John Regis, a comedian and entertainer who performed on talk shows and cruise ships and was a headliner on the Playboy Club circuit, died Aug. 19 in Los Angeles, magician Kerry Ross announced. He was 94.
As a “road comic” in the 1960s and ’70s, Regis was a regular at the Purple Onion and Hungry i nightclubs in San Francisco, toured Canada in a comedy show with Lyle Waggoner and opened for the likes of Bob Hope, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Peter Marshall during his career.
He also showed up in the 1991 film Joey Takes a Cab, starring Lionel Stander; on talk shows hosted by Steve Allen, Della Reese, David Frost and Alan Thicke; and on stage in regional productions of Kiss Me Kate, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Sunday in New York and other plays.
Born John Ray and raised in the Ozarks, Regis produced “Tops...
As a “road comic” in the 1960s and ’70s, Regis was a regular at the Purple Onion and Hungry i nightclubs in San Francisco, toured Canada in a comedy show with Lyle Waggoner and opened for the likes of Bob Hope, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Peter Marshall during his career.
He also showed up in the 1991 film Joey Takes a Cab, starring Lionel Stander; on talk shows hosted by Steve Allen, Della Reese, David Frost and Alan Thicke; and on stage in regional productions of Kiss Me Kate, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Sunday in New York and other plays.
Born John Ray and raised in the Ozarks, Regis produced “Tops...
- 9/5/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Helen Grayco, the pop singer and actress who appeared on records, tours, radio programs and TV shows as a classy contrast to her zany bandleader husband, Spike Jones, has died. She was 97.
Grayco died Saturday of cancer at her home in Los Angeles, her son, longtime Creative Arts Emmy Awards producer Spike Jones Jr., told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jones Sr. was about to embark on a tour with his City Slickers bandmates when he approached Grayco with a job offer after watching her perform with Stan Kenton’s orchestra at the Hollywood Palladium in 1946.
“I was terribly insulted when Spike first asked to hire me,” Grayco recalled in a 2009 interview. “He had just done ‘Cocktails for Two’ and all that stuff that he was known for. ‘I don’t know where I could possibly fit in in your group. I’m not a comedienne,...
Helen Grayco, the pop singer and actress who appeared on records, tours, radio programs and TV shows as a classy contrast to her zany bandleader husband, Spike Jones, has died. She was 97.
Grayco died Saturday of cancer at her home in Los Angeles, her son, longtime Creative Arts Emmy Awards producer Spike Jones Jr., told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jones Sr. was about to embark on a tour with his City Slickers bandmates when he approached Grayco with a job offer after watching her perform with Stan Kenton’s orchestra at the Hollywood Palladium in 1946.
“I was terribly insulted when Spike first asked to hire me,” Grayco recalled in a 2009 interview. “He had just done ‘Cocktails for Two’ and all that stuff that he was known for. ‘I don’t know where I could possibly fit in in your group. I’m not a comedienne,...
- 8/23/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ian McDonald, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter best known for his co-founding roles in both King Crimson and Foreigner, died Wednesday at the age of 75. A rep for McDonald confirmed the musician’s death, adding that McDonald “passed away peacefully on February 9, 2022 in his home in New York City, surrounded by his family.” His son reported on Facebook that the cause was cancer.
McDonald was known as one of the key architects of progressive rock, playing both saxophone and keyboards in King Crimson and co-writing its iconic 1969 debut, In the Court of the Crimson King.
McDonald was known as one of the key architects of progressive rock, playing both saxophone and keyboards in King Crimson and co-writing its iconic 1969 debut, In the Court of the Crimson King.
- 2/11/2022
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
Ralph Carmichael, composer and Emmy Award-winning arranger-conductor for Nat King Cole, Jack Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Roger Williams, died Oct. 18 in Camarillo, Calif. He was 94.
Carmichael got his big break when Capitol Records producer Lee Gillette was introduced to his arrangement in the 1950s. This led to the prolific collaboration between Carmichael and Cole, starting with Cole arranging the 1960 Christmas album “The Magic of Christmas” which was re-packaged in 1962 as “The Christmas Song.” Carmichael and Cole produced nine full studio projects together including Nat’s final sessions in 1964 for the album “L.O.V.E,” more collaborations with Nat than any other arranger. He was also a primary arranger/conductor for pianist Roger Williams, creating 20 albums together including the 1965 hit “Born Free.”
