Conrad Joseph Gozzo (February 6, 1922October 8, 1964) was an American trumpet player. He was a member of the NBC Hollywood staff orchestra at the time of his death. Early life Gozzo was born in New Britain, Connecticut on February 6, 1922, to Mildred Katz and Jimmy Gozzo. Son of Sicilian parents from Canicattini Bagni (SR). His father played trumpet, and Gozzo began learning the instrument around the age of 5. He played in his junior and senior high school bands, but left school in 1938 or 1939 at the recommendation of Isham Jones to join bandleader and clarinetist Tommy Reynolds in Boston, Massachusetts. Career Gozzo was quickly noted for his exceptional technical ability and style. He played under Reynolds for nine months, leaving to play with Red Norvo in November 1939; he played under Norvo until February 1941, but with a brief interlude playing with trumpeter Johnnie Davis. He had a brief tenure with the orchestra of Bob Chester, with whom he first recorded; then performed and recorded with Claude Thornhill's band. There he met vocalist Betty Claire, who he married in late 1941. Thornhill's band dissolved in October 1942. Gozzo briefly worked with Benny Goodman, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy in mid-November 1942, where clarinetist Artie Shaw had formed a band, the Rangers No. 501. They were first assigned to San Francisco and left for Hawaii in late December. They toured in the South Pacific, the U.K. and the mainland U.S. until being discharged in October 1945. Gozzo briefly rejoined Goodman along with fellow trumpet players from Shaw's band. Gozzo, lead trumpeter on the Glen Gray, Stan Kenton, and Harry James "remakes", and in Dan Terry's 1954 Columbia sessions, recorded extensively with arrangers Van Alexander, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Ray Conniff, Jerry Fielding and Shorty Rogers, and also with performers Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. He played first trumpet on all of the recordings of composer Henry Mancini. He performed on many major live television shows broadcast on the NBC network, including the Dinah Shore Show (1955 through 1964). He also performed on motion picture soundtracks including The Glenn Miller Story, The Benny Goodman Story, Bye Bye Birdie, Call Me Madam, Ben-Hur and Cleopatra. He played on the Ella Fitzgerald two-record set on Verve, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook. Gozzo's nicknames were "Goz" and "Gopher", due to his resemblance to a gopher when viewed from