Salvatore "Torrie" Zito (October 12, 1933 – December 3, 2009) was an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

music arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestra ...

, composer and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

Life and career

He is most widely known for his hugely popular work with

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

on the classic album '' Imagine'', as string arranger. He wrote advertising

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s, including a famous one for

Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the M ...

, and background music for many television programs. In 1964, he conducted and did the arrangements for singer

Morgana King Maria Grazia Morgana Messina (June 4, 1930 – March 22, 2018), known as Morgana King, was an American jazz singer and actress.Liner notes by Joel Dorn – Morgana King album ''The Complete Reprise Recordings'' (2000).Liner notes by Ed Osborne � ...

's classic album, ''Miss Morgana King''. Those with a good ear might like to compare the voicing of the first few bars of Torrie's arrangement of the track "All Blues" with that of the first few bars of Symphony No. 11 by Dmitri Shostakovich. They are remarkably similar; a hint by Torrie that long sections of the symphony are inspiration for variations on All Blues. Helen Merrill confirms that Torrie was interested in the music of Shostakovich. A New York City resident, Zito was married to singer

Helen Merrill Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21, 1930) is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording '' Helen Merrill'' (with Clifford Brown), was an immediate success and associated her with the first generatio ...

, with whom he recorded several albums. He had one daughter, Lisa Zito, from his first marriage, and a stepson, a singer-songwriter

Alan Merrill Alan Merrill (born Allan Preston Sachs; February 19, 1951 – March 29, 2020) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the write ...

(most known for his 1975 hit " I Love Rock'n'Roll"), by his second marriage (to Merrill). His brother is the drummer

Ronnie Zito Ronald "Ronnie" Zito (born February 17, 1939) is an American jazz drummer. Early life Zito was born in Utica, New York, into a musical family including his brother Torrie Zito. He began playing drums at the age of 10 and at age 14 took a year a ...

Death

Zito died from

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the a ...

on December 3, 2009 at his

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

home.William Grimes
Torrie Zito, Pianist and Arranger, Is Dead at 76
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''; retrieved December 18, 2009.

References

External links

Interview with Torrie Zito on JazzProfessional.com
* Torrie Zito - All Music Guide entry 1933 births 2009 deaths Deaths from emphysema American music arrangers American male conductors (music) 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians {{US-pianist-stub

Life and career

Death

See also

References

External links