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NEA Jazz Master Johnny Mandel

From: National Endowment for the Arts
Series: Jazz Masters Moments
Length: 09:00

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Six Moments with 2011 NEA Jazz Master, composer, and arranger Johnny Mandel. Read the full description.

Newjazzlogo_medium_small Listen to jazz giant Johnny Mandel and others, including George Avakian, discuss Mandel's remarkable career. He has composed and arranged for many of the greatest vocalists in history, from Frank Sinatra to Anita O'Day.  

Johnny Mandel: I got sort of mesmerized by the whole thing of mixing the colors of the various instruments.  There’s many ways of harmonizing a standard song.  If you’re writing an arrangement, you’re going to write lines that go against the melody, or in back of a singer or in back of a player, and what I wanted to do was to just furnish a nice smooth pathway with the chords, it’s like you’re making trails.  

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Piece Description

Listen to jazz giant Johnny Mandel and others, including George Avakian, discuss Mandel's remarkable career. He has composed and arranged for many of the greatest vocalists in history, from Frank Sinatra to Anita O'Day.  

Johnny Mandel: I got sort of mesmerized by the whole thing of mixing the colors of the various instruments.  There’s many ways of harmonizing a standard song.  If you’re writing an arrangement, you’re going to write lines that go against the melody, or in back of a singer or in back of a player, and what I wanted to do was to just furnish a nice smooth pathway with the chords, it’s like you’re making trails.  

Transcript

JOHNNY MANDEL_BEGINNINGS _#212

(2:00)

NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT…

MUSIC: Shadow of Your Smile (maybe something for Basie would be better)

NEA JAZZ MASTER JOHNNY MANDEL IS CONSIDERED ONE OF AMERICA’S FINEST COMPOSERS AND ARRANGERS IN JAZZ, POP, AND FILM MUSIC. HE LAUGHS TO THINK OF HOW LITTLE HE KNEW WHEN HE STARTED OUT…

Johnny Mandel: I guess somebody writes the music for the band to play and what sort of person is this? And I inquired around and I found out he was called an arranger, now… In 1940, nobody knew what an arranger was, really. People thought an arranger was somebody who moved [LAUGHING] chairs around or something.

MANDEL EVENTUALLY FOUND A TEACHER, NAMED VAN ALEXANDER.

Johnny Mandel: He goes over to the closet in his apartment, pulls out a big bunch of yellow paper and brings it over to me. I said, ‘what’s that?’ He said, ‘that’s a score’ and I said, ‘well, what’s...
Read the full transcript

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
Shadow of Your Smile, Let's Fall in Love, Trav'lin Light, Little Did I Ever Dream, Emily, Here's to Life Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Anita O'Day, Tony Bennett, Shirley Horn Various - . Various 00:00

Additional Credits

Produced by the National Endowment for the Arts

Related Website

http://www.nea.gov/honors/jazz/features.html