Sammy Nestico

From 1967 to 1984 Sammy Nestico was the composer and arranger for the Count Basie Orchestra, recording ten albums of original music and winning four Grammy awards along the way. His career in music spanned eight decades and during that time he wrote hundreds of pieces that were directed toward the educational market. Sammy had the rare gift of being equally at home writing for professional studio musicians as well as middle and high school students. Countless players over the years have been touched by his music and his legacy continues. In addition to his jazz writing, he also had a career in the film and television industry and he contributed as arranger or orchestrator to more than sixty shows. Beginning in 1982, he began releasing big band albums under his own name including Dark Orchid, Night Flight and This is the Moment.