Vincent DeRosa


Vincent Ned DeRosa was an American hornist who served as a studio musician for Hollywood soundtracks and other recordings from 1935 until his retirement in 2008. Because his career spanned over 70 years, during which he played on many film and television soundtracks and as a sideman on studio albums, he is considered to be one of the most recorded brass players of all time. He set "impeccably high standards" for the horn, and became the first horn for Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, Alfred Newman, and John Williams, among others, with Williams calling him "one of the greatest instrumentalists of his generation." DeRosa contributed to many of the most acclaimed albums of the 20th century, including some of the biggest-selling albums by artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, Frank Zappa, Boz Scaggs, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Nilsson, Stan Kenton, Henry Mancini, The Monkees, Sammy Davis Jr., and Mel Tormé.

Early life and training

DeRosa was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on October 5, 1920. His family moved to Chicago about a year after his birth. His father, John DeRosa, was a professional clarinetist; his mother, Clelia DeRubertis DeRosa, was an accomplished singer. He began his horn studies at age ten with Peter Di Lecce, Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1932, the family moved to Los Angeles. While still a teenager, DeRosa studied briefly with his uncle, Vincent DeRubertis. He also studied with and played several times for Alfred Edwin Brain Jr., Dennis Brain's uncle.

Career

DeRosa began his professional career in 1935 by substituting for another player in the San Carlo Opera Company's production of La traviata. When the U.S. entered World War II, DeRosa enlisted before he could be drafted and was assigned to play with the California Army Air Forces radio production unit. He was discharged in 1943 because he was the head of a household. However, eventually he was recalled to service and was demobilized in 1945.

Recording

DeRosa's recording career began shortly after his military service ended, and he quickly established himself as the first-call session horn player in the recording industry. He recorded extensively in several genres, including jazz, rock, pop, and classical. His name has become a metaphor for prolific recording: in Collected Thoughts on Teaching and Learning, Creativity, and Horn Performance Douglas Hill refers to a prolific session player as "the Vince DeRosa of the London freelance scene."

Albums

As a jazz player, he is recognized as one of the first French horn players to forge a career as a jazz sideman. During his career, he played on important jazz instrumental recordings, including Art Pepper's Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics, Stan Kenton's Kenton / Wagner, and Johnny Mandel's I Want to Live!. He also appeared on landmark recordings by jazz vocalists, including Mel Tormé and the [Marty Paich Dek-Tette], Ella Fitzgerald Sings the [Rodgers & Hart Song Book] and Ella Fitzgerald Sings the [George and Ira Gershwin Song Book], Sammy Davis Jr.'s The Wham of Sam, and June Christy's Something Cool. DeRosa also contributed to important jazz fusion recordings, including David Axelrod's Song of Innocence and groundbreaking albums by Jean-Luc Ponty including King Kong: [Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa].
As a sideman on pop records, his contributions to Sinatra's most important recordings are perhaps best known. However, he also contributed to many other hit pop recordings such as Barry Manilow's triple-platinum album [Even Now (Barry Manilow album)|Even Now], Neil Diamond's hit [September Morn (album)|September Morn], and Louis Armstrong's I've Got the [World on a String (album)|I’ve Got the World on a String] and Louis Under the Stars, two of the most important pop albums from Armstrong's later catalog.
As a sideman on rock, blues, and funk records, DeRosa contributed to seminal recordings such as Frank Zappa's first solo album Lumpy Gravy, Boz Scaggs' quintuple-platinum Silk Degrees, and Tower of Power's Back to Oakland, and to rock cult classics such as Harry Nilsson's Son of Schmilsson and Van Dyke Parks's Song Cycle.
DeRosa was also an accomplished classical player. He was the hornist on the album The Intimate Bach, [Duets with the Spanish Guitar Vol.2|The Intimate Bach] which received a Grammy Nomination for Best Classical Performance – Chamber Music. Music critic Alfred Frankenstein wrote of DeRosa's performance on this record, "This is the most astonishing example of virtuosity on the horn I have ever heard on records...To play as lightly and speedily as a harpsichord, right out in the open with a minimum of support, is to give an incredible performance."

Soundtracks

In addition to his work as a sideman, DeRosa appeared on many prominent soundtracks for film, musicals, and TV, including Carousel, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Edward Scissorhands, How the West Was Won, Jaws, Mary Poppins, Midway, Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, Rocky, The Days of Wine and Roses, The Magnificent Seven, The Music Man, and The Sound of Music. The television programs for which he played include Batman, Bonanza, Dallas, Hawaii Five-O, Peter Gunn, Star Trek, The Rockford Files, and The Simpsons.

