Sammy Nestico
Sammy Nestico, the unassuming gentle giant in the fabric of the music of America, specifically that of big band, blues, jazz, popular and film music. Sammy has composed and arranged some of the greatest American music of all time. He has arranged and conducted albums for people such as Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Liza Minelli and numerous others on the world stage. He also recorded 10 albums of original music that received four Grammy Award nominations as well as arranged music for film studios like Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Columbia and MGM.
Big Band Orchestra
After her university years, Martjie Carter spent 5 years playing saxophone in a Big Band orchestra in Pretoria SA, resulting in her becoming very familiar with many of Sammy Nestico’s music and arrangements. Little did she know that, years later, while playing tenor saxophone for the Coastal Communities Band in San Diego California, she would meet Sammy and have the honour of being commissioned twice to do oil portraits of him.
Portraits
The first portrait was done in oil and was a combination of Sammy and Don Ganeva (conductor of the Coastal Communities Band) on one canvas.
The second painting, done in oil but in a loose impressionistic style, is depicting Sammy conducting the Band in Black. This is now used on the homepage of sammynesticomusic.com.
Unveiling
The unveiling of this artwork was hosted by the Big Band & Jazz Hall of Fame in the Star theater Oceanside California 2003.