Carmichael also wrote charts for TV shows such as “My Mother the Car” and “I Love Lucy” as well as movie scores, including “The Blob,” “4D Man” and “The Cross and the Switchblade.
Carmichael got his big break when Capitol Records producer Lee Gillette was introduced to his arrangement in the 1950s. This led to the prolific collaboration between Carmichael and Cole, starting with Cole arranging the 1960 Christmas album “The Magic of Christmas” which was re-packaged in 1962 as “The Christmas Song.” Carmichael and Cole produced nine full studio projects together including Nat’s final sessions in 1964 for the album “L.O.V.E,” more collaborations with Nat than any other arranger. He was also a primary arranger/conductor for pianist Roger Williams, creating 20 albums together including the 1965 hit “Born Free.”
Carmichael also wrote charts for TV shows such as “My Mother the Car” and “I Love Lucy” as well as movie scores, including “The Blob,” “4D Man” and “The Cross and the Switchblade.
- 10/21/2021
- by Katie Song
- Variety Film + TV
Ralph Carmichael, a prolific composer and arranger of film and TV scores whose writing or arranging credits include I Love Lucy, Bonanza, My Mother the Car, the sci-fi classic The Blob and some of the most beloved and enduring Christmas recordings ever made, died Monday in Camarillo, Calif. He was 94.
His death was announced by family spokesperson Jim Pedersen. A cause was not specified.
A pioneering figure in contemporary Christian music, Carmichael began a long career in television and film in the early 1950s when he headed the music department of his alma mater, the Southern California Bible College, and his school band was featured on the local Los Angeles TV program Campus Christian Hour. The show won an Emmy Award in 1951.
Around the same time, he began writing incidental music charts for I Love Lucy, a role he’d also fill on December Bride, Bonanza and The Frankie Lane Show,...
His death was announced by family spokesperson Jim Pedersen. A cause was not specified.
A pioneering figure in contemporary Christian music, Carmichael began a long career in television and film in the early 1950s when he headed the music department of his alma mater, the Southern California Bible College, and his school band was featured on the local Los Angeles TV program Campus Christian Hour. The show won an Emmy Award in 1951.
Around the same time, he began writing incidental music charts for I Love Lucy, a role he’d also fill on December Bride, Bonanza and The Frankie Lane Show,...
- 10/20/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Stewart Copeland gets asked a lot of questions, but they’re rarely about his youth in the Middle East. “When you’re a pop star, you often find yourself with a microphone pointed at you and you’re asked to explain yourself,” the former Police drummer says. “Like, ‘Who are you? What makes you tick?’ Which is the interesting stuff. But the easy one should be, ‘So where ya from?'”
When he’s asked the easy one, Copeland’s answer often results in confusion. “[It] leads to, ‘Wait, what?'” he says.
When he’s asked the easy one, Copeland’s answer often results in confusion. “[It] leads to, ‘Wait, what?'” he says.
- 10/20/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Duane L. Tatro, a music composer for dozens of TV series and concert works for orchestral wind ensemble and chamber groups, has died. He passed on Sunday at his home in Bell Canyon, Calif at age 93.
Tatro was a respected member of the composing community. His long resume includes such series as Dynasty, The Love Boat, Barnaby Jones, The FBI, Mannix, Hawaii Five-0, and M*A*S*H, among others. His first series was the science fiction classic The Invaders in 1967.
Despite his long history with television music, Tatro’s lone series theme credit was The Manhunter, a Quinn Martin production which lasted just a single season in 1974-75.
Born in Van Nuys on May 18, 1927, Tatro played saxophone with Stan Kenton’s big band at age 16, then served in the Navy near the end of World War II. He later studied music at the University of Southern California.
Tatro later studied in Paris...
