The Arrangers

[Late]

also, Fud Livingston - an unsung great -

I like his arrangement of "What the Fud?" (Much better than "Who the Fud Are You?")

[Larry Kart]

can't remember the name, but the arranger of Chinatown for Fletcher Henderson in the 1930s - it's in my book but damned if I can remember his name right now -

Trumpeter John Nesbitt (1900-35), who wrote a great deal for McKinney's Cotton Pickers.

[JSngry]

Re: Robert Farnon - I just got to hear Sentimental Journey, the album/collaboration he did with The Singers Unlimited, and all I can say is oh...my...god.

I get it. I finally get it.

[garthsj]

I am not sure that anyone has mentioned William (Bill) Russo yet .... clearly one the "greatest" in my book ...

Garth.

[Alexander]

Am I the only one who immediately thinks. "Arrangers assemble!" when they look at this thread title?

[SGUD missile]

Re: Robert Farnon - I just got to hear Sentimental Journey, the album/collaboration he did with The Singers Unlimited, and all I can say is oh...my...god.

I get it. I finally get it.

I've been telling y'all about Farnon on many threads for several years . The "Guv'ner" ( as he was affectionally known ) literally is THE source for all arrangers interested in modern string writing:

Torrie Zito, Pat Williams, Johnny Mandel, Marion Evans ( who originally introduced me to Farnons work back in the mid 60s in his NYC apartment across the street from Jim and Andys -which was well known as an "arrangers hangout" ) Claaus Ogerman, Andre Previn, John Williams et alii ...

Farnon was also in his early days an excellent jazz trumpet player and a good friend of Dizzy G.

In fact, they were going to do a project together back in the 50s /60s , but the American AND British

Musicians unions put the kibosh on the project.

No one has ever resurrected it and recorded it to my knowlege.

[Christiern]

TTK: "The guys known as Quincy Jones" --

Good to see you back, Phil K.

[flat5]

I'll add a few because they belong here :-)

Dizzy Gillespie

Lenny Niehuis

Dick Grove

Jack Montrose

[Fer Urbina]

Eddie Sauter - his Smoke Rings for Red Norvo are something else. Apparently he tried to make it hard for Mildred Bailey to sing (he was mad at her for some reason) but she sails through it.

About Ralph Burns's youth, in Allen Lowe's Devilin' Tune there's an arrangement recorded in 1942 (Sam Donahue), he was 20. Also, he worked for Charlie Barnet in 1943 (he did a Cotton Tail with some elements that would resurface in Herman's Apple Honey). Hefti was also very young... and I think Shorty Rogers first ever recorded arrangement was Back Talk for Woody Herman (from 1946, based on I Found A New Baby - he was 22).

Carisi did some commercial work in the fifties. I have him in an album by singer Larry Kert and another by Millard Thomas.

Did anyone mention George Handy? Love his work for Boyd Raeburn (Ed Finckel is also very good)

Mulligan and Brookmeyer, mostly the latter, did a great job with the Concert Jazz Band.

Any love for Al Cohn? Manny Albam? Ernie Wilkins?

F

[thomastreichler]

Any love for Al Cohn? Manny Albam? Ernie Wilkins?

They are all on my list (see post #45). Al Cohn was a very busy arranger in the 50's, contributing great charts to the book of Terry Gibbs' Dream Band and the Birdland Dream Band of Maynard Ferguson, the same is true for Manny Albam. Ernie Wilkins wrote memorable charts for Count Basie, Harry James and Clark Terry as well as for his own orchestras and the Almost Big Band.

[BillF]

Any love for Al Cohn? Manny Albam? Ernie Wilkins?

They are all on my list (see post #45). Al Cohn was a very busy arranger in the 50's, contributing great charts to the book of Terry Gibbs' Dream Band and the Birdland Dream Band of Maynard Ferguson, the same is true for Manny Albam. Ernie Wilkins wrote memorable charts for Count Basie, Harry James and Clark Terry as well as for his own orchestras and the Almost Big Band.

They certainly should have been on my list!

[Larry Kart]

One of Al Cohn's two charts on this Med Flory album:

http://www.freshsoundrecords.com/record.php?record_id=2112

"No Thanks" and "The Fuzz" (can never remember which one it is) is just amazing, has IMO the greatest shout chorus ever written (and I'm not one of those old farts who's in love with shout choruses per se) and much else that's damn fine. I'd tell you which of those two pieces it is, but most of my CDs are still inaccessible to me.

[Larry Kart]

I see from a previous post of mine:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=38946

that it is "No Thanks."

[SGUD missile]

Any love for Al Cohn? Manny Albam? Ernie Wilkins?

All three are very high on my list of favorite scribblers ( along with the aforementioned Billy Byers whom I had the privelege of doing some ghosting for in LA in 70 -71 )

Some other overlooked guys: Jerry Dodgeon, Frank Foster, Gary McFarland , Tiny Kahn ...

On the other coast: Along with George Handy and Eddie Finckle, add Herb Spencer and Earle Hagen.

Also Milt Kleeb - who also wrote for the Rayburn band during the Handy /Finckel period.

[Fer Urbina]

I very much like Al Cohn too. And Tiny Kahn too, but for some reason Ernie Wilkins stays too much in his confort zone for my taste.

Anyway, here's a nice picture of Sauter, Finckel, George Handy, Johnny Richards, Neal Hefti and Ralph Burns. Taken by Gottlieb in 1947 at the MoMA.

F

[Free For All]

"Arrangers assemble!"

[Teasing the Korean]

"Arrangers assemble!"

Who will conduct?

[Fer Urbina]

"Arrangers assemble!"

Who will conduct?

F

[Fer Urbina]

Bill Kirchner selects his best of Gary McFarland

Gary McFarland’s life could be the subject of a movie screenplay. Until he was in his mid-20s, McFarland (1933-1971) was a musical illiterate. By the age of 27, after two summers at the Lenox School of Jazz and a short stay at the Berklee School of Music, he had moved to New York City to pursue a career in music. In the next decade, he became one of the most acclaimed and recorded new composer-arrangers in jazz; writer Gene Lees called him an “adult prodigy.” But suddenly, he was gone—the tragic victim of a prankster in a bar who furtively poured liquid methadone into McFarland’s drink.

For years thereafter, McFarland was a virtually forgotten figure: his recordings were out-of-print, and his music was (and still is) mostly unavailable for performance. But in recent years, that situation has improved. A number of McFarland’s records have been reissued on CD, albeit often only as imports. A comprehensive, labor-of-love website maintained by Doug Payne is now devoted to his work. And in 2006, filmmaker Kristian St. Clair released This Is Gary McFarland, a 75-minute documentary.

At its best, McFarland’s music is a rare blend of simplicity and sophistication, with melodies and harmonies that stay with the listener. He’s been a profound influence on my own work as a composer-arranger, and when I expose students to his music, I invariably find that they are startled by its enduring freshness. At least in this respect, time has been kind to Gary McFarland.

http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-esse...-gary-mcfarland

F

[Teasing the Korean]

Gary McFarland is great - I have nearly everything he did. That documentary is worth checking out.

Bill's list leaves out tracks from essential albums like "The In Sound" and "Scorpio and Other Signs."

Edited July 16, 2008 by Teasing the Korean