Work with Frank Sinatra

DeRosa's playing and career are closely associated with Frank Sinatra's recordings because of Frank Sinatra's fame, the number of seminal Sinatra albums on which DeRosa played, and two highly publicized accounts of Sinatra's comments to or about DeRosa. DeRosa played first horn on many albums considered to be the greatest in Sinatra's catalog and among the greatest of all time, including In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!, Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, and Strangers in the Night.
Sinatra was not known for openly complimenting his musicians. However, he publicly acknowledged DeRosa's excellence. In Sinatra: The Chairman, author James Kaplan discusses DeRosa with Milt Bernhart, a trombonist who had played with both Sinatra and DeRosa on many occasions:
"Another time, Bernhart remembered, Sinatra praised French horn player Vince DeRosa on executing a difficult passage by telling the band, 'I wish you guys could have heard Vince DeRosa last night—I could have hit him in the mouth!' We all knew what he meant—he had loved it!" Bernhart said. "And believe me, he reserved comments like that only for special occasions."
Another reason DeRosa is closely associated with Sinatra is that an exchange between DeRosa and Sinatra was featured in the article "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" for Esquire by Gay Talese in 1966. The article became one of the most famous pieces of magazine journalism ever written, and is often considered not only the greatest profile of Frank Sinatra but one of the greatest celebrity profiles ever written. In his piece, Talese documents the following touching conversation between Sinatra and DeRosa:

When a French horn player, a short Italian named Vincent DeRosa who has played with Sinatra since The Lucky Strike "Hit Parade" days on radio, strolled by, Sinatra reached out to hold him for a second.
"Vincenzo," Sinatra said, "how's your little girl?" "She's fine, Frank."
"Oh, she's not a little girl anymore," Sinatra corrected himself, "she's a big girl now."
"Yes, she goes to college now. U.S.C."
"That's great."
"She's also got a little talent, I think, Frank, as a singer."
Sinatra was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes, but it's very good for her to get her education first, Vincenzo."
Vincent DeRosa nodded.
"Yes, Frank," he said, and then he said, "Well, good night, Frank." "Good night, Vincenzo."

The exchange was given renewed exposure by Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Alex Ross in his book Listen to This. In the chapter "Edges of Pop," Ross highlights the famous article and calls the exchange between DeRosa and Sinatra "The sweetest moment in Gay Talese’s classic Esquire profile."
One reason for DeRosa's appearance on so many of Sinatra's albums is that DeRosa was the preferred first horn for Sinatra's frequent collaborator Nelson Riddle. As an example of Riddle's esteem for DeRosa, he chose DeRosa as a featured soloist on the Sinatra album Close to You, an album on which the Hollywood String Quartet and typically one soloist per song accompanied Sinatra. Riddle was deliberate in his choice of sideman, selecting trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, clarinetist Mahlon Clark, and DeRosa for this project.

Work with Henry Mancini

While DeRosa might be most closely associated with Frank Sinatra, he is also well known as Henry Mancini's first-call horn player, working with Mancini on at least eight albums and many film scores. The albums included The Music from Peter Gunn, the first album to win the Grammy award for Album of the Year and was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The album's title song features famous, difficult-to-execute French horn lines, with DeRosa as first chair.
Mancini often composed his themes with a favorite player in mind: "Sometimes when I hear people play, especially if they’re distinctive players, I actually try to incorporate their sound into a particular score." Mancini had Vince DeRosa in mind when he composed his Academy Award-winning theme to the film Days of Wine and Roses: "For the first yawning notes of this score, he was hearing the solid round tone of studio veteran French horn soloist Vince DeRosa, and that became the voice of solitude in the film." This theme won the 1962 Academy Award for best song.

Influence

DeRosa's impact on studio horn playing was significant, and set a new standard for studio horn parts. As a sideman on thousands of sessions and a horn instructor at USC and elsewhere, DeRosa influenced many musicians and composers. The list below documents composers and musicians who are publicly acknowledged to have studied with, or been influenced by, DeRosa's teaching or playing.