Tatro was a respected member of the composing community. His long resume includes such series as Dynasty, The Love Boat, Barnaby Jones, The FBI, Mannix, Hawaii Five-0, and M*A*S*H, among others. His first series was the science fiction classic The Invaders in 1967.
Despite his long history with television music, Tatro’s lone series theme credit was The Manhunter, a Quinn Martin production which lasted just a single season in 1974-75.
Born in Van Nuys on May 18, 1927, Tatro played saxophone with Stan Kenton’s big band at age 16, then served in the Navy near the end of World War II. He later studied music at the University of Southern California.
Tatro later studied in Paris...
- 8/15/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Duane L. Tatro, who composed for nearly two dozen TV series, including such long-running hits as “Dynasty,” “The Love Boat” and “Barnaby Jones,” died Sunday at his home in Bell Canyon, Calif. He was 93.
Tatro’s music accompanied the action on “The FBI,” “Mannix,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Cade’s County,” “Cannon,” “Most Wanted,” “Vega$” and “Matt Houston,” as well as the comedy of “M*A*S*H” and the romantic melodrama of “Glitter,” “The Colbys” and “Hotel.” His first series was the sci-fi thriller “The Invaders” in 1967, and he worked steadily in TV for the next two decades.
He got to compose the series theme for just one show: Quinn Martin’s period detective drama “The Manhunter,” which lasted a single season in 1974-75.
Tatro was born in Van Nuys on May 18, 1927. The son of an inventor, he played saxophone with Stan Kenton’s big band while he was just 16 years old.
Tatro’s music accompanied the action on “The FBI,” “Mannix,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Cade’s County,” “Cannon,” “Most Wanted,” “Vega$” and “Matt Houston,” as well as the comedy of “M*A*S*H” and the romantic melodrama of “Glitter,” “The Colbys” and “Hotel.” His first series was the sci-fi thriller “The Invaders” in 1967, and he worked steadily in TV for the next two decades.
He got to compose the series theme for just one show: Quinn Martin’s period detective drama “The Manhunter,” which lasted a single season in 1974-75.
Tatro was born in Van Nuys on May 18, 1927. The son of an inventor, he played saxophone with Stan Kenton’s big band while he was just 16 years old.
- 8/15/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Lennie Niehaus, who went from Stan Kenton sideman to Clint Eastwood’s movie composer during a nearly 60-year career in music, died Thursday at his daughter’s home in Redlands, Calif. He was 90.
Niehaus’s two dozen films for Eastwood include original scores for the best picture-winning Western “Unforgiven,” the Charlie Parker biopic “Bird” and the popular romantic drama “The Bridges of Madison County.”
The two met in 1953 at California’s Fort Ord, when the two were in the Army during the Korean Conflict. “I used to play jazz jobs at one of the beer clubs on the base, and Clint was tending bar,” Niehaus wrote in an essay about the actor-director for his 1996 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. “I used to go off post and play in a little jazz club in nearby Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoons, and he would be there.”
Niehaus’s Army service interrupted...
Niehaus’s two dozen films for Eastwood include original scores for the best picture-winning Western “Unforgiven,” the Charlie Parker biopic “Bird” and the popular romantic drama “The Bridges of Madison County.”
The two met in 1953 at California’s Fort Ord, when the two were in the Army during the Korean Conflict. “I used to play jazz jobs at one of the beer clubs on the base, and Clint was tending bar,” Niehaus wrote in an essay about the actor-director for his 1996 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. “I used to go off post and play in a little jazz club in nearby Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoons, and he would be there.”
Niehaus’s Army service interrupted...
- 6/1/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Lennie Niehaus, the West Coast alto saxophonist, arranger and composer who played with Stan Kenton's band and collaborated with Clint Eastwood on more than two dozen films, has died. He was 90.
Niehaus died Thursday at his daughter's home in Redlands, California, under hospice care, his family announced.
Niehaus first met Eastwood in the 1950s in the U.S. Army when the future Hollywood legend served as his swimming instructor at Fort Ord in Monterey, California. A mutual love of jazz sealed their friendship.
Niehaus had orchestrated scores for movies starring or directed by Eastwood including The Outlaw ...
