Sam Noto, A Life In Jazz

Many who will read these pages and see the word “sideman” will know its meaning, and many will not. In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s “sidemen” were musicians: drums, piano, bass, guitar, reed, or brass players in jazz bands or jazz orchestras of the day. Each was chosen to garner a universal blend. Some became soloists in those musical aggregations, as did Sam Noto, a one-time sideman and jazz trumpeter born in Buffalo, New York, on April 17, 1930, who became an international trumpet star.