John Rinaldo; Teacher Created Jazz Program

John Rinaldo, 72, a longtime music teacher at Eagle Rock High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District who created one of the best scholastic jazz education programs in the nation. Born in Elgin, Ill., Rinaldo inherited his interest in music from his father, Lawrence, who he once said played tuba and trombone in John Philip Sousa’s band. Rinaldo learned trumpet at an early age and went on to earn a music degree from the University of Illinois. He moved to Southern California in 1968 after teaching for several years at the high school in Buckley, Ill. At Eagle Rock, he built a first-rate jazz program and his senior high jazz band was the first to compete five consecutive times at the Monterey Jazz Festival. His “Jazz at Eagle Rock” series brought noted jazz players like bassist Ray Brown, guitarist Mundell Lowe and drummers Shelley Manne and Louis Bellson to the school to mentor up-and-coming jazz students and then perform in Sunday evening concerts. In addition to teaching, Rinaldo played trumpet in jazz bands that worked at the Beverly Wilshire and Beverly Hills hotels. He was known as a strict taskmaster. Manne once said Rinaldo was “a leader who knows how to get his bands to play good jazz.” Rinaldo retired from teaching in 1987 but continued to play gigs well into the 1990s. On Wednesday at his home in Eagle Rock after a long illness.