Sam Butera was the saxophonist and leader of Louis Prima's backing band during their heyday years in Las Vegas. Butera stayed on after Prima's most popular duet partner & wife Keely Smith left and Butera continued to play with him through the 1960's until Prima's death in the mid 1970's. Butera lead an active life and continued to perform regularly in Las Vegas and on tour until age made nightly forays less feasible a few years before his death at age 81 in June of 2009. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.