August 15, 2012

Joel Di Bartolo, Bass Player in Johnny Carson's Tonight Show Band

After Tonight ended, Di Bartolo relocated to Arizona, where he taught music and wrote a book about his craft as a bassist.

Joel Di Bartolo, a bass player and studio musician who performed with the Tonight Show band during Johnny Carson's tenure as host, died of heart disease Sept. 27 at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 65.

According to news reports, the cause was heart disease and lung cancer.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Di Bartolo graduated from the University of Buffalo and played with the Buffalo Philharmonic.

After relocating to California, he was part of the Tonight Show band from 1973 until 1992, when Johnny Carson left and Jay Leno became the host.

He also worked as a studio musician, and earned credits on such feature films as Jaws, Saturday Night Fever, Rocky and Star Wars, as well as theme songs for such TV series as M*A*S*H, Dallas and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Di Bartolo remained active as a performing musician, and played with such great as Maynard Ferguson, Carmen McRae, Chuck Mangione and Buddy Rich.

After the Tonight Show changed hosts, Di Bartolo moved to Arizona, where he joined the faculty of the School of Music at Northern Arizona University. He also performed with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra.

In addition, he wrote a book about his craft, Serious Electric Bass.

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