Galt MacDermot
Encyclopedia
Galt MacDermot is a Canadian
composer
, pianist
and writer of musical theatre
. He won a Grammy Award
for the song African Waltz in 1960. His most successful musicals have been Hair
(1967; its cast album also won a Grammy) and Two Gentlemen of Verona
(1971). MacDermot has also written music for film soundtracks, jazz and funk albums, and classical music, and his music has been sampled in hit hip-hop songs and albums.
, Quebec
, the son of a Canadian diplomat. He was educated at Upper Canada College
and Bishop's University
(Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada). He received a Bachelor of Music from Cape Town University, South Africa
and made a study of African music his specialty. He also studied the piano privately with Neil Chotem
.
MacDermot won his first Grammy Award
for the Cannonball Adderley recording of his song "African Waltz" in 1960. He moved to New York City in 1964 where, three years later, he wrote the music for the hit musical
Hair
, which he later adapted for the 1979 film
. Its Broadway
cast album won a Grammy Award in 1969
. His next musicals were Isabel's a Jezebel
(1970) and Who the Murderer Was (1970), which featured British progressive rock band Curved Air
. MacDermot had another hit with the musical Two Gentlemen of Verona
(1971), which won the Tony Award for Best Musical. For that show, MacDermot was nominated for a Tony for best music and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
. His later musicals, however, including Dude
and Via Galactica
(both 1973) and The Human Comedy
(1984), have not been successful on Broadway.
MacDermot's film soundtracks include Cotton Comes to Harlem, a 1970 blaxploitation
film starring Godfrey Cambridge
, Raymond St. Jacques
and Redd Foxx
, based on Chester Himes' novel of the same name; Rhinoceros
(1974) starring Zero Mostel
and Gene Wilder
, and directed by original Broadway Hair director Tom O'Horgan
; and Mistress (1992). His composition Coffee Cold was heard in the 1968 movie The Thomas Crown Affair
. He writes his own orchestrations and arrangements for his theatre and film scores.
MacDermot's music is popular with collectors of jazz
and funk
. Working with jazz musicians such as Bernard Purdie
, Jimmy Lewis and Idris Muhammad
, MacDermot created pieces that prefigured the funk material of James Brown. In recent decades, his work has become popular with hip-hop
musicians including Busta Rhymes
, who sampled "Space" from MacDermot's 1969 record Woman Is Sweeter for chart-topper "Woo hah!!
", and Run DMC, who sampled the Hair song "Where Do I Go?" for their Grammy Award-winning "Down with the King
". Handsome Boy Modelling School, DJ Vadim
, DJ Premier
and Oh No
have all sampled the same segment from "Coffee Cold", from Shapes of Rhythm (1966). As part of his Special Herbs series, rapper MF Doom
sampled three MacDermot songs from Woman Is Sweeter: "Cathedral" for his song "Pennyroyal", "Space" for "Cinqfoil", and "Princess Gika" for "Hyssop". In 2006, rapper Oh No released an album produced completely with MacDermot samples, entitled Exodus into Unheard Rhythms
.
In 1979, MacDermot formed the New Pulse Band, which performs and records his original music. The band plays as part of the on stage band in the current Broadway revival of Hair. MacDermot's work also includes ballet scores, chamber music, the Anglican liturgy, orchestral music, poetry, incidental music
for plays, band repertory and opera. MacDermot was inducted into the 2009 Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
Film director Jeff Lunger is in the post-production phase of a documentary on the life and work of Galt MacDermot.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and writer of musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. He won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for the song African Waltz in 1960. His most successful musicals have been Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
(1967; its cast album also won a Grammy) and Two Gentlemen of Verona
Two Gentlemen of Verona (musical)
Two Gentlemen of Verona is a rock musical, with a book by John Guare and Mel Shapiro, lyrics by Guare and music by Galt MacDermot, based on the Shakespeare comedy of the same name....
(1971). MacDermot has also written music for film soundtracks, jazz and funk albums, and classical music, and his music has been sampled in hit hip-hop songs and albums.
Biography
MacDermot was born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, the son of a Canadian diplomat. He was educated at Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College , located in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is an independent elementary and secondary school for boys between Senior Kindergarten and Grade Twelve, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The secondary school segment is divided into ten houses; eight are...
and Bishop's University
Bishop's University
Bishop's University is a predominantly undergraduate university in Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Bishop's is one of three universities in the province of Quebec that teach primarily in the English language...
(Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada). He received a Bachelor of Music from Cape Town University, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and made a study of African music his specialty. He also studied the piano privately with Neil Chotem
Neil Chotem
Neil Chotem was a Canadian composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, and music educator. His compositional style is eclectic but conservative, and often incorporates elements of jazz and popular music...
.
MacDermot won his first Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for the Cannonball Adderley recording of his song "African Waltz" in 1960. He moved to New York City in 1964 where, three years later, he wrote the music for the hit musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
, which he later adapted for the 1979 film
Hair (film)
Hair is a 1979 American film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical of the same name about a Vietnam war draftee who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center...
. Its Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
cast album won a Grammy Award in 1969
Grammy Awards of 1969
The 11th Grammy Awards were held on March 12, 1969. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1968.-Award winners:*Record of the Year**Paul Simon & Roy Halee & Simon & Garfunkel for "Mrs...
. His next musicals were Isabel's a Jezebel
Isabel's a Jezebel
Isabel's a Jezebel is a British musical with music by Galt MacDermot and book and lyrics by William Dumaresq, based loosely on one of the Grimm's Fairy Tales, centers around Isabel and her deep-sea lover, who spend their time copulating and arguing about bringing children into a world committed to...
(1970) and Who the Murderer Was (1970), which featured British progressive rock band Curved Air
Curved Air
Curved Air are a pioneering British progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classic, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band was a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements...
. MacDermot had another hit with the musical Two Gentlemen of Verona
Two Gentlemen of Verona (musical)
Two Gentlemen of Verona is a rock musical, with a book by John Guare and Mel Shapiro, lyrics by Guare and music by Galt MacDermot, based on the Shakespeare comedy of the same name....
(1971), which won the Tony Award for Best Musical. For that show, MacDermot was nominated for a Tony for best music and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee comprising New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
. His later musicals, however, including Dude
Dude (musical)
Dude is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. It is an allegory about good and evil, the conflict between mankind's creative and destructive urges, the power of love, and the joy to be found in simple pleasures...
and Via Galactica
Via Galactica
Via Galactica is a rock musical with a book by Christopher Gore and Judith Ross, lyrics by Gore, and music by Galt MacDermot. It marked the Broadway debut of actor Mark Baker....
(both 1973) and The Human Comedy
The Human Comedy (musical)
The Human Comedy is a musical with a book and lyrics by William Dumaresq and music by Galt MacDermot.William Saroyan's tale originated as a screenplay he had been hired to write and direct for MGM...
(1984), have not been successful on Broadway.
MacDermot's film soundtracks include Cotton Comes to Harlem, a 1970 blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
film starring Godfrey Cambridge
Godfrey Cambridge
-External links:*...
, Raymond St. Jacques
Raymond St. Jacques
Raymond St. Jacques was an American actor.-Career:St. Jacques was born James Arthur Johnson in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Vivienne Johnson, a medical technician...
and Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...
, based on Chester Himes' novel of the same name; Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros (film)
Rhinoceros is a 1974 comedy film based on the play by Eugène Ionesco. The film was produced and released as part of the American Film Theatre, which adapted theatrical works for a subscription-driven cinema series.-Plot:...
(1974) starring Zero Mostel
Zero Mostel
Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
and Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
, and directed by original Broadway Hair director Tom O'Horgan
Tom O'Horgan
Tom O'Horgan was an American theatre and film director, composer, actor and musician. He is best known for his Broadway work as director of the hit musicals Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar...
; and Mistress (1992). His composition Coffee Cold was heard in the 1968 movie The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
. He writes his own orchestrations and arrangements for his theatre and film scores.
MacDermot's music is popular with collectors of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
. Working with jazz musicians such as Bernard Purdie
Bernard Purdie
Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...
, Jimmy Lewis and Idris Muhammad
Idris Muhammad
Idris Muhammad is a jazz drummer. He changed his name in the 1960s upon his conversion to Islam. He is known for his funky playing style. He has released a number of albums as leader, and has played with a number of jazz legends including Lou Donaldson, Johnny Griffin, Pharoah Sanders and Grover...
, MacDermot created pieces that prefigured the funk material of James Brown. In recent decades, his work has become popular with hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
musicians including Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
, who sampled "Space" from MacDermot's 1969 record Woman Is Sweeter for chart-topper "Woo hah!!
Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check
"Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check" is Busta Rhymes' first solo single and was released in 1996 from his solo debut album The Coming. It peaked at #8 in the U.S. on April 20, 1996 and #2 in the UK. In the U.S., the song was released as a double A-side single with "Everything Remains Raw".The song's...
", and Run DMC, who sampled the Hair song "Where Do I Go?" for their Grammy Award-winning "Down with the King
Down with the King (song)
Down with the King was the second and final single from Run-D.M.C.'s sixth studio album Down with the King. It featured Pete Rock & CL Smooth with Pete Rock producing the song....
". Handsome Boy Modelling School, DJ Vadim
DJ Vadim
DJ Vadim is a prolific DJ and producer, born in Leningrad, USSR , raised in London and currently residing in both New York and Berlin, whose music combines hip hop, soul, reggae and electronica...
, DJ Premier
DJ Premier
Christopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru...
and Oh No
Oh No (rapper)
Oh No is an underground hip hop artist from Oxnard, California who has released several albums on Stones Throw Records.-Biography:...
have all sampled the same segment from "Coffee Cold", from Shapes of Rhythm (1966). As part of his Special Herbs series, rapper MF Doom
MF Doom
Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...
sampled three MacDermot songs from Woman Is Sweeter: "Cathedral" for his song "Pennyroyal", "Space" for "Cinqfoil", and "Princess Gika" for "Hyssop". In 2006, rapper Oh No released an album produced completely with MacDermot samples, entitled Exodus into Unheard Rhythms
Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms
Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms is an album by Oh No, an American hip hop rapper and producer signed to Stones Throw Records. Oh No produced this album using only samples from Galt MacDermot. This album also boasts far greater lyrical performances from Oh No as well as the guests...
.
In 1979, MacDermot formed the New Pulse Band, which performs and records his original music. The band plays as part of the on stage band in the current Broadway revival of Hair. MacDermot's work also includes ballet scores, chamber music, the Anglican liturgy, orchestral music, poetry, incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for plays, band repertory and opera. MacDermot was inducted into the 2009 Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
Film director Jeff Lunger is in the post-production phase of a documentary on the life and work of Galt MacDermot.
Shows
- My Fur LadyMy Fur LadyMy Fur Lady is a satirical musical theatre production, first staged in Canada in the 1950s. It was premiered in Montreal on February 7th 1957, by McGill University students. A revue, it tells the story of Princess Aurora Borealis of "Mukluko" who is searching for a husband, to help keep her...
(1957) - HairHair (musical)Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
(1967) - Isabel's a JezebelIsabel's a JezebelIsabel's a Jezebel is a British musical with music by Galt MacDermot and book and lyrics by William Dumaresq, based loosely on one of the Grimm's Fairy Tales, centers around Isabel and her deep-sea lover, who spend their time copulating and arguing about bringing children into a world committed to...
(1970) - Who the Murderer Was (1970)
- Two Gentlemen of VeronaTwo Gentlemen of Verona (musical)Two Gentlemen of Verona is a rock musical, with a book by John Guare and Mel Shapiro, lyrics by Guare and music by Galt MacDermot, based on the Shakespeare comedy of the same name....
(1971) - DudeDude (musical)Dude is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. It is an allegory about good and evil, the conflict between mankind's creative and destructive urges, the power of love, and the joy to be found in simple pleasures...
(1973) - Via GalacticaVia GalacticaVia Galactica is a rock musical with a book by Christopher Gore and Judith Ross, lyrics by Gore, and music by Galt MacDermot. It marked the Broadway debut of actor Mark Baker....
(1973) - The Human ComedyThe Human Comedy (musical)The Human Comedy is a musical with a book and lyrics by William Dumaresq and music by Galt MacDermot.William Saroyan's tale originated as a screenplay he had been hired to write and direct for MGM...
(1984) - The Special (1985)
- The Legend of Joan of Arc (1997)
- Sun (1998)
- Blondie (1998)
- The Corporation (1999)
Selected discography
The following is a selected list of MacDermot's album releases, excluding cast albums and soundtracks:- Art Gallery Jazz (1956)
- The English Experience (1961)
- Shapes of Rhythm (1966)
- Haircuts (1969)
- Woman is Sweeter (1969)
- New Pulse Band (1979)
- Purdie as a Picture (1994)
- Up from the Basement Volumes 1 & 2 (2000)