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Note: Obituary: Daniel 'Danny Conn' Constable / Versatile jazz trumpeter June 13, 1928 - Nov. 2, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
By Nate Guidry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Danny Conn, a lyrical and versatile trumpeter whose self-effacing style provided the perfect accompaniment to everyone from 1950s burlesque dancers to Frank Sinatra, died yesterday from complications related to thyroid cancer. He was 78.
"He was such a strong player," said guitarist Joe Negri, who had known the performer since the mid-1950s. "He was probably the best jazz player I ever played with. He was such a beautiful person." "He was my mentor," said drummer Chuck Spatafore. "He played as [well] as the best." Mr. Conn, of Wilkins, was the quintessential sideman who could play it all -- from jazz and blues to doo-wop and country to classical and circus music.
"He stood alone in Pittsburgh," said vocalist Sandy Staley, who with Mr. Conn was inducted in 2002 to the Pittsburgh Jazz Society's Jazz Hall of Fame. "There was no generation gap musically with Danny. He was in tune with all styles. He was a jazz warrior."
For more than 60 years, Mr. Conn toted his trumpet, equally capable of ripping through the changes of Charlie Parker's "Groovin' High" as he was backing up Tempest Storm, a popular strip dancer at the old Casino Theater, Downtown. Mr. Conn also was a genuine humanitarian.
A case in point was Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa, a piano wunderkind who disappeared from the national scene nearly 40 years ago but whose work continued to resonate in the annals of jazz. Mr. Conn made a habit of visiting him weekly before his death in 2002, boosting his spirits and reliving glorious days long since tucked away in memories. In 1998, after the death of Howard E. "Hud" Davies, a local drummer who played with Benny Goodman, Mr. Conn went to the gravesite after everyone had gone and played taps and Mr. Goodman's theme song, "Goodbye."
"He was such a beautiful person, and that came through in his playing," said drummer Spider Rondinelli. "His trumpet style could be as cool as Chet Baker or as heavy as Lee Morgan. He always told me that he admired me and I would say, 'I got it from you, babe.'"
Born Daniel Constabile, later changed to Constable, Mr. Conn grew up in East Liberty and began playing trumpet at 12.
His grandfather, who played cornet, taught him the rudiments before helping him to secure his first job in an Italian marching band. For three years, the group performed for St. Anthony's and St. Rocco's Day celebrations. Later, he performed in Rome with a 45-piece Italian band for the pope.
Still, Mr. Conn didn't take the instrument all that seriously until he became a member of the famed Westinghouse High School Kadets, a swing band that played music ranging from "String of Pearls" to Coleman Hawkins' "Body and Soul." The band was directed by the late Carl McVickers and featured saxophonist "Buzz" Renn and his brother, trombonist Jack Renn, Ahmad Jamal, Grover Mitchell, Pete Henderson, Albert Aarons, Dakota Staton and Adam Wade. After school, Mr. Conn listened to records -- mostly trumpet players -- and sometimes copied solos, including Bunny Berrigan's "I Can't Get Started" and Theodore "Fats" Navarro's "Fat Boy." Soon, he began to perform locally, playing mostly honky-tonk music at a club in Homewood called the Everbest, which later became the Too Sweet Lounge. In 1950, Mr. Conn left Pittsburgh to join Burt Massengale's band in Hattiesburg, Miss. The eight-piece group played many songs associated with singer Phil Harris, like "The Preacher and the Bear" and "Benny's From Heaven." When the Korean War began, Mr. Conn left Mr. Massengale to take a $125-a-week gig with Clyde McCoy and the Sugar Blues Kings. Still later, Mr. Conn performed in bands led by Claude Thornhill, Al Boleto, Hal McIntyre and others.
Life on the road was great, but no matter where he was, he was always home with his wife, Carmella, and their eight children during Christmas.
In the early 1960s, Mr. Conn performed more than 50 concerts with Stevie Wonder and the Supremes. Later, at Atlantic City's 500 Club, he backed up Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.
For the next 20 years, when he wasn't working locally with Mr. Negri, Mr. Spatafore and others, he and trombonist Joe Dallas served as co-music directors for the Hamid-Morton Circus (now Hamid Circus Royale). They chased down trapeze acts from Tulsa, Okla., to La Crosse, Wis., with songs like "La Fiesta" and Miles Davis' "Milestone."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Conn is survived by three daughters, Cheryl Sligar of Las Vegas, Lisa Quinn of Ohio Township and Lea Vezio of Robinson; five sons, Donte (Daniel), Michael and Vince of Las Vegas, David of Wilkins and Jay of Forest Hills; one sister, Jean Creo of Aspinwall; 23 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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