Teo Macero
Encyclopedia
Teo Macero born Attilio Joseph Macero, was an American
jazz
saxophonist, composer
, and record producer
. He was a producer at Columbia Records
for twenty years, and most notably produced the Miles Davis
album, Kind of Blue
, which at #12, is the highest-ranked jazz album on Rolling Stone's
500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and according to the RIAA, is the best-selling jazz album of all time. Macero also produced Davis' Bitches Brew
, and Dave Brubeck's
Time Out
, which, along with Kind of Blue, are three of the best-known and most influential jazz albums of all time.
. After serving in the United States Navy
, he moved to New York City
in 1948 to attend the Juilliard School of Music. He studied composition, and graduated from Juilliard in 1953 with Bachelor's
and Master's degree
s.
In 1953, Macero co-founded Charles Mingus
' Jazz Composers Workshop, and became a major contributor to the New York City avant-garde jazz scene. As a composer, Macero wrote in an atonal
style, as well as in third Stream
, a synthesis of jazz and classical music
. He performed live, and recorded several albums with Mingus and the other Workshop members over the next three years, including Jazzical Moods (in 1954) and Jazz Composers Workshop (in 1955).
During this time, Macero also recorded Explorations (DLP-6). While he had contributed compositions to other albums, this was the first full album of his own compositions, and Macero's first album as a leader
. Macero plays tenor and alto saxophones on the album, and is joined by Orlando DiGirolamo
on accordion, both Mingus and Lou Labella on basses, and Ed Shaughnessy on drums. Explorations was originally released in 1954 on Mingus' Debut Records
, and was reissued on CD
in 2006 on Fresh Sounds Records, with additional tracks.
The 1958 short experimental film
Bridges-Go-Round by filmmaker Shirley Clarke
featured two alternative soundtracks, one by Louis and Bebe Barron
and one by Macero.
. He joined Columbia in 1957, and produced hundreds of records while at the label. Macero worked with dozens of artists at Columbia including Mingus, Duke Ellington
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Thelonious Monk
, Johnny Mathis
, Count Basie
, Dave Brubeck
, Tony Bennett
, Charlie Byrd
, and Stan Getz
. He was also responsible for signing Mingus, Monk, and Byrd to Columbia. Additionally, Macero produced over 100 albums of classical orchestral music for Columbia, including less conventional, contemporary pieces such as And God Created Great Whales by Alan Hovhaness
, which required him to overlay recordings of humpbacked whale songs over the orchestral track.
Macero produced the seminal Dave Brubeck Quartet album Time Out
, and Thelonious Monk's first Columbia recording, Monk's Dream, as well as Underground
. He also produced Mingus' first Columbia album, Mingus Ah Um
. Beyond jazz, he produced a number of Broadway
original cast recordings including A Chorus Line
and Bye Bye Birdie. And he produced the soundtrack to The Graduate
, by Simon and Garfunkel
.
While Macero produced many artists' albums, he had an especially long and prolific relationship with Miles Davis
. He produced most of Davis' Columbia catalog, including the classics Kind of Blue
, Porgy and Bess
, Sketches of Spain
, and Someday My Prince Will Come. Macero's role as producer on Kind of Blue has sometimes been disputed, as some of the early Kind of Blue sessions were overseen by Irving Townsend
. But numerous sources, including the original liner notes, support Macero's involvement in the sessions, and preparation of the final album, and credit him as producer. The role of the producer was further expanded on Davis' later forays into electric fusion, such as In a Silent Way
, Bitches Brew
, and A Tribute to Jack Johnson
, which were highlighted by Macero's innovative mixing
and editing
techniques. In 2001, Miles Davis biographer Paul Tingen likened Macero's role in the electric music of Davis to that of George Martin with The Beatles.
Taking his cue from Tingen, Nick Southall described the impact of Macero's work on In a Silent Way in a 2003 Stylus Magazine
article:
Some listeners and critics have complained that Macero overproduced Davis' recordings, and cut too much. But after hearing the unedited tapes from the In A Silent Way sessions, jazz critic John Ballon wrote that the original editing and production "attests to the producing genius of Teo Macero." Ballon continues:
On Davis' 1970 release, Bitches Brew, Macero continued to expand his innovative practices, and "Bitches Brew not only became a controversial classic of musical innovation, it also became renowned for its pioneering use of studio technology." Some of the controversy at the time also stemmed from the use of the word bitches in the title. Macero recalls that when Davis told him that he wanted to call it Bitches Brew, "I thought he was kidding." The album became the best-selling jazz album of its time, selling 500,000 copies by 1976, when most successful jazz albums sold less than 30,000 copies.
