Johnny Mandel
Encyclopedia
Johnny Mandel is an American
composer
and arranger
of popular songs, film music and jazz
. Among the musicians he has worked with are Count Basie
, Frank Sinatra
, Peggy Lee
, Anita O'Day
, Barbra Streisand
, and Shirley Horn
.
, N.Y., to Alfred, a garment manufacturer, and Hannah, an opera singer, who discovered when he was aged 5 that he had perfect pitch. Piano lessons ensued but Johnny switched to the trumpet and later the trombone. Mandel married Martha Blanner in 1970 and has a daughter, Marrisa, born in 1976.
and the Juilliard School. In 1943 he played the trumpet with Joe Venuti, in 1944 with Billy Rogers and trombone
in the bands of Boyd Raeburn
, Jimmy Dorsey
, Buddy Rich
, Georgie Auld
and Chubby Jackson
. In 1949 he accompanied the singer June Christy
in the orchestra of Bob Cooper
. From 1951 till 1953 he played and arranged music in Elliot Lawrence
's orchestra, and in 1953 with Count Basie
. Later he resided in Los Angeles, where he played the bass trumpet for Zoot Sims
. A 1944 Band graduate of New York Military Academy
, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY, he wrote jazz compositions like "Not Really the Blues" for Woody Herman
in 1949, "Hershey Bar" (1950) and "Pot Luck" (1953) for Stan Getz
, "Straight Life" (1953) and "Low Life" (1956) for Count Basie
as well as "Tommyhawk" (1954) for Chet Baker
.
Johnny Mandel has composed, conducted and arranged the music for numerous movie sound tracks. His earliest credited contribution was to I Want to Live!
in 1958, which was nominated for a Grammy. Mandel's most famous compositions include "Suicide Is Painless
" (theme from the movie and TV series M*A*S*H), "Close Enough for Love", "Emily
" and "A Time for Love" (nominated for an Academy Award). He has written a great many film scores, perhaps most notably The Sandpiper
. The love theme for that film, "The Shadow of Your Smile
", which he co-wrote with Paul Francis Webster
, won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Song and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year
in 1966. He performed an interpretation of Erik Satie
's "Gnossiennes #4 and #5" on the piano for the 1979 film Being There
. He won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)
in 1981 for Quincy Jones
's album Velas, and again in 1991 for Natalie Cole
and Nat King Cole
's "Unforgettable
", and one year later once more for Shirley Horn
's album Here's to Life
. In 2004 Mandel arranged Tony Bennett
's album The Art of Romance
. Bennett and Mandel had collaborated before on Bennett's The Movie Song Album
(1966), for which Mandel arranged and conducted his songs "Emily" and "The Shadow of Your Smile", and was also the album's musical director.
Mandel is a recipient of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Award
. Johnny's most recent project is a CD called Johnny Mandel, A Man and His Music, featuring The DIVA Jazz Orchestra and vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway, Recorded "LIVE" at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in May 2010, released by Arbors Records in March 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
and arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
of popular songs, film music and 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...
. Among the musicians he has worked with are Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, and Shirley Horn
Shirley Horn
Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist.-Biography:Encouraged by her grandmother, who was an amateur organist, Horn began piano lessons at the age of four. At twelve, Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University and later majored from there in classical music...
.
Life
Born John Alfred Mandel, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, N.Y., to Alfred, a garment manufacturer, and Hannah, an opera singer, who discovered when he was aged 5 that he had perfect pitch. Piano lessons ensued but Johnny switched to the trumpet and later the trombone. Mandel married Martha Blanner in 1970 and has a daughter, Marrisa, born in 1976.
Music career
He studied at the Manhattan School of MusicManhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
and the Juilliard School. In 1943 he played the trumpet with Joe Venuti, in 1944 with Billy Rogers and trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
in the bands of Boyd Raeburn
Boyd Raeburn
Albert Boyd Raeburn was an American jazz bandleader and bass saxophonist.Boyd Raeburn was born in Faith, South Dakota, and became one of the greatest and least-known of jazz bandleaders during the 1940s...
, Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
, Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
, Georgie Auld
Georgie Auld
Georgie Auld was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader.Auld was born John Altwerger in Toronto...
and Chubby Jackson
Chubby Jackson
Greig Stewart 'Chubby' Jackson was an American jazz double-bassist and band leader.Born in New York City, Jackson began at the age of seventeen as a clarinetist, but quickly changed to bass....
. In 1949 he accompanied the singer June Christy
June Christy
June Christy , born Shirley Luster, was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool...
in the orchestra of Bob Cooper
Bob Cooper (musician)
Bob Cooper was a West Coast jazz musician known primarily for playing tenor saxophone, but also for being one of the first to play solos on oboe. He worked in Stan Kenton's band starting in 1945 and married the band's singer June Christy...
