Sammy Nestico Arranging Tips

In honor of Sammy Nestico, former U.S. Marine Band arranger (1963-67), U.S. Air Force Band arranger, GRAMMY award-winner, and former arranger for the for such acclaimed artists as Count Basie and Quincy Jones.
Entire Playlist - Conversation with Sammy: • Conversation with Samm...
This interview with Sammy Nestico took place in February 2013 in preparation for the Marine Band’s concert titled “Simply Sammy.” Part of the Marine Band’s 2013 Living History concert series, this concert celebrated Nestico’s enduring legacy. Learn more about the concert: www.marines.mi...
Sammy Nestico, U.S. Marine Band Arranger from 1963-1967
Sammy Nestico listened and learned by experience, working as a staff arranger with a radio orchestra in Pittsburgh from age seventeen. He served in the Air Force with the Airmen of Note for twelve years and then served five years as chief arranger in “The President’s Own.” When he returned to Washington, D.C., for an anniversary concert in 2013 he spoke of the importance of integrating individuality with the legacy of the Marine Band: “I didn’t want to be John Philip Sousa, I want to be Sammy. So always in my music I want to make it sound like the Marine Band, but there’s always a little bit of Sammy in there too. You put your own personality, your heart, in there.” Keeping the “Sammy” in his music proved successful for Nestico in his post-Marine Band career. He has published nearly 600 works for school groups and big bands, worked on seventy television shows, been nominated for eight Grammys, and is perhaps most famous for his work with the Count Basie Orchestra. It was these Count Basie arrangements that Wayne Marshall of the Dresden Philharmonic originally requested when he asked Nestico to collaborate for a joint project with the Dresden Philharmonic and the SWR Swing Band in 2012. Nestico turned down this offer, countering with an alternate subject matter that he thought would have more variety, a collection of the great jazz standards of American history. He selected the tunes before writing a single note: “April in Paris” (Duke), “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “Chelsea Bridge” (Strayhorn), “Cherokee” (Noble), “Stardust” (Carmichael), “A Night in Tunisia” (Gillespie), and “How High the Moon” (Lewis).
The Marines' Hymn, Apotheosis
The Marines’ Hymn is one of the most readily recognized songs and is the oldest of the country’s service songs. The history of the hymn has been clouded by the passing of time and confused by oral tradition. There is no confusion, however, on the part of the hearer when The Marines’ Hymn is performed: it is as easily identified with the United States Marine Corps as “The Star Spangled Banner” is with the nation. To all Marines, it has become a sacred symbol of pride, professionalism, and esprit de corps. Marines stand tall at the position of attention when the hymn is performed. The setting by former Marine Band arranger Sammy Nestico presents the hymn as an apotheosis, the most elevated and exalted setting of the music imaginable. It begins with a strong introduction which ends with a brief reference to the bugle call “Taps.” Following a quiet and unadorned statement of the melody, the arrangement grows in intensity until it becomes a glorious and dramatic declaration of the sacred music, fitting to resound even in Heaven’s scenes where “the streets are guarded by United States Marines.”

[@MrLewis-lk8us]

The most amazing arranger in music history.

[@gilevansinsideout]

What a legend

[@sebandsound7426]

Rest in peace❤️ wonderful influence to the youth and old alike :)) thank you for sharing this!

[@adblau1]

Total legend

[@grahamf695]

Priceless.

[@Chris16939]

The Best

[@fornello123]

Legend