Macero's innovative techniques were inspired partially by his association with avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse
, and they continue to impact the way musicians, producers, and remix
ers work in the studio today. Brian Eno
, a producer who has worked extensively with U2
and Talking Heads
, among others, talked about Macero's influence on him in a 1996 interview with jazzthetik magazine. Eno describes being "fascinated" by Macero's editing techniques and the "spatial" quality he added to the music. "He did something that was extremely modern."
In 1975, Macero left Columbia and formed his own production company. However, he continued to work with Davis until 1983, and continued to produce records for Columbia throughout his career.
music during his time at Columbia, contributing tracks to (and still producing) several albums including Monk's Monk's Blues
, and Something New, Something Blue, a collection of blues compositions and arrangements by Macero, Teddy Charles
, Manny Albam
, and Bill Russo
. He contributed a track to (and produced) John Lewis
and Gunther Schuller's
Orchestra U.S.A.
album, Sonorities, an album of third stream
compositions, and he arranged music for easy listening
pioneer, André Kostelanetz
.
He composed, conducted, and produced numerous television and film soundtracks and scores. He scored the 1970 Muhammad Ali
documentary, a.k.a. Cassius Clay
, and more recently, produced soundtrack music for True Romance
, Finding Forrester
, and Martin Scorsese's
The Blues
.
Macero has also composed for, conducted, and performed with Leonard Bernstein
and the New York Philharmonic
, the London Philharmonic Orchestra
, the Salt Lake Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony
, and The Juilliard School; and has been commissioned by, and composed ballets for, the Joffrey Ballet Company
, the Anna Sokolow Ballet Company
, the London Ballet Company, the Juilliard Ballet Company, and the American Ballet Theatre
.
, Michel Legrand
, Wallace Roney
, Shirley MacLaine
, Vernon Reid
, Robert Palmer, and DJ Logic
. With Robert Palmer he produced the hit song "Addicted To Love".
In the 1970s and 1980s, Macero released a handful of his own albums, including Time Plus Seven, Impressions of Charles Mingus, and Acoustical Suspension, before founding his own label, Teorecords, in 1999. Subsequently, he released over a dozen albums of original compositions, and continued to produce reissues of Miles Davis and other artists for various record companies. However, Macero was outspoken in his opposition to the practice of adding back alternate takes that didn't appear on the original albums, or otherwise altering the original music, on the grounds that it corrupts the intentions of the musicians and the producer at the time the recording was made. "They put all the mistakes back in," said Macero. "Don't destroy the original record."
In the late 80s Macero tried his hand at country music, producing an album by a New York based band called Sixgun, whose members included Joe Spena, Phil Gelfer, Kenny Davis (Leichtling), Ed Jennings, and Pete DeSalvo. He made this connection through his friend Phil Levitan, manager of the group, and father of well-known Nashville producer and agent, Ken Levitan.
. Shot by cinematographer
Fortunato Procopio, the film features a behind-the-scenes look at the person behind the persona, and includes photos, archival footage, and recordings from Macero's personal collection.
Another documentary "Teo" was filmed over the past five years by producer/director Daragh McCarthy
and features Teo Macero's last recording session and extensive interviews.
Student Composer Award in 1953.
Macero received two Guggenheim Fellowship
s for composition in 1957 and 1958.
Macero was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts
grant in 1974.
Macero received over 20 Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) Gold, Platinum, and Multi-platinum certifications
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
saxophonist, 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 record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. He was a producer at Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
for twenty years, and most notably produced the Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
album, Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959...
, which at #12, is the highest-ranked jazz album on Rolling Stone's
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and according to the RIAA, is the best-selling jazz album of all time. Macero also produced Davis' Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
, and Dave Brubeck's
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
Time Out
Time Out (album)
Time Out is a jazz album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, released in 1959 on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 1397. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, it is based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz such as 9/8 and 5/4. The album is a subtle blend of cool...
, which, along with Kind of Blue, are three of the best-known and most influential jazz albums of all time.
Early work
Teo Macero was born and raised in Glens Falls, New YorkGlens Falls, New York
Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States. Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census...