. From 1951 till 1953 he played and arranged music in Elliot Lawrence
Elliot Lawrence
Elliot Lawrence is an American jazz pianist and bandleader.Son of the broadcaster Stan Lee Broza, Lawrence led his first dance band at age 20, but he played swing at the time its heyday was coming to a close. He recorded copiously as a bandleader for Columbia, Decca, King, Fantasy, Vik, and Sesac...
's orchestra, and in 1953 with Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
. Later he resided in Los Angeles, where he played the bass trumpet for Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
. A 1944 Band graduate of New York Military Academy
New York Military Academy
New York Military Academy, or NYMA, is an American private boarding school located in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York. It was founded in 1889 by Charles Jefferson Wright, a Civil War veteran and former school teacher from New Hampshire who believed that a military structure provided the best...
, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY, he wrote jazz compositions like "Not Really the Blues" for Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
in 1949, "Hershey Bar" (1950) and "Pot Luck" (1953) for Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, "Straight Life" (1953) and "Low Life" (1956) for Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
as well as "Tommyhawk" (1954) for Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
.
Johnny Mandel has composed, conducted and arranged the music for numerous movie sound tracks. His earliest credited contribution was to I Want to Live!
I Want to Live!
I Want to Live! is a 1958 film noir produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise which tells the heavily fictionalized story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It stars Susan Hayward as Graham, and also features Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore...
in 1958, which was nominated for a Grammy. Mandel's most famous compositions include "Suicide Is Painless
Suicide Is Painless
"Suicide Is Painless" is a song written by Johnny Mandel and Mike Altman , which is best known for being featured as the theme song for both the movie and TV series M*A*S*H. The actual title is "Song from M*A*S*H" ". Mike Altman is the son of the original film's director, Robert Altman, and was 14...
" (theme from the movie and TV series M*A*S*H), "Close Enough for Love", "Emily
Emily (Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer song)
"Emily" is a popular song composed by Johnny Mandel, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was the title song to the 1964 film The Americanization of Emily, where it was introduced by Julie Andrews. It has since been recorded by numerous artists, notably Bill Evans and Tony Bennett...
" and "A Time for Love" (nominated for an Academy Award). He has written a great many film scores, perhaps most notably The Sandpiper
The Sandpiper
The Sandpiper is a 1965 film starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, directed by Vincente Minnelli.-Plot:Laura Reynolds is a free-spirited, unwed single mother living with her young son Danny in an isolated California beach house...
. The love theme for that film, "The Shadow of Your Smile
The Shadow of Your Smile
"The Shadow of Your Smile", also known as "Love Theme from The Sandpiper", is a popular song. The music was written by Johnny Mandel with the lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster...
", which he co-wrote with Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...
, won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Song and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
in 1966. He performed an interpretation of Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
's "Gnossiennes #4 and #5" on the piano for the 1979 film Being There
Being There
Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
. He won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist has been awarded since 1963. The award is presented to the arranger of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
in 1981 for Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
's album Velas, and again in 1991 for Natalie Cole
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...
and Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
's "Unforgettable
Unforgettable (song)
"Unforgettable" is a popular song written by Irving Gordon. The song's original working title was "Uncomparable". The music publishing company asked Irving to change it to "Unforgettable". The song was published in 1951....
", and one year later once more for Shirley Horn
Shirley Horn
Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist.-Biography:Encouraged by her grandmother, who was an amateur organist, Horn began piano lessons at the age of four. At twelve, Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University and later majored from there in classical music...
's album Here's to Life
Here's to Life
Here's to Life is a 1992 studio album by Shirley Horn, arranged by Johnny Mandel. -Track listing:# "Here's to Life" – 5:37...
. In 2004 Mandel arranged Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
's album The Art of Romance
The Art of Romance
The Art of Romance is an album by Tony Bennett, released in 2004.It later won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.On it, Bennett became a songwriter for the first time in his long career, by penning the lyrics for the song "All for You".-Track listing:#"Close Enough for Love" –...
. Bennett and Mandel had collaborated before on Bennett's The Movie Song Album
The Movie Song Album
The Movie Song Album is a 1966 studio album by Tony Bennett. The album consists of songs from films, opening with the theme from The Oscar, in which Bennett had recently appeared. Bennett was to describe the album in his autobiography as his "all time favorite record"...
(1966), for which Mandel arranged and conducted his songs "Emily" and "The Shadow of Your Smile", and was also the album's musical director.
Mandel is a recipient of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Award
NEA Jazz Masters
The National Endowment for the Arts , every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians...
. Johnny's most recent project is a CD called Johnny Mandel, A Man and His Music, featuring The DIVA Jazz Orchestra and vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway, Recorded "LIVE" at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in May 2010, released by Arbors Records in March 2011.
Selected arrangements
- 1960 Ring-a-Ding-Ding! - Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- 1966 "EmilyEmily (Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer song)"Emily" is a popular song composed by Johnny Mandel, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was the title song to the 1964 film The Americanization of Emily, where it was introduced by Julie Andrews. It has since been recorded by numerous artists, notably Bill Evans and Tony Bennett...