Niehaus died Thursday at his daughter's home in Redlands, California, under hospice care, his family announced.
Niehaus first met Eastwood in the 1950s in the U.S. Army when the future Hollywood legend served as his swimming instructor at Fort Ord in Monterey, California. A mutual love of jazz sealed their friendship.
Niehaus had orchestrated scores for movies starring or directed by Eastwood including The Outlaw ...
Lennie Niehaus, the West Coast alto saxophonist, arranger and composer who played with Stan Kenton's band and collaborated with Clint Eastwood on more than two dozen films, has died. He was 90.
Niehaus died Thursday at his daughter's home in Redlands, California, under hospice care, his family announced.
Niehaus first met Eastwood in the 1950s in the U.S. Army when the future Hollywood legend served as his swimming instructor at Fort Ord in Monterey, California. A mutual love of jazz sealed their friendship.
Niehaus had orchestrated scores for movies starring or directed by Eastwood including The Outlaw ...
Niehaus died Thursday at his daughter's home in Redlands, California, under hospice care, his family announced.
Niehaus first met Eastwood in the 1950s in the U.S. Army when the future Hollywood legend served as his swimming instructor at Fort Ord in Monterey, California. A mutual love of jazz sealed their friendship.
Niehaus had orchestrated scores for movies starring or directed by Eastwood including The Outlaw ...
Lee Konitz, an alto saxophonist who was an exemplar of jazz’s so-called “cool school,” died Wednesday in Manhattan of coronavirus complications, according to his niece, Linda Konitz.
Unlike the somewhat frantic and passionate be-bop, Konitz’s style was considered more laid back and cerebral. While some dismissed it as too passive, most recognized it as a unique path for those who wished to blaze a new and unique harmonic style.
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While Konitz wasn’t as well-known as a lot of his contemporaries, he was much-admired in the jazz world. He also taught for many years from his Manhattan apartment to a worldwide legion of acolytes.
Unlike the somewhat frantic and passionate be-bop, Konitz’s style was considered more laid back and cerebral. While some dismissed it as too passive, most recognized it as a unique path for those who wished to blaze a new and unique harmonic style.
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While Konitz wasn’t as well-known as a lot of his contemporaries, he was much-admired in the jazz world. He also taught for many years from his Manhattan apartment to a worldwide legion of acolytes.
- 4/18/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Jack Sheldon, known to children as one of the voices of “Schoolhouse Rocks” and adults as a master trumpeter who served as music director on “The Merv Griffin Show,” has died at age 88.
Sheldon was the sidekick as well as MD on Griffin’s talk show for 18 years. But his own discography as a band leader added up to more than 20 albums, starting in the late ’50s, when he was part of the west coast bebop movement, continuing through his last release in 2007.
“To all Jack Sheldon fans,” Cynthia Jimenez wrote on the musician’s Facebook page, “on behalf of my sister Dianne Jimenez [his longtime manager], sadly, Jack passed away on December 27. May he rest in peace with all the Jazz Cats in heaven!” No cause of death was given.
Sheldon’s film work included one of the renditions of “The Long Goodbye” heard in the Robert Altman movie of that name,...
Sheldon was the sidekick as well as MD on Griffin’s talk show for 18 years. But his own discography as a band leader added up to more than 20 albums, starting in the late ’50s, when he was part of the west coast bebop movement, continuing through his last release in 2007.
“To all Jack Sheldon fans,” Cynthia Jimenez wrote on the musician’s Facebook page, “on behalf of my sister Dianne Jimenez [his longtime manager], sadly, Jack passed away on December 27. May he rest in peace with all the Jazz Cats in heaven!” No cause of death was given.
Sheldon’s film work included one of the renditions of “The Long Goodbye” heard in the Robert Altman movie of that name,...
- 12/31/2019
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Jack Sheldon, the stand-out jazz trumpeter and affable Merv Griffin sidekick whose gave voice to the Schoolhouse Rock classics I’m Just a Bill and Conjunction Junction, has died. He was 88.
Sheldon’s face and name were most recognizable to fans of The Merv Griffin Show thanks to his 16-year sidekick stint but his trumpeting reached its greatest acclaim via the big screen with the forlorn Oscar- and Grammy-winning song The Shadow of Your Smile from The Sandpiper (1965).
