[Dixielandjazz] Somewhat OKOM obit: Salvadore "Tutti" Camarata

[David Richoux]

`Tutti' Camarata, 91, musician, composer
SUPERVISED 300 ALBUMS FOR DISNEY STARS
By Jon Thurber
Los Angeles Times

Salvadore ``Tutti'' Camarata, a musician, composer and arranger during 
the big-band era, has died. He was 91.

Mr. Camarata, who was also a leading record-industry figure, died 
Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank after a 
short illness, said his son, Paul.

In his diverse career, Mr. Camarata arranged music and played trumpet 
for a wide range of artists, including Bing Crosby, Jimmy Dorsey, Ella 
Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman and Billie Holiday.

While living in Britain, Mr. Camarata worked on films for producer J. 
Arthur Rank, and while living in Los Angeles, he headed Disneyland 
Records, where he supervised the recording of more than 300 albums 
featuring Disney stars such as Annette Funicello and Haley Mills.

He also started Sunset Sound Recorders, one of the leading recording 
studios in Hollywood, which has been used by artists as diverse as 
Miles Davis, Van Halen, Prince and the Rolling Stones.

Born in Glen Ridge, N.J., on May 11, 1913, Mr. Camarata studied at the 
Juilliard School in New York and found work as a trumpeter in studio 
bands. In the early '30s, he worked as an arranger for saxophonist and 
bandleader Charlie Barnet before joining the Dorsey band as lead 
trumpeter. He is credited with arranging the Dorsey hits ``Tangerine,'' 
``Green Eyes'' and ``Yours.'' Dorsey gave him the nickname ``Tutti.''

In the early 1940s, Mr. Camarata left Dorsey and was an arranger for 
Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra and Goodman's band, for which he 
wrote an arrangement of Prokofiev's ``Peter and the Wolf.''

During World War II, he served as a flight instructor in the Army Air 
Forces. After the war, he worked as musical director for Decca Records. 
His notable work there included string arrangements for some of 
Holiday's recordings.

While living in London after the war, he co-founded London Records, 
with Sir Edward Lewis. London Records, a pop music label, eventually 
became the home to leading rock bands, including the Rolling Stones.

He returned to the United States in 1950 and did more work for Decca 
and conducted the television orchestra for the broadcast of ``Together 
With Music'' featuring Mary Martin and Noel Coward. He also conducted 
for singer Vic Damone.

Mr. Camarata moved to Southern California at the urging of Walt Disney, 
who wanted to start a record label to release soundtracks for his 
movies. As a co-founder of Disneyland Records, Mr. Camarata is credited 
with helping Funicello develop a distinctive and salable sound when 
some at the Disney company wanted to dub her voice.

Mr. Camarata had been renting facilities to record the Disney albums 
and wanted to start his own studio on the Disney lot to control costs. 
He presented the idea to Walt Disney in the late 1950s, but Disney 
wasn't interested.

Mr. Camarata found a location on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and 
opened Sunset Sound Recorders in 1960. During the early years, the 
studio cranked out recordings for a number of popular Disney films, 
including ``101 Dalmatians.''