Joel DiBartolo, a bass player and studio musician who performed with Johnny Carson's Tonight Show for nearly two decades, died September 27, 2011, at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 65.
According to news reports, the cause was heart disease and lung cancer.
Over the course of his career, DiBartolo played with several top artists, including Maynard Ferguson, Carmen McRae, Chuck Mangione and Buddy Rich.
He joined the Tonight Show in 1973 and remained with the show until Carson retired in 1992.
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