. After serving in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1948 to attend the Juilliard School of Music. He studied composition, and graduated from Juilliard in 1953 with Bachelor's
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
and Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
s.
In 1953, Macero co-founded Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
' Jazz Composers Workshop, and became a major contributor to the New York City avant-garde jazz scene. As a composer, Macero wrote in an atonal
Atonality
Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...
style, as well as in third Stream
Third stream
Third Stream is a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller, within a lecture at Brandeis University, to describe a musical genre which is a synthesis of classical music and jazz...
, a synthesis of jazz and classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. He performed live, and recorded several albums with Mingus and the other Workshop members over the next three years, including Jazzical Moods (in 1954) and Jazz Composers Workshop (in 1955).
During this time, Macero also recorded Explorations (DLP-6). While he had contributed compositions to other albums, this was the first full album of his own compositions, and Macero's first album as a leader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
. Macero plays tenor and alto saxophones on the album, and is joined by Orlando DiGirolamo
Orlando DiGirolamo
Orlando DiGirolamo was an American jazz accordionist, pianist, composer, and teacher. He is sometimes credited as "Lanny DiJay" on jazz recordings. DiGirolamo collaborated frequently with legendary jazz producer Teo Macero, and played on Macero's first commercial release, Explorations, also...
on accordion, both Mingus and Lou Labella on basses, and Ed Shaughnessy on drums. Explorations was originally released in 1954 on Mingus' Debut Records
Debut Records
Debut Records was a United States jazz record label, which was founded in 1952 by bassist Charles Mingus, his then-wife Celia and drummer Max Roach.This short-lived label was an attempt to avoid the compromises of working for major companies...
, and was reissued on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in 2006 on Fresh Sounds Records, with additional tracks.
The 1958 short experimental film
Experimental film
Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
Bridges-Go-Round by filmmaker Shirley Clarke
Shirley Clarke
Shirley Clarke was an American independent filmmaker.-Early life:Born Shirley Brimberg in New York City, Shirley Clarke was the daughter of a Polish-immigrant father who made his fortune in manufacturing. Her mother was the daughter of a multimillionaire Jewish manufacturer and inventor. Her...
featured two alternative soundtracks, one by Louis and Bebe Barron
Louis and Bebe Barron
Bebe Barron and Louis Barron were two American pioneers in the field of electronic music...
and one by Macero.
Columbia Records producer
Macero found greater fame as a producer for Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. He joined Columbia in 1957, and produced hundreds of records while at the label. Macero worked with dozens of artists at Columbia including Mingus, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, 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...
, Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Charlie Byrd
Charlie Byrd
Charlie Lee Byrd was a famous and versatile American guitarist born in Suffolk, Virginia. His earliest and strongest musical influence was Django Reinhardt, the famous gypsy guitarist. Byrd became the American guitarist who best understood and played Brazilian music, especially the Bossa Nova genre...
, and 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...
. He was also responsible for signing Mingus, Monk, and Byrd to Columbia. Additionally, Macero produced over 100 albums of classical orchestral music for Columbia, including less conventional, contemporary pieces such as And God Created Great Whales by Alan Hovhaness
Alan Hovhaness
Alan Hovhaness was an Armenian-American composer.His music is accessible to the lay listener and often evokes a mood of mystery or contemplation...
, which required him to overlay recordings of humpbacked whale songs over the orchestral track.
Macero produced the seminal Dave Brubeck Quartet album Time Out
Time Out (album)
Time Out is a jazz album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, released in 1959 on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 1397. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, it is based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz such as 9/8 and 5/4. The album is a subtle blend of cool...
, and Thelonious Monk's first Columbia recording, Monk's Dream, as well as Underground
Underground (Thelonious Monk album)
Underground is a 1968 album by Thelonious Monk. It features Monk on piano, Larry Gales on bass, Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, and Ben Riley on drums....
. He also produced Mingus' first Columbia album, Mingus Ah Um
Mingus Ah Um
Mingus Ah Um is a jazz album by Charles Mingus, recorded and released on Columbia Records in 1959. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The cover features a painting by S...
. Beyond jazz, he produced a number of 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...
original cast recordings including A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
and Bye Bye Birdie. And he produced the soundtrack to The Graduate
The Graduate
The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy-drama motion picture directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The screenplay was by Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk, and Calder...
, by Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
.
While Macero produced many artists' albums, he had an especially long and prolific relationship with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
. He produced most of Davis' Columbia catalog, including the classics Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959...
, Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess (Miles Davis album)
Porgy and Bess is a studio album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1958 on Columbia Records. The album features arrangements by Davis and collaborator Gil Evans from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. The album was recorded in four sessions on July 22, July 29, August 4, and August 18,...
, Sketches of Spain
Sketches of Spain
Sketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City....
, and Someday My Prince Will Come. Macero's role as producer on Kind of Blue has sometimes been disputed, as some of the early Kind of Blue sessions were overseen by Irving Townsend
Irving Townsend
Irving Townsend was an American record producer and author. He is most famous for having produced, in March 1959, the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, which at #12, is the highest-ranked jazz album on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and according to the RIAA, is the best-selling...
. But numerous sources, including the original liner notes, support Macero's involvement in the sessions, and preparation of the final album, and credit him as producer. The role of the producer was further expanded on Davis' later forays into electric fusion, such as In a Silent Way
In a Silent Way
In a Silent Way is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released July 30, 1969 on Columbia Records. Produced by Teo Macero, the album was recorded in one session date on February 18, 1969 at CBS 30th Street Studio B in New York City. Incorporating elements of classical sonata form,...
, Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
, and A Tribute to Jack Johnson
A Tribute to Jack Johnson
A Tribute to Jack Johnson is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released February 24, 1971 on Columbia Records. It also serves as the soundtrack for a documentary by Bill Cayton about the heavyweight world champion boxer Jack Johnson....
, which were highlighted by Macero's innovative mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and editing
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
techniques. In 2001, Miles Davis biographer Paul Tingen likened Macero's role in the electric music of Davis to that of George Martin with The Beatles.
Taking his cue from Tingen, Nick Southall described the impact of Macero's work on In a Silent Way in a 2003 Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
article:
Behind the scenes, Miles and Teo took the tapes of the In A Silent Way sessions and transformed some beautiful, folk-tinged, melody-driven sets into two exquisite, beguiling and otherworldly pieces of music. Using techniques that pre-dated the proliferation of tape loops, cut-ups, edits and sequencing in rock, pop, hip hop and dance music, Miles and Teo took apart the original recording and reassembled them outside of any traditional or accepted jazz structure or melodic framework. This idea of taking jazz away from its birth, genesis and flowering as a live art and into the studio would soon become standard practice, but in 1969 it was groundbreaking.
Some listeners and critics have complained that Macero overproduced Davis' recordings, and cut too much. But after hearing the unedited tapes from the In A Silent Way sessions, jazz critic John Ballon wrote that the original editing and production "attests to the producing genius of Teo Macero." Ballon continues:
It took a force like Teo to splice together a cohesive album out of so many inspired pieces. Not only did Teo have the balls to stand up to Miles on creative decisions, he had the right. And Miles knew it. And while his ego rebelled against any producer messing with his music, Miles knew that incredibly great records were borne out of the conflict and compromise of his relationship with Teo.
On Davis' 1970 release, Bitches Brew, Macero continued to expand his innovative practices, and "Bitches Brew not only became a controversial classic of musical innovation, it also became renowned for its pioneering use of studio technology." Some of the controversy at the time also stemmed from the use of the word bitches in the title. Macero recalls that when Davis told him that he wanted to call it Bitches Brew, "I thought he was kidding." The album became the best-selling jazz album of its time, selling 500,000 copies by 1976, when most successful jazz albums sold less than 30,000 copies.
Macero's innovative techniques were inspired partially by his association with avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse
Edgard Varèse
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, , whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse , was an innovative French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States....
, and they continue to impact the way musicians, producers, and remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ers work in the studio today. Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, a producer who has worked extensively with U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
and Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, among others, talked about Macero's influence on him in a 1996 interview with jazzthetik magazine. Eno describes being "fascinated" by Macero's editing techniques and the "spatial" quality he added to the music. "He did something that was extremely modern."
In 1975, Macero left Columbia and formed his own production company. However, he continued to work with Davis until 1983, and continued to produce records for Columbia throughout his career.
Composer and arranger
Macero also composed and arrangedArrangement
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...
music during his time at Columbia, contributing tracks to (and still producing) several albums including Monk's Monk's Blues
Monk's Blues
Monk's Blues is an album by Thelonious Monk, originally released in 1968. It was re-released on CD in 1994. One of Monk's last recordings, it was produced with a large group of musicians...