", "The Shadow of Your SmileThe Shadow of Your Smile"The Shadow of Your Smile", also known as "Love Theme from The Sandpiper", is a popular song. The music was written by Johnny Mandel with the lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster...
" from The Movie Song AlbumThe Movie Song AlbumThe Movie Song Album is a 1966 studio album by Tony Bennett. The album consists of songs from films, opening with the theme from The Oscar, in which Bennett had recently appeared. Bennett was to describe the album in his autobiography as his "all time favorite record"...
- Tony BennettTony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz.... - 1981 "Velas" from The DudeThe Dude (Quincy Jones album)The Dude is a 1981 album by American music impresario, conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer and trumpeter Quincy Jones. The album featured the debut of vocalist James Ingram on the singles "Just Once" and "One Hundred Ways," which reached no. 17 and 14, respectively, on the...
- Quincy JonesQuincy JonesQuincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend... - 1991 Here's to LifeHere's to LifeHere's to Life is a 1992 studio album by Shirley Horn, arranged by Johnny Mandel. -Track listing:# "Here's to Life" – 5:37...
- Shirley HornShirley HornShirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist.-Biography:Encouraged by her grandmother, who was an amateur organist, Horn began piano lessons at the age of four. At twelve, Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University and later majored from there in classical music... - 1995 Pearls - David SanbornDavid SanbornDavid Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
- 1999 When I Look in Your EyesWhen I Look in Your EyesWhen I Look in Your Eyes is the fifth album by Canadian jazz pianist and vocalist Diana Krall, released in 1999 . It was nominated for Album of the Year, the first time in 25 years that a jazz album was nominated for the most coveted prize of the night, and won two awards for Best Jazz Vocal and...
- Diana KrallDiana KrallDiana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s... - 2004 The Art of RomanceThe Art of RomanceThe Art of Romance is an album by Tony Bennett, released in 2004.It later won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.On it, Bennett became a songwriter for the first time in his long career, by penning the lyrics for the song "All for You".-Track listing:#"Close Enough for Love" –...
- Tony Bennett - 2006 Duets: An American ClassicDuets: An American Classic-Personnel:* Tony Bennett, guest artists - vocals* Bill Charlap - piano* Pinchas Zukerman - violin* Lawrence Feldman - flute* Chris Botti - trumpet* Paul Langosch - double bass* Gray Sargent - guitar* Harold Jones - drums* Johnny Mandel - arranger, conductor...
- Tony Bennett - 2009 Love Is the AnswerLove Is the Answer (album)Love Is the Answer is an album of jazz standards by Barbra Streisand released on September 29, 2009. The album was produced by Diana Krall and features Krall on piano. Orchestral arrangements are by Johnny Mandel, Anthony Wilson and Alan Broadbent. A deluxe edition contains a bonus disc featuring...
- Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
Selected discography
- 1958 I Want to Live!I Want to Live!I Want to Live! is a 1958 film noir produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise which tells the heavily fictionalized story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It stars Susan Hayward as Graham, and also features Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore...
- 1965 The SandpiperThe SandpiperThe Sandpiper is a 1965 film starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, directed by Vincente Minnelli.-Plot:Laura Reynolds is a free-spirited, unwed single mother living with her young son Danny in an isolated California beach house...
- 1966 The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
- 1970 MASHMASH (film)MASH is a 1970 American satirical dark comedy film directed by Robert Altman and written by Ring Lardner, Jr., based on Richard Hooker's novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. It is the only feature film in the M*A*S*H franchise...
- 1973 The Last DetailThe Last DetailThe Last Detail is a 1973 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby with a screenplay adapted by Robert Towne from a novel of the same name by Daryl Ponicsan. The film became known for its frequent use of profanity.-Plot:...
- 1975 (Disney) Escape to Witch MountainEscape to Witch Mountain (1975 film)Escape to Witch Mountain is a 1975 film based on the novel Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions, released by Buena Vista Distribution Company and directed by John Hough.- Plot :...
- 1976 (Disney) Freaky FridayFreaky Friday (1976 film)Freaky Friday is a 1976 American comedy film starring Jodie Foster as Annabel Andrews and Barbara Harris as her mother.The film is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers, in which mother and daughter switch bodies and get a taste of each others' lives. The cause of the switch is left...
- 1980 Too Close For ComfortToo Close for Comfort (TV series)Too Close for Comfort is an American television sitcom which ran on the ABC network and later in first-run syndication from November 11, 1980 to September 27, 1986. It was modeled after the British series Keep It in the Family, which debuted nine months before Too Close for Comfort debuted in the U.S...
(TV Opening) - 1984 Zoot Sims Plays Johnny Mandel: Quietly There
- 2011 Johnny Mandel, A Man and His Music with The DIVA Jazz Orchestra and Ann Hampton Callaway
External links
- Interview with Marc Myers at JazzWax
- Alumni of Distinction at New York Military Academy archives page