{"id":194,"date":"2005-10-05T01:05:00","date_gmt":"2005-10-05T08:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/?p=194"},"modified":"2013-12-08T12:02:27","modified_gmt":"2013-12-08T20:02:27","slug":"johnny_mandel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2005\/10\/johnny_mandel\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Mandel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final session at the L.A. Jazz Institute\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jazz West Coast 3 <\/em>festival was an event so rare that musicians and attendees were buzzing about it from the moment they arrived. It was the appearance of Johnny Mandel<\/a> leading a big band in a concert of his compositions and arrangements. Mandel has been a hero of musicians since the late forties, more than fifteen years before \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Shadow of Your Smile,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Emily\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and other pieces made him one of the few writers of quality songs to become a popular success in the second half of the twentieth century.
\nAlthough he was being honored as a legend of the west, Mandel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fame is worldwide. His jazz charts for Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, Chet Baker, Hoagy Carmichael, Buddy Rich and Gerry Mulligan are imperishable goods, gems of the repertoire. With Mulligan, Bill Holman, Thad Jones, Neal Hefti, Gerald Wilson, Bob Brookmeyer and Al Cohn, he is one of the icons of jazz writing in the fifties, perhaps the last golden age of that demanding craft. His scoring for films<\/a> and his arranging for singers (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Shirley Horn, Anita O’Day, Mel Torme, Andy Williams, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall) constitute a gold standard for the field. His oldest works are as fresh as this morning.
\nLeading a band of seventeen hand-picked musicians, Mandel gave the audience \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Keester Parade,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Low Life,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d three pieces from his score for the motion picture \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Want To Live, his famous arrangement of Tiny Kahn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153TNT,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not Really the Blues,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the theme from M*A*S*H*<\/em> and Kim Richmond\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kaleidoscopic treatment of Mandel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Seascape.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There were also performances of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Emily\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Shadow of Your Smile\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and guest appearances by Pinky Winters and Bob Efford. Ms. Winters sang Dave Frishberg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lyrics to Mandel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You Are There,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d accompanied by only the composer at the piano. Together, without embellishment, they created magic, something at which this masterly singer has excelled for many years to recognition that comes nowhere near her level of artistry. Efford, best known as a baritone saxophonist, played the clarinet roles of Artie Shaw and Woody Herman in Mandel arrangements.
\nIt was obvious that each member of the band was thrilled and flattered to be asked to play for Mandel. Collectively and as soloists, they performed at a fine edge of inspiration. Under his minimal but firm conducting, the horn sections were perfection in their reproduction of the unity, dynamics and rhythmic jazz essences of the writing. As for soloists, singling out a few would be to ignore the rest without justification. The players are listed below.
\nAt seventy-nine, Mandel is a slight man with a low voice and a calm manner. He speaks quietly and regards a conversation partner with frank interest. Directing the band, he sometimes turns and watches the audience with the same intense curiosity. One of the most successful and admired musicians of his time, he exhibits no smidgen of ego. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The thing about John,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d one of his friends said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is that he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Johnny Mandel. He thinks he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just one of the guys.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The guys may think that, too, but they revere Mandel. They play for him with love, enthusiasm and no reservations of the kind that sidemen often have about leaders. He has that in common with Holman. I have never heard a player utter a disrespectful remark about either.
\nMandel found the Jazz West Coast 3 <\/em>experience rewarding enough that he is thinking of getting a book of arrangements together, organizing a band and playing a few gigs. That would be something to look forward to.
\nThe band playing the compositions and arrangements of Johnny Mandel, October 2, 2005:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reeds: Kim Richmond, Lanny Morgan, Tom Peterson, Doug Webb, Bob Carr<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trombones: Dave Ryan, Andy Martin, Scott Whitfield, Bryant Byers<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trumpets: Roger Ingram, Bobby Shew, Carl Saunders, Ron Stout<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Piano: Bill Mays<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bass: Chris Conner<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guitar: John Pisano<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Drums: Kevin Kanner<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guests: Bob Efford, clarinet; Pinky Winters, vocal<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The final session at the L.A. Jazz Institute\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jazz West Coast 3 festival was an event so rare that musicians and attendees were buzzing about it from the moment they arrived. It was the appearance of Johnny Mandel leading a big band in a concert of his compositions and arrangements. Mandel has been a hero […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}