, and Something New, Something Blue, a collection of blues compositions and arrangements by Macero, Teddy Charles
Teddy Charles
Teddy Charles is an American jazz pianist, drummer and vibraphone musician. Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, he began his musical career studying at Juilliard School of Music as a percussionist...
, Manny Albam
Manny Albam
Manny Albam was a jazz baritone saxophone player who eventually put the instrument down in favour of a long and respected career as an arranger, writer, and teacher.-Biography:The son of Lithuanian immigrants, who was born in the Dominican Republic when his mother went into labour en route...
, and Bill Russo
William Russo (musician)
William Russo, better known as Bill Russo , was an American jazz musician. He is considered one of the greatest jazz composers and arrangers.-History:...
. He contributed a track to (and produced) John Lewis
John Lewis (pianist)
John Aaron Lewis was an American jazz pianist and composer best known as the musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet.- Early life:...
and Gunther Schuller's
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
Orchestra U.S.A.
Orchestra U.S.A.
The Orchestra U.S.A. was an American jazz musical ensemble, active from 1962 to 1965.The orchestra was founded in 1962 by John Lewis, along with Gunther Schuller and Harold Farberman, as an experiment in Third Stream blending of classical music and jazz. The ensemble itself was large, and included...
album, Sonorities, an album of third stream
Third stream
Third Stream is a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller, within a lecture at Brandeis University, to describe a musical genre which is a synthesis of classical music and jazz...
compositions, and he arranged music for easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
pioneer, André Kostelanetz
Andre Kostelanetz
André Kostelanetz was a popular orchestral music conductor and arranger, one of the pioneers of easy listening music.-Biography:...
.
He composed, conducted, and produced numerous television and film soundtracks and scores. He scored the 1970 Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
documentary, a.k.a. Cassius Clay
A.k.a. Cassius Clay
A.k.a. Cassius Clay is a 1970 boxing documentary film about the former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali....
, and more recently, produced soundtrack music for True Romance
True Romance
True Romance is a 1993 American romance crime film written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette with an ensemble cast consisting of Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin...
, Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester
EnglishFinding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. A black American teenager, Jamal Wallace , is invited into a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester , through whom he refines his...
, and Martin Scorsese's
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
The Blues
The Blues (film)
The Blues is a 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese, dedicated to the history of blues music. In each of the seven episodes, a different director explores a stage in the development of the blues...
.
Macero has also composed for, conducted, and performed with Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
and the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, the London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
, the Salt Lake Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony
Kansas City Symphony
The Kansas City Symphony is a United States symphony orchestra based in Kansas City, Missouri. The current music director is conductor Michael Stern. The current home of the Symphony is the Lyric Theatre, located in Downtown Kansas City on 11th Street between Wyandotte and Central Streets...
, and The Juilliard School; and has been commissioned by, and composed ballets for, the Joffrey Ballet Company
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...
, the Anna Sokolow Ballet Company
Anna Sokolow
Anna Sokolow was a Jewish American dancer and choreographer.-Training:...
, the London Ballet Company, the Juilliard Ballet Company, and the American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
.
Other work
After his tenure at Columbia, Macero continued as a player and producer on other projects, working with Brubeck, Tony Bennett, Herbie HancockHerbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
, Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney is an American hard bop and post-bop trumpeter.Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from 1985 until the latter's death in 1991...
, Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid is an English-born American guitarist, songwriter, composer, and bandleader. Best known as the founder and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Living Colour, Reid was named #66 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.Critic Steve Huey writes, "[Reid's]...
, Robert Palmer, and DJ Logic
DJ Logic
DJ Logic is an American turntablist active primarily in jazz and with jam bands.Kibler was born and raised in The Bronx. An early interest in hip hop led to his using the turntables, practicing often. Kibler was also interested in funk and jazz music, and began collaborating with various musicians...
. With Robert Palmer he produced the hit song "Addicted To Love".
In the 1970s and 1980s, Macero released a handful of his own albums, including Time Plus Seven, Impressions of Charles Mingus, and Acoustical Suspension, before founding his own label, Teorecords, in 1999. Subsequently, he released over a dozen albums of original compositions, and continued to produce reissues of Miles Davis and other artists for various record companies. However, Macero was outspoken in his opposition to the practice of adding back alternate takes that didn't appear on the original albums, or otherwise altering the original music, on the grounds that it corrupts the intentions of the musicians and the producer at the time the recording was made. "They put all the mistakes back in," said Macero. "Don't destroy the original record."
