Tony Rizzi (1923-1992) grew up in Los Angeles and studied violin for 11 years before taking up the trumpet. At 18, he bought a guitar for $5.00 from his next-door neighbor starting to play and soon developed into a sideman of sufficient ability to qualify for the Air Transport Command band during World War II.

After he invaluable experience of playing in service bands, Tony was ready to compete with the best. In 1946, his first professional jobs were with Boyd Raeburn’s and Earle Spencer’s progressive bands, performing and recording with distinction as a soloist.

This arned him a contract with Les Brown, becoming a key musician in his band until 1953. That same year he became a member of the Dave Pell Octet, one of the mos popular jazz ensembles in Southern California, which was formed with the core members of Brown’s orchestra. Beginning in 1954, Tony expanded his activities by joining the staff of the NBC Orchestra, which played on many television variety shows. It was there that he met Frank Comstock, who would be responsible for the production and music of Tony’s first album as a leader for Starlite Records.

—Jordi Pujol (From the back-liner notes of FSRCD 1070)