[Dixielandjazz] Empire City Six

[Bill Haesler]

Dear friends,
Further to an earlier thread regarding the personnel for the Empire 
City Six, I came across the following, which may be of interest.:

'Allegro'. Volume CVI  No. 2 
February,  2006

HARRY DiVITO
"Harry DiVito, 81, a trombonist and an 802 member since 1940, died on 
Feb. 12.

Mr. DiVito began his professional career at 16 when he joined the Tommy 
Reynolds orchestra. After his stint with Reynolds he played with the 
big bands of Isham Jones, Les Brown, Harry James, Benny Goodman, 
Charlie Spivak, Stan Kenton, Sam Donahue, and Gene Krupa. From 1950 to 
1956 he was a member of Phil Napoleon’s Memphis Five.

A lifelong lover of big band and Dixieland music, Mr. DiVito became a 
successful and respected bandleader of the Empire City Six and the 7 
Shades of Jazz.

 From 1959 to 1988 he appeared with the orchestras of numerous shows on 
Broadway including "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," "Over Here," 
"Sugar Babies" and the original Broadway production of "Chicago." He 
performed with various artists including Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, 
Tony Bennett, Barbara Streisand, Peggy Lee and Paul Anka. Mr. DiVito 
also lent his talents to the soundtrack recordings of hundreds of TV 
and radio commercials and numerous record albums.

During his military service in World War II, Mr. DiVito was a member of 
the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Virginia (Gini), his son Jeff, 
his daughter Debra Senn and his granddaughter Bianca."

Kind regards,
Bill.