In the late 80s Macero tried his hand at country music, producing an album by a New York based band called Sixgun, whose members included Joe Spena, Phil Gelfer, Kenny Davis (Leichtling), Ed Jennings, and Pete DeSalvo. He made this connection through his friend Phil Levitan, manager of the group, and father of well-known Nashville producer and agent, Ken Levitan.
Films
A Teo Macero documentary film, Play That, Teo, is currently being produced by Olana DiGirolamo, daughter of Macero's friend and collaborator, Orlando DiGirolamoOrlando DiGirolamo
Orlando DiGirolamo was an American jazz accordionist, pianist, composer, and teacher. He is sometimes credited as "Lanny DiJay" on jazz recordings. DiGirolamo collaborated frequently with legendary jazz producer Teo Macero, and played on Macero's first commercial release, Explorations, also...
. Shot by cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Fortunato Procopio, the film features a behind-the-scenes look at the person behind the persona, and includes photos, archival footage, and recordings from Macero's personal collection.
Another documentary "Teo" was filmed over the past five years by producer/director Daragh McCarthy
Daragh McCarthy
Daragh McCarthy is a Dublin born film-maker and musician. He has directed numerous video clips included early videos for The Frames, a Dublin group led by Academy Award winning Glen Hansard....
and features Teo Macero's last recording session and extensive interviews.
Awards
Macero was awarded the BMIBroadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
Student Composer Award in 1953.
Macero received two Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
s for composition in 1957 and 1958.
Macero was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
grant in 1974.
Macero received over 20 Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) Gold, Platinum, and Multi-platinum certifications
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
.
As leader
- Teo Macero with the Prestige Jazz Quartet (Prestige, 1957)
- Something New, Something Blue with Manny AlbamManny AlbamManny Albam was a jazz baritone saxophone player who eventually put the instrument down in favour of a long and respected career as an arranger, writer, and teacher.-Biography:The son of Lithuanian immigrants, who was born in the Dominican Republic when his mother went into labour en route...
(Columbia, 1959) - Impressions of Charles Mingus (Palo Alto, 1983)
- Acoustical Suspension (Doctor Jazz, 1984)
As sideman
With Charles MingusCharles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
- The Jazz Experiments of Charlie MingusThe Jazz Experiments of Charlie MingusThe Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus is an album by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus released on the Bethlehem label. The album is a compilation of tracks originally released by Period Records as two 10-inch LP's entitled Jazzical Moods and co-credited to John LaPorta.-Reception:The...
(Bethlehem, 1954) - Jazz Composers WorkshopJazz Composers WorkshopJazz Composers Workshop is an album featuring jazz bassist Charles Mingus. It combines the earlier album Moods of Mingus with a Wally Cirillo session released earlier on the album Wally Cirillo & Bobby Scott...
(Savoy, 1954–55)
External links
- Teorecords official site (no longer active) at the Internet Archive.
- Teo Macero Collection, 1949-1992 Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
- Teo Macero Collection, ca. late 1940s-1990s Institute of Jazz Studies, Dana Library, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ.
- Commentable Teo Macero discography.
- Official site for the documentary film, Play That, Teo.
- Audio feature about In a Silent Way from National Public Radio.
- Short clip from "Teo" a documentary in production.
- Obituary by John Fordham and an appreciation by Daragh McCarthy from the Guardian newspaper. retrieved 28 Feb 2008.
- Artists House Music Exclusive interview conducted in 2004.
- Miles Beyond. The book Miles Beyond was the first to fully appreciate Macero's central role in Davis' electric music. The corresponding site also gives extensive details.
- Daly, Ann: "A Century of Jazz and Modern Dance", 2000.
- Several references to Anna Sokolow and Macero's work together.
- Le Grand Spectacle at the American Ballet Theater.
- Review of The Best of Teo Macero, by Ted WhiteTed White (author)Ted White is a Hugo Award-winning American writer, known as a science fiction author and editor and fan, as well as a music critic...
. - Interview with Macero by Iara Lee.
- [ AllMusic] biography of Teo Macero, by Scott Yanow.
- RIAA album certification database.
- Guggenheim Foundation.
- Ratliff, Ben: "Teo Macero, 82, Record Producer, Dies", New York Times, February 22, 2008.