Rizzo is credited as composer of the Sly and the Family Stone song, "Ha Ha Hee Hee". During the recording sessions for the band's ''

Small Talk Small talk is an informal type of discourse that does not cover any functional topics of conversation or any transactions that need to be addressed. In essence, it is polite and standard conversation about unimportant things. The phenomenon ...

'' album, Rizzo co-wrote the song with Jerry Martini.

Personal life

Rizzo was married to Kelli J Ball (Mickeliunas), an international fashion model. The couple divorced. He died in April 2021 at the age of 79.

References

External links

Pat Rizzo Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
1941 births 2021 deaths 21st-century saxophonists American funk saxophonists American male saxophonists American people of Italian descent American soul musicians Sly and the Family Stone members War (American band) members {{US-saxophonist-stub