Candoli Steps Out Solo . . . at Age 64

Trumpeter Conte Candoli is one of the finest bebop-based musicians, a man capable of thrilling, melodically-rich improvisations at any tempo. But if you don’t recognize his name, that’s understandable.

Candoli--who was a jazz star with Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars from the late ‘40s through the mid-’50s--has been pretty much out of the limelight since then. He’s made the bulk of his living playing music in Los Angeles film and TV studios, most prominently with Doc Severinsen’s “Tonight Show” orchestra, with whom the 64-year-old Studio City resident has performed since 1972.

Despite his tenure with Severinsen, Candoli--who was a soloist with Herman at age 16--has always kept his jazz chops in shape. He’s been featured with Supersax, with the revamped Lighthouse All-Stars led by Bud Shank and Shorty Rogers, and under his own name. He’ll be at the Jazz Bakery in Venice tonight, co-leading a quintet with his trumpet-playing brother, Pete.

“I’ve never lost sight of what I started playing for: to solo,” he says.

And with Severinsen’s band exiting “The Tonight Show” when host Johnny Carson departs on May 22, Candoli will have even more opportunities. “I can finally get on with my career,” he says joking. “Seriously, the show ending is a good omen. It will (motivate me) to get to places I couldn’t go before.”

Which means appearances in the United States, rather than Europe.

“There I’m known for my jazz rep. They’ve never even heard of ‘The Tonight Show,’ ” he says with a laugh. One of Candoli’s goals is to play a major New York room, he says.

At the Jazz Bakery, Candoli--whose new album, “Sweet Simon” on Best Records, is due out next week--will play, as he put it, “two syllables: bebop. Pete and I do a lot of Charlie Parker’s tunes, and some by Dizzy (Gillespie),” who was, and remains, Candoli’s chief influence.

Rim Shots: Order forms to purchase tickets for the 14th annual Playboy Jazz Festival, at the Hollywood Bowl on June 13 and 14, are available: (310) 450-9040. Tickets, priced from $10 to $65 per day, are sold by mail until late this month, when line-ups are announced, then are available in retail outlets. . . . Bassist John Patitucci, who plays Thursday with fellow bassist Luther Hughes at El Matador in Huntington Beach, has left Chick Corea’s Elektric Band to devote more time to his own ensembles. Jimmy Earl, who has performed with the Crusaders, replaces Patitucci, who will continue to perform with Corea’s Akoustic Band.