Toots camarata biography sample

• Born 11 May 1913, Glen Ridge, New Jersey
• Died 20 April 2005, Burbank, California

Nicknamed by bandleader Jimmy Dorsey, "Tutti" Camarata was truly a jack of all musical trades--instrumentalist, orchestrator, arranger, composer, producer, and even record company executive.

Perhaps his drive had something to do with being born as the youngest in a family of eight children. He started studying the violin at the age of nine and switched to the trumpet at twelve. He managed not only to be heard above the noise of his siblings but to earn an invitation to attend the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.

Toots camarata biography sample

Working in stage and radio studio orchestras to pay the rent, he completed Juilliard and went on to study composition at Columbia University.

At 21, he was hired by Charlie Barnet, whose band was just starting to gain some fame.

Known then as "Toots," he then worked briefly on Bing Crosby's radio show and as an arranger for bandleader Paul