Mack Pierce Pitt
Mack Pierce Pitt, 81, lead alto saxophonist with Artie Shaw and the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and an 802 member for 60 years, died on March 4 in Detroit.
He learned to play the mandolin as a child and was performing with the Workmen's Circle Mandolin Orchestra in Newark by the time he was eight. At 11, already proficient on the mandolin and vibraphone, he turned to the alto sax. He dropped out of school at age 16 and moved to New York City, where he was soon playing at Radio City Music Hall. At 17, he began appearing with big bands, and soon joined Artie Shaw. He toured with the Shaw band in the U.S., South America and Europe before the United States entered World War II. Shaw then recruited Mr. Pitt for his "All American All-Star Band," which entertained troops in the South Pacific.
Soon after the war he joined Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra for three years. He also performed in the bands of Benny Goodman, Lester Lanin, Meyer Davis, Buddy Morrow and Will Bradley.
In 1951 he married Dorothy Rosen, a Detroit resident, and enrolled at Wayne State University on the GI Bill. He obtained both a bachelor's and master's degree in education and began to teach in Detroit city schools. He later became a counselor and administrator.
During this time he also formed the Mack Pitt Orchestra, a popular society band, worked in Motown Studios, and performed on many occasions with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, on both mandolin and saxophone.
He is survived by his wife Dorothy, sons Steven and Darryl, and two grandsons.
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