Meco
Domenico Monardo
November 29, 1939
Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
May 26, 2023 (aged 83)
Tamarac, Florida, U.S.
Musician, music arranger, record producer
1965–1985
Early life and education[edit]
Meco Monardo was born in Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania, United States, on November 29, 1939[1][2] to parents of Italian descent. Building model ships, science fiction and movies were some of his boyhood preoccupations. His father played the valve trombone in a small Italian band, and through him Meco got his first musical education.[1] Meco wanted to play the drums, but his father convinced him that the trombone was the right instrument, and at nine that was the instrument with which he was to stay. However, for Meco, the slide trombone was his choice, troublesome as it was for the small-statured boy to extend the slide fully at first. He joined the high school band while still attending elementary school.[1] At 17, he won a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York,[1] which provided him with a solid classical and jazz music education.