Sheldon’s voice, however, became a signature part of Saturday morning cartoons for years thanks to two beloved installments of the oft-repeated Schoolhouse Rock educational series of animated shorts. The ABC series was ramping up its second season when it brought Sheldon in and the charismatic jazzman delivered winning performances both as the dedicated train conductor from Conjunction Junction (1974) and lonely piece of proposed legislation in the civics-minded I’m Just a Bill.
Sheldon’s face and name were most recognizable to fans of The Merv Griffin Show thanks to his 16-year sidekick stint but his trumpeting reached its greatest acclaim via the big screen with the forlorn Oscar- and Grammy-winning song The Shadow of Your Smile from The Sandpiper (1965).
Sheldon’s voice, however, became a signature part of Saturday morning cartoons for years thanks to two beloved installments of the oft-repeated Schoolhouse Rock educational series of animated shorts. The ABC series was ramping up its second season when it brought Sheldon in and the charismatic jazzman delivered winning performances both as the dedicated train conductor from Conjunction Junction (1974) and lonely piece of proposed legislation in the civics-minded I’m Just a Bill.
- 12/31/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
A week after the death of Donna Summer, the singer has joined the performers who work has been judged “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and preserved in the archives of the Library Of Congress, as part of the United States National Recording Registry. Every year since 2006, the Registry board has added 25 selections to its collection; Summer made it in via her Giorgio Moroder-produced 1977 disco smash “I Feel Love.” This year’s typically diverse list includes recordings by Lillian Russell (“Come Down Ma Evenin Star”), Ruth Etting (“Ten Cents A Dance”), Stan Kenton (“Artistry In Rhythm:), the interracial ...
- 5/23/2012
- avclub.com
I haven't seen a newsy item excite so many cinephiles in quite a while. Talking to Allocine, Ethan Hawke has let on that a followup to the delightfully Rohmeresque films he's made with Richard Linklater and Julie Delpy, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, may be in the works. The Playlist's Simon Dang has the full video interview and has helpfully transcribed the money quote: "Well, I don't know what we're going to do but I know the three of us have been talking a lot in the last six months. All of three of us have been having similar feelings that we're ready to revisit those characters. There's nine years between the first two movies and, if we made the film next summer, it would be nine years again so we're really started thinking that would be a good thing to do. We're going to try write it this year.
- 11/23/2011
- MUBI
Our detailed look back over the non-Bond scores of John Barry continues with a look at his work between the years 1968 to 1979…
In the third part of our John Barry retrospective, we enter the late 60s and a surge of activity that would typify the composer’s output for nearly two decades. Despite the exacting nature of his commissions, he continued to build on his reputation with a succession of quality scores that stockpiled brilliant and unexpected surprises on top of unprecedented new ground. But all the while, he continued to strive for authenticity of arrangement and sincerity of expression. This phase demonstrates his broadening outlook but also reflects, in a profound way, the diversity of his musical influences.
His early output took inspiration from both the rhythm and blues of The Barry Seven and the popular rhythms of the time, such as Gene Vincent and American guitarist Duane Eddy,...
In the third part of our John Barry retrospective, we enter the late 60s and a surge of activity that would typify the composer’s output for nearly two decades. Despite the exacting nature of his commissions, he continued to build on his reputation with a succession of quality scores that stockpiled brilliant and unexpected surprises on top of unprecedented new ground. But all the while, he continued to strive for authenticity of arrangement and sincerity of expression. This phase demonstrates his broadening outlook but also reflects, in a profound way, the diversity of his musical influences.
His early output took inspiration from both the rhythm and blues of The Barry Seven and the popular rhythms of the time, such as Gene Vincent and American guitarist Duane Eddy,...
