FM
Biography
The early years. Lew was born to Joseph & Marie Del Gatto in Brooklyn, NY on March 27, 1941. His father was a commercial artist who enjoyed music. Joe played sax in a local band. Lew’s mother loved to listen to music. There was always music in the Del Gatto home. Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Sinatra and Benny Goodman were constantly played in the house when Lew was a kid. Lew’s musical abilities were obvious at an early age. He was given his first saxophone lesson by his father when he was in the 7th grade. In high school, Lew studied with Sid Cooper who, at the time, was an NBC staff musician and who had played lead alto with many big bands including the great Tommy Dorsey. Lew found Sid to be a great mentor. Lew’s main interest was jazz and he quickly gravitated towards the music of Bird, Prez, Getz and Rollins. After high school, Lew went on to study at Manhattan School of Music. He majored in clarinet with Leon Russsianoff and Harold Sachs. There wasn’t any such thing as a saxophone major at MSM in 1959. He studied flute with Harold Bennett and oboe with Harold Feldman, Al Goltzer and Harry Shulman. Following his formal training, Lew went on the road with the Les Elgart Band and Sal Salvador. Then he appeared with the world famous Johnny Carson Tonight Show Band.
Growing up in the vibrant New York music scene, Lew found his way between work and his passion, He played in many rehearsal bands throughout the years such as Ron Aprea’s Basie-type band, Joel Kaye’s NY Neophonic Orchestra (Stan Kenton type band), Chubby Jackson’s Big band, Lynn Welshman’s Tentet and Rick Wald’s big band.
