Past Events
September 20, 2007 - Johnny Mandel

Elder statesman of jazz arranging and American composing Johnny Mandel gave a virtual history lesson in his discussion with museum director Loren Schoenberg for Harlem Speaks on September 20, 2007. While in high school the first big band he heard was Glenn Miller’s, “an arranger’s band.”

Mention of these bands led to a discussion of arrangers who were heroes to Mandel: Jimmy Mundy, Billy May (“his stuff always swung”), Eddie Sauter, Edgar Sampson, Billy Finnegan, Eddie Durham, Sy Oliver, Neal Hefti, and Andy Gibson.

He eventually landed a seat as a trombonist with the Count Basie Orchestra, but “before I heard Basie I listened to Ellington, Lunceford, and Benny Goodman. But when I heard Basie that was it! Walter Page was the anchor of that band.”

He found much of the earlier jazz “too full and cluttered. Basie was about simplification, and he refined the sound to a low volume, with loud and soft choruses.”

He then discussed the artistry of Papa Jo Jones, and other great Swing band drummers such as Sid Catlett, Shadow Wilson, Chick Webb and Dave Tough. “A great drummer plays for the rhythm section, and creates a space that was a guide, and makes you sound better.”

Mandel started writing arrangements when he was 13, and he wanted to “play and instrument that you could kiss.” After considering the saxophone, he decided to pick up the trombone and the trumpet, which he played with Joe Venuti in 1943. After a year of playing trumpet with the great jazz violinist at places such as Roseland, and Billie Rogers (a female trumpeter and band leader who had performed with Woody Herman), he switched to trombone for stints with Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, Georgie Auld, Alvino Rey and most notably Woody Herman's Second Herd (1948) where his "Not Really The Blues" was one of several pieces that entered the book.

He recalled that Venuti was a “crazy m.f., and quite a practical joker.” Earlier in Venuti’s career, Mandel told us, he spent a year playing with Paul Whiteman’s band. Mandel recalled a classic anecdote about the violinist: Venuti told Whiteman that it had been the greatest year of his life, so he wanted Whiteman to come by a hotel to meet his wife and mother. Venuti accompanied him, and after cordial introductions and some small talk, Venuti departed the room.

What Whiteman didn’t know was that Venuti had picked up two hookers to play the part of his mom and wife! The two tried to rip off Whiteman’s clothes, and when he made a fast getaway down the fire escape with his just his underwear on, Venuti was downstairs clapping!

Mandel also worked with Chubby Jackson, Elliot Lawrence and Count Basie (1953), but by the early 1950's Mandel's writing skills were in greater demand than his trombone playing. He contributed arrangements for Artie Shaw's short-lived bop band (1949) and for Basie (1952-56). Settling in Los Angeles in 1953, Mandel (who played bass trumpet for a brief time with Zoot Sims before ending his active playing) since then has made a living writing for films including occasional scores that are jazz-oriented, most notably 1958's I Want To Live and 1965's The Sandpiper (which resulted in "The Shadow Of Your Smile").

When asked how he got into film scoring, he explained that he had already written for radio and television (Sid Caeser’s “Show of Shows”), so “writing for movies brought it all together. Andre Previn was the first choice for I Want To Live, but Previn was busy with Porgy and Bess, and recommended Mandel for the job. “I fell in love with the medium.” This was his sole jazz score for a movie, and the film featured Gerry Mulligan with a seven piece band.

In addition to his movie work, Mandel has written arrangements for a countless number of performers including Frank Sinatra and Shirley Horn. Other famous Mandel songs include "Emily" (from The Americanization Of Emily), "Close Enough For Love," "Hershey Bar" (recorded by Stan Getz), "Suicide Is Painless" (the "Theme from Mash") and "A Time For Love."

Mandel explained that all good arrangers are composers too. “I wanted the colors, the alchemy,” Mandel said. He got it, and American music is the better for it.