His formal musical education came in his college years while attending Sam Houston State University, the University of Houston, Houston Baptist College, and Monterey Peninsula College during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
His first notable work as a Saxophonist was in Houston working with Don Cannon (1962–65), Paul Schmitt (1967–71), the Gulf Coast Jazz Giants (1970–73) and working with the Houston Musical Theatre as a woodwind doubler for three seasons.
In early 1974 Stan Kenton's lead alto player John Park and altoist Jimmy Ford (who was from Houston and had been with Maynard Ferguson's band) recommended Tony Campise to Stan Kenton to take over for Park. Starting in early 1974 Campise started on the road with the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the lead alto saxophone chair and recorded as a featured soloist the on LPs Stan Kenton Plays Chicago (1974), and Fire, Fury & Fun (1975). As noted by Stan Kenton, Campise was very popular with the public as a featured soloist during that time. Kenton himself is also quoted, "...Campise has such tremendous technique he can't help but use it. He would take a lot of wild chances and scare guys to death, the things he would get going on that horn." Kenton bandmate Dick Shearer probably best sums up Tony Campise's prowess as a world-class musician and jazz soloist, "Campise probably knew more about saxophone than anyone I've ever heard in my life. Technically he knew how to do everything, and he could change styles: if he wanted to sound like Johnny Hodges or Lee Konitz...he could do that very easily."
Tony Campise performed in the jazz clubs in and around 6th Street in Austin, and also backed artists such as Frank Sinatra, The Manhattan Transfer, and Sarah Vaughan starting in 1984 where he finally settled. He recorded five albums in the 1990s; his 1991 album Once in a Blue Moon was nominated for a Grammy in the jazz category. During this time he was a featured Artist at venues such as the Newport Jazz Festival
Campise died after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He had never fully recovered from an October 2009 fall outside a Corpus Christi, Texas hotel, when he hit the back of his head. The urn containing his remains is currently displayed in a prominent glass case at the top of the stage pillar in Austin's Elephant Room jazz club, where he frequently performed as a musician. Above the urn is painted in large black letters on white background: "THE REMAINS OF TONY CAMPISE", a play on one of his Common self-introductions: "...and I am the remains of Tony Campise".