- 8/8/2011
- Den of Geek
Our detailed look back over the non-Bond scores of John Barry continues with a look at his work between the years 1968 to 1979…
In the third part of our John Barry retrospective, we enter the late 60s and a surge of activity that would typify the composer’s output for nearly two decades. Despite the exacting nature of his commissions, he continued to build on his reputation with a succession of quality scores that stockpiled brilliant and unexpected surprises on top of unprecedented new ground. But all the while, he continued to strive for authenticity of arrangement and sincerity of expression. This phase demonstrates his broadening outlook but also reflects, in a profound way, the diversity of his musical influences.
His early output took inspiration from both the rhythm and blues of The Barry Seven and the popular rhythms of the time, such as Gene Vincent and American guitarist Duane Eddy,...
In the third part of our John Barry retrospective, we enter the late 60s and a surge of activity that would typify the composer’s output for nearly two decades. Despite the exacting nature of his commissions, he continued to build on his reputation with a succession of quality scores that stockpiled brilliant and unexpected surprises on top of unprecedented new ground. But all the while, he continued to strive for authenticity of arrangement and sincerity of expression. This phase demonstrates his broadening outlook but also reflects, in a profound way, the diversity of his musical influences.
His early output took inspiration from both the rhythm and blues of The Barry Seven and the popular rhythms of the time, such as Gene Vincent and American guitarist Duane Eddy,...
- 8/8/2011
- Den of Geek
Composer John Barry may be best known for his 007 scores, but we look beyond Bond for a detailed look at the rest of his extraordinary career...
Timeless, innovative, expansive and sensual, the music of John Barry Prendergast is a thought-provoking testament to a man who set the bar high and kept on raising it.
For many of us, the work of British composer, Barry, is synonymous with the Bond franchise, and there's no mistaking his contribution to that legacy. His work (along with that of Monty Norman) came to signify the arch, dangerously seductive swagger and cool, ambivalent melancholy that is the man behind the martini glass. He captured a world of intrigue, code and double meaning, of subterfuge, ambiguity, covert operation and sexuality. His was a trenchant and identifiable yet intriguingly elliptical and diverse musical sensibility that lassoed widely different vocalists from Louis Armstrong to Duran Duran, invariably producing something magnetic and memorable.
Timeless, innovative, expansive and sensual, the music of John Barry Prendergast is a thought-provoking testament to a man who set the bar high and kept on raising it.
For many of us, the work of British composer, Barry, is synonymous with the Bond franchise, and there's no mistaking his contribution to that legacy. His work (along with that of Monty Norman) came to signify the arch, dangerously seductive swagger and cool, ambivalent melancholy that is the man behind the martini glass. He captured a world of intrigue, code and double meaning, of subterfuge, ambiguity, covert operation and sexuality. His was a trenchant and identifiable yet intriguingly elliptical and diverse musical sensibility that lassoed widely different vocalists from Louis Armstrong to Duran Duran, invariably producing something magnetic and memorable.
- 7/25/2011
- Den of Geek
Until the day he died, I always called him "Daddy." He was Walter Harry Ebert, born in Urbana in 1902 of parents who had emmigrated from Germany. His father, Joseph, was a machinist working for the Peoria & Eastern Railway, known as the Big Four. Daddy would take me out to the Roundhouse on the north side of town to watch the big turntables turning steam engines around. In our kitchen, he always used a knife "your grandfather made from a single piece of steel."
I never met my grandparents, and that knife is the only thing of theirs I own. Once when I was visiting my parents' graves, I wandered over to my grandparents' graves, where we'd often left flowers on Memorial Day. I realized consciously for the first time, although I must have been told, that my grandfather was named Joseph. My middle name.
What have I inherited from those...
I never met my grandparents, and that knife is the only thing of theirs I own. Once when I was visiting my parents' graves, I wandered over to my grandparents' graves, where we'd often left flowers on Memorial Day. I realized consciously for the first time, although I must have been told, that my grandfather was named Joseph. My middle name.
What have I inherited from those...
- 3/24/2010
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
By The Wrap
Bud Shank, a flutist and alto saxophonist who worked with a variety of jazz greats as well as famous pop acts such as the Mamas and the Papas, has died. He was 82.
Shank died Thursday of pulmonary failure at his home in Tucson, Arizona, according to his Web site and JazzTimes magazine.