Composers

John Williams. At DeRosa's retirement concert/celebration, composer John Williams wrote:

"Vince Derosa's contribution to American music can't be overstated. He was the premier first horn player on virtually every recording to come out of Hollywood for over forty years. He represented the pinnacle of instrumental performance and I can honestly say that what I know about writing for the French horn, I learned from him. DeRosa was an inspiration for at least two generations of composers working in Hollywood and beyond. He is respected world-wide and universally regarded as one of the greatest instrumentalists of his generation. It has been a privilege to have worked with him all these many years."
Henry Mancini. Mancini had Vince DeRosa in mind when he composed his Academy Award-winning theme to the film ''Days of Wine and Roses.''

Horn players

The following horn players have publicly acknowledged studying with DeRosa.
  • Nathan Campbell
  • James Thatcher
  • Brian O'Connor
  • Henry Sigismonti
  • George Price
  • Suzette Moriarty
  • Laura Brenes
  • Richard Todd
  • Dylan S. Hart

Awards and honors

  • Grammy Nomination: Best Classical Performance – Chamber Music for The Intimate Bach
  • The Vince DeRosa Scholarship Fund was established in DeRosa's name and currently supports the IHS Solo Contest
  • Elected as an honorary member of the International Horn Society
  • The Hollywood Epic Brass Organ and Percussion Ensemble recorded The Vince DeRosa Tribute Album
  • Local 47 Lifetime Achievement Award

Personal life

Beginning in the late 1950s, DeRosa played a Conn 8D horn. In the 1950s he taught a small number of students at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music but otherwise taught formally at the University of Southern California from 1974 to 2005. Since retiring in 2008, DeRosa split his time between his residences in La Canada, CA, Maui, and Montana.
DeRosa's uncle, Vincent DeRubertis, also played with Sinatra on at least one occasion, on the soundtrack for High Society. Like his nephew, DeRubertis also contributed to many soundtracks.
DeRosa died on July 18, 2022, at the age of 101.

