According to family friends, Pittsburgh-native and Duquesne University alum Sammy Nestico had died, just weeks shy of his 97th birthday in February. WZUM sends our love and condolences to his wife Shirley, the rest of his family and many friends and fans. Sammy’s compositions and arrangements are foundational to the sounds of jazz and big bands, today.

As a composer, arranger and bandleader, his career spanned decades and his charts have been heard by millions.

This past fall, we got word that Sammy entered into long-term hospice care in the San Diego area and was receiving care at his home in Carlsbad, CA. Condolences are pouring in on his facebook page, and a fan page from people who have known Sammy, musicians who have played his charts and listeners who’ve enjoyed the great sounds over the decades.

In October 2020, we shared this program, an appreciation of Sammy, joined by Butler-native Jim Anderson as well as great sounds from decades of Sammy Nestico charts.

We also want to remind you about a long-awaited documentary on Sammy’s life - which has some major Pittsburgh connections.

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Diane Estelle Vicari is completing a feature-length film Shadow Man. It tells the story of Sammy Nestico through pictures and sounds, Sammy's own words, and the words of others. Diane graciously offered up stories from the film for us to share with Pittsburgh listeners.

You can read more about the film project at the website. There’s also a Kickstarter page for the project with more details.

Hear Sammy Nestico tell how Pittsburgh’s Grover Mitchell was instrumental in starting Sammy’s long tenure with the Count Basie Orchestra, tales of the Stanley Theater, how Sammy came to start in music at Oliver High School, and his start at WCAE radio when he was just 17.

We also talk with Grammy-winning engineer and producer Jim Anderson about working with Sammy Nestico (Jim’s from Pittsburgh, too!).

Sammy worked on scores for scores of popular TV shows from Charlies Angels to Mannix and Mission Impossible. Early on in his career, he played trombone with bands led by Gene Krupa, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet.
Sammy Nestico is a Pittsburgh native, and earned his Bachelor’s in music education from Duquesne University in 1950. Appropriately, his charts have been played by thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of jazz and concerts band students over the decades.