Shank first began working with saxophonist Charlie Barnet, trumpeter Shorty Rogers and then pianist Stan Kenton before gong on to lead his own groups. He was one of the first jazz musicians...
Bud Shank, a flutist and alto saxophonist who worked with a variety of jazz greats as well as famous pop acts such as the Mamas and the Papas, has died. He was 82.
Shank died Thursday of pulmonary failure at his home in Tucson, Arizona, according to his Web site and JazzTimes magazine.
Shank first began working with saxophonist Charlie Barnet, trumpeter Shorty Rogers and then pianist Stan Kenton before gong on to lead his own groups. He was one of the first jazz musicians...
- 4/6/2009
- by harley lond
- The Wrap
The greatest female jazz sing ers of all time? According to experts interviewed in "Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer," they are Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Ms. O'Day, the only white chick in the bunch.
Just why O'Day is ranked in such stellar company is on ample view in the worshipful film.
Clips of her performing go back to her days with jazz giants Gene Krupa, Stan Kenton and Roy Eldridge. An early scene shows her with Louis Armstrong.
Just why O'Day is ranked in such stellar company is on ample view in the worshipful film.
Clips of her performing go back to her days with jazz giants Gene Krupa, Stan Kenton and Roy Eldridge. An early scene shows her with Louis Armstrong.
- 8/15/2008
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
Earle Hagen, Emmy-winning composer of some of the most memorable musical themes in TV history and the man heard whistling the theme song of "The Andy Griffith Show," died Monday of natural causes at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 88.
In addition to writing the folksy "Andy Griffith" tune, Hagen penned the themes for "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Danny Thomas Show," "I Spy," "That Girl," "The Mod Squad" and "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer," many for famed TV director Sheldon Leonard.
Hagen composed original music for more than 3,000 episodes during his TV career, which spanned more than three decades.
The composer also was active in the film business, mostly as an arranger and orchestrator for 20th Century Fox. He received a 1960 Oscar nomination (shared with Lionel Newman) as musical director for the Marilyn Monroe film "Let's Make Love."
Hagen, who played trombone with the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey orchestras,...
In addition to writing the folksy "Andy Griffith" tune, Hagen penned the themes for "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Danny Thomas Show," "I Spy," "That Girl," "The Mod Squad" and "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer," many for famed TV director Sheldon Leonard.
Hagen composed original music for more than 3,000 episodes during his TV career, which spanned more than three decades.
The composer also was active in the film business, mostly as an arranger and orchestrator for 20th Century Fox. He received a 1960 Oscar nomination (shared with Lionel Newman) as musical director for the Marilyn Monroe film "Let's Make Love."
Hagen, who played trombone with the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey orchestras,...
- 5/27/2008
- by By Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Earle Hagen, Emmy-winning composer of some of the most memorable musical themes in TV history and the man heard whistling the theme song of The Andy Griffith Show, died Monday of natural causes at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 88.
In addition to writing the folksy Andy Griffith tune, Hagen penned the themes for The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Danny Thomas Show, I Spy, That Girl, The Mod Squad and Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, many for famed TV director Sheldon Leonard.
Hagen composed original music for more than 3,000 episodes during his TV career, which spanned more than three decades.
The composer also was active in the film business, mostly as an arranger and orchestrator for 20th Century Fox. He received a 1960 Oscar nomination (shared with Lionel Newman) as musical director for the Marilyn Monroe film Let's Make Love.
Hagen, who played trombone with the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey orchestras, composed the jazz standard Harlem Nocturne. Written in 1939 for big-band leader Ray Noble, the tune went on to be recorded by Les Brown, Glenn Miller, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Ray Anthony and many other bands.
In addition to writing the folksy Andy Griffith tune, Hagen penned the themes for The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Danny Thomas Show, I Spy, That Girl, The Mod Squad and Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, many for famed TV director Sheldon Leonard.
Hagen composed original music for more than 3,000 episodes during his TV career, which spanned more than three decades.
The composer also was active in the film business, mostly as an arranger and orchestrator for 20th Century Fox. He received a 1960 Oscar nomination (shared with Lionel Newman) as musical director for the Marilyn Monroe film Let's Make Love.