Discography

With The 5th DimensionEarthbound
With Laurie AllynParadise
With Laurindo AlmeidaThe Intimate Bach, Duets with the Spanish Guitar Vol.2
With American FlyerAmerican Flyer
With Louis ArmstrongLouis Under the Stars I've Got the World on a String
With Louis Armstrong and Ella FitzgeraldPorgy and Bess (Ella Fitzgerald and [Louis Armstrong album)|Porgy and Bess]
With David AxelrodSong of Innocence
With Hoyt AxtonLife Machine
With The BlackbyrdsUnfinished Business
With Vernon BurchLove-a-Thon
With Red CallenderCallender Speaks Low
With Glen CampbellSomethin' 'Bout You Baby I Like
With ChicagoChicago X
With June ChristySomething Cool Fair and Warmer! The Song is June! This Time of Year Do-Re-Mi
With Stanley ClarkeRocks, Pebbles and Sand
With Nat King ColeNat King Cole Sings for Two in Love Ballads of the Day To Whom It May Concern
With Natalie ColeUnforgettable... with Love
With Judy CollinsHard Times for Lovers
With Alice ColtraneEternity
With Rita CoolidgeRita Coolidge
With Sonny CrissWarm and Sonny
With Michael DavisBrass Nation
With Miles DavisDingo
With Sammy Davis Jr.The Wham of Sam Sammy Davis Jr. Belts the Best of Broadway
With Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRaeBoy Meets Girl (Sammy Davis Jr. and [Carmen McRae album)|Boy Meets Girl] Porgy and Bess
With John DenverAn Evening with John Denver
With Teri DeSarioTeri DeSario
With Neil DiamondJonathan Livingston Seagull Serenade September Morn
With Lamont DozierOut Here on My Own
With Earth, Wind & FireFaces
With Billy EckstineOnce More with Feeling
With The EmotionsRejoice
With Juan García EsquivelSee it in Sound
With Don FagerquistMusic to Fill a Void
With José FelicianoAngela
With Clare FischerExtension
With Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Song Book Ella Swings Lightly Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book
With Dan Fogelberg and Tim WeisbergTwin Sons of Different Mothers
With Donna FullerMy Foolish Heart
With Judy GarlandThe Letter
With Barry GibbNow Voyager
With Harpers BizarreFeelin' Groovy
With Debbie HarryKooKoo
With Neil HeftiJazz Pop
With The Hi-Lo'sThe Hi-Lo's And All That Jazz
With Bill HolmanBill Holman's Great Big Band!
With Paul HornPlenty of Horn
With Freddie HubbardRide Like the Wind
With Gordon JenkinsSoul of a People
With Stan KentonBack to Balboa Kenton / Wagner Stan Kenton Conducts the [Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra] Stan Kenton Presents Gabe Baltazar
With Peggy LeeThe Man I Love If You Go Sugar 'n' Spice In Love Again! Let's Love
With Henry ManciniThe Music from Peter Gunn The Blues and the Beat Mr. Lucky Goes Latin
With Johnny MandelI Want to Live The Sandpiper
With Chuck MangioneChase the Clouds Away Bellavia
With Gap MangioneSuite: Lady
With Barry ManilowEven Now
With Shelly ManneConcerto for Clarinet & Combo Manne–That's Gershwin!
With Skip MartinScheherajazz
With Johnny Mathis and Deniece WilliamsThat's What Friends Are For (Johnny Mathis and [Deniece Williams album)|That's What Friends Are For]
With Billy MayBilly May's Big Fat Brass Sorta-Dixie
With Les McCannThe Man
With Carmen McRaeCarmen for Cool Ones The Sound of Silence
With Sérgio MendesBrasil '88
With The MonkeesHeadquarters Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees Instant Replay
With Mystic Moods OrchestraExtensions
With Oliver NelsonSkull Session
With Michael NesmithThe Wichita Train Whistle Sings
With Sammy NesticoDark Orchid
With Harry NilssonSon of Schmilsson ...That's the Way It Is
With Michael OmartianAdam Again
With Lee OskarMy Road, Our Road
With Patti PageIn the Land of Hi-Fi
With Marty PaichThe Picasso of Big-Band Jazz The Broadway Bit I Get a Boot Out of You
With Van Dyke ParksSong Cycle
With Art PepperArt Pepper + Eleven - Modern Jazz Classics
With David PomeranzThe Truth of Us
With Jean-Luc PontyCantaloupe Island King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa
With Pure Prairie LeagueTwo Lane Highway
With Johnny RichardsSomething Else by Johnny Richards
With Minnie RipertonMinnie
With Mavis RiversMavis
With George RobertsPractice Makes Perfect
With Pete RugoloIntroducing Pete Rugolo Rugolomania Music for Hi-Fi Bugs Out on a Limb New Sounds by Pete Rugolo An Adventure in Sound: Brass in Hi-Fi The Music from Richard Diamond Behind Brigitte Bardot The Original Music of Thriller
With Pharoah SandersLove Will [Find a Way (Pharoah Sanders album)|Love Will Find a Way]
With Arturo SandovalDream Come True
With Boz ScaggsSilk Degrees
With Diane SchuurLove Songs
With Jack SheldonJack Sheldon and His All Star Band
With Lalo SchifrinJazz Suite on the Mass Texts with Paul HornMusic from Mission: Impossible
With Doc SeverinsonFacets
With Horace SilverSilver 'n Brass
With Frank SinatraChristmas Songs by Sinatra In the Wee Small Hours Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color This Is Sinatra! Close to You Where Are You? Come [Fly with Me (Frank Sinatra album)|Come Fly With Me] This Is Sinatra Volume 2 Sings for Only the Lonely Look to Your Heart No One Cares Come Swing with Me! All the Way I Remember Tommy Frank Sinatra Conducts Music from Pictures and Plays Sinatra Sings of Love and Things Point of No Return All Alone Sinatra and Strings The Concert Sinatra Sinatra's Sinatra Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners Softly, as I Leave You (album) My Kind of Broadway Sinatra '65: The Singer Today Moonlight Sinatra Strangers in the Night The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas Cycles (Frank Sinatra album) A Man Alone (album) My Way (Frank Sinatra album) Sinatra & Company Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back Some Nice Things I've Missed Trilogy: Past Present Future She Shot Me Down
With Judee SillHeart Food
With JD SoutherBlack Rose
With Duane TatroDuane Tatro's Jazz For Moderns
With The TemptationsBare Back
With Cal TjaderWest Side Story
With Mel TorméMel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette Mel Tormé Sings Fred Astaire The Complete Porgy and Bess California Suite Mel Tormé Swings Shubert Alley Swingin' on the Moon Broadway, Right Now!
With Tower of PowerBack to Oakland
With Stanley TurrentineHave You Ever Seen the Rain
With Sarah VaughanSarah Vaughan with Michel Legrand
With Paul WestonCarefree
With Mason WilliamsA Gift of Song
With Frank Zappa