title: Mike Pingitore
text: # Mike Pingitore
  
  Michael (Mike) Pingitore (or Pingatore) (1888–1952) was a member of Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. Whiteman discovered him playing tenor banjo and he became part of the rhythm section for his newly-formed band for the Alexandria Hotel in Los Angeles (later known as the original Whiteman band), playing there for its entire existence (1919–1948) except for a brief period in 1923 due to illness. Pingitore played banjo on Art Mooney's "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover", which was a number one hit on the Billboard magazine pop chart in 1948. He was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in 2005.
  
  