Hagen, who played trombone with the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey orchestras, composed the jazz standard Harlem Nocturne. Written in 1939 for big-band leader Ray Noble, the tune went on to be recorded by Les Brown, Glenn Miller, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Ray Anthony and many other bands.
- 5/27/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mill Valley Film Festival
AOD Prods.
MILL VALLEY, Calif. -- Anita O'Day, a singer whose captivating stage presence, rich smoky voice, sophisticated good looks and unique phrasing made her a performer who inspired ecstatic joy and awe, was considered the only white female singer in the same jazz league as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, though she was never as well known.
That she failed to attain the fame of the aforementioned greats or that her career never reached the same heights was in part because of her being her own worst enemy. This and more is discussed by a roster of record industry professionals, jazz critics and friends who sing her praises in Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, an engaging if less than revelatory documentary, from Robbie Cavolina (O'Day's former manager) and Ian McCrudden, which covers her seven-decade career and was screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
For those who read her frank autobiography, "High Times, Hard Times", there's little new here. But the docu, which should have a good run on the festival circuit and a second life on television broadcast, will introduce O'Day to the uninitiated and make fans nostalgic for her smooth, feeling delivery, tough-girl demeanor and technical prowess.
O'Day's famous lightning-fast rhythmic delivery was fueled, in no small measure, by bouts of alcoholism and a 20-year heroin addiction that nearly killed her. Most of the money she earned went directly into her arm or into the system of drummer and fellow junkie John Poole, who died from an overdose.
The filmmakers incorporate grainy TV kinescopes of interviews with Dick Cavett and David Frost -- she turns around and turns it on when confronted by a judgmental Bryant Gumbel -- testimonials from those who knew her and excerpts from conversations with O'Day, shot in disconcerting extreme close-up shortly before her death last year at 87.
But it's rare clips of her singing solo or along with Stan Kenton, Hoagy Carmichael, Roy Eldridge, Gene Krupa or Louis Armstrong that grab the spotlight. This includes footage of her memorable, show-stopping rendition of Sweet Georgia Brown at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. High as a kite and dressed in a chic, white-fringed black hat and matching dress, she's a sight to behold and a supreme pleasure to hear.
AOD Prods.
MILL VALLEY, Calif. -- Anita O'Day, a singer whose captivating stage presence, rich smoky voice, sophisticated good looks and unique phrasing made her a performer who inspired ecstatic joy and awe, was considered the only white female singer in the same jazz league as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, though she was never as well known.
That she failed to attain the fame of the aforementioned greats or that her career never reached the same heights was in part because of her being her own worst enemy. This and more is discussed by a roster of record industry professionals, jazz critics and friends who sing her praises in Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, an engaging if less than revelatory documentary, from Robbie Cavolina (O'Day's former manager) and Ian McCrudden, which covers her seven-decade career and was screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
For those who read her frank autobiography, "High Times, Hard Times", there's little new here. But the docu, which should have a good run on the festival circuit and a second life on television broadcast, will introduce O'Day to the uninitiated and make fans nostalgic for her smooth, feeling delivery, tough-girl demeanor and technical prowess.
O'Day's famous lightning-fast rhythmic delivery was fueled, in no small measure, by bouts of alcoholism and a 20-year heroin addiction that nearly killed her. Most of the money she earned went directly into her arm or into the system of drummer and fellow junkie John Poole, who died from an overdose.
The filmmakers incorporate grainy TV kinescopes of interviews with Dick Cavett and David Frost -- she turns around and turns it on when confronted by a judgmental Bryant Gumbel -- testimonials from those who knew her and excerpts from conversations with O'Day, shot in disconcerting extreme close-up shortly before her death last year at 87.
But it's rare clips of her singing solo or along with Stan Kenton, Hoagy Carmichael, Roy Eldridge, Gene Krupa or Louis Armstrong that grab the spotlight. This includes footage of her memorable, show-stopping rendition of Sweet Georgia Brown at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. High as a kite and dressed in a chic, white-fringed black hat and matching dress, she's a sight to behold and a supreme pleasure to hear.
- 11/2/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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