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ARTHUR BLYTHE recording
Arthur's often startling creativity gives us a new way to appreciate this song. I wrote the arrangement for string quartet and rhythm section with the intention of providing him with a stimulus that would encourage his stretching out. And stretch he did.Autumn In New York
RUTH BROWN recording
Ms. Brown performed this recording with a sense of dramatic musicality that serves the song in the best of ways. Equally deserving of praise are the members of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. As had come to be the expectation, they 'owned' my arrangement at first sight. Black Coffee
HERBIE MANN recording
Herbie asked me to arrange this introspective Bill Evans tune for flute choir - seven parts, all of which he himself would record. The result is an amazingly beautiful performance which must kindle the admiration of any musician who has ever taken on such a challenge.Blue In Green
MICHAEL BRECKER brilliance
This section of Childhood Dreams, which I co-composed with Japanese pianist Mikio Masuda, is merely a backdrop for Michael's solo work. My main purpose here was to point him in a direction and then stay out of his way.Childhood Dreams
SARAH VAUGHAN recording
Ms. Vaughan is one of my all-time favorite musicians. When we spoke on the phone to discuss this arrangement she mentioned some things she wanted me to do but never put restrictions on whatever creativity I might try to bring to it. At one point she began playing chord changes on her piano - naming them to me as she went along. Another tune on this session (not arranged by me) was done in a key that was about a 5th away from where it was supposed to have been written. Sarah just quietly mentioned the fact and then went on to do a fantastic performance in spite of the goof.He's Funny That Way
HOT BAND not heard
This clip is from the recording of one of my compositions that never got released. But the band did such a great job on it that I took this opportunity to share it with whoever wants to listen. It just so happened that Randy Brecker and brother Michael were both booked on that session and the opening trumpet + soprano sax melody is played by them. How lucky did I get that day?!Trouble In The City
RENEE ROSNES recording
Working with Ms. Rosnes was an arranger's dream come true. Not only did she play every written note as though she were creating it herself, she also had allowed me complete freedom in conceiving the charts. Her improvisation is incredible. She has a great instinct for working jazz solos seamlessly into the arrangement's structure.You and the Night and the Music
MOVIE MUSIC
Quincy Jones and I shared a Grammy Award for this arrangement. It was part of the Overture to the motion picture version of The Wiz and subsequently ended up on the sound track album. The basic recording was done with a 9 or 10-piece rhythm section and then we sweetened it with an orchestra of - get this - eighty-four players.The Wiz - Overture part 1
BILLY JOEL recording
I was hired to add strings and horns to Billy's basic recording of this tune. After it came out on his 52nd Street album it earned the NARAS Record Of The Year Award. The album did pretty well, too.Honesty
CHANTICLEER recording
Writing for an a cappella choir is a challenge I really enjoy. You have to keep the forward motion going without relying on instruments to push it across the bumps. When Joe Jennings, Artistic Advisor of Chanticleer commissioned me to write this arrangement I asked him what degree of difficulty should be utilized in the piece. His answer was, "We can do anything." That was no hollow claim. Not only is this performance beautifully done, but those twelve men maneuvered their way through an ocean of harmonic complexity and modulations and still came out perfectly on pitch at the end. That's musicianship.I Can Dream, Can't I?
REBECCA PARRIS recording
It is a rarely experienced joy to write for a singer who has the talent and instincts to work within an arrangement and to make the arrangement work for her as well. Rebecca is one of the few who are thusly gifted. The band never frightens her and her sense of dramatic curve always gets her to her destination. Kenny Hadley's dynamite orchestra accompanies her on this audio clip.Falling In Love With Love
NNENNA FREELON recording
This is the opening number from Nnenna's debut album for Columbia. Producer George Butler brought us together for the project and provided a budget that allowed it to be done properly. Nnenna's approach to the song, which is rarely found in a woman's repertoire, is inspired and artistically mature. The arrangement got a Grammy nomination.Stella By Starlight
DIXIELAND CLARINET
I got to play clarinet on this recording of After You've Gone with that marvelous trumpet player, Lennie Johnson. Lennie was one of Herb Pomeroy's favorite musicians and was avidly sought after by both Count Basie and Duke Ellington.After You've Gone
TRUMPET CONCERTO
Trumpet virtuosa Carole Dawn Reinhart commissioned me to write a concerto for her just before she left the U.S. to take up permanent residence in Germany. This clip is from a performance she did with one of the German radio orchestras. It consists mostly of some contrapuntal fun I had writing for the strings.Concerto For Trumpet and Orch./3rd movement
DIANNE REEVES recording
I was hired to write a couple of arrangements for an album done by Ms. Reeves as a tribute to Sarah Vaughan. She also performed them live at Lincoln Center. Key Largo
THE JOURNEYS OF ODYSSEUS
Gary McFarland offered me the opportunity to compose and record a jazz suite for chamber orchestra for his label, Skye Records. The hero of Polyphemus was Ron Carter for whom I wrote no part. Ron just got a sheet that said something like, "Start when everyone else does and keep your ears open." That man does have great ears.Polyphemus
LENA HORNE recording
The first time I worked with Lena involved writing some arrangements for a television special. This audio clip is from one of the numbers from the show. As a result of that job I got to be Lena's music director for quite a few years. In the photo, I'm standing between Ms. Horne and her manager, Sherman Sneed.I Want To Be Happy
WYNTON MARSALIS recording
Columbia Records producer George Butler introduced me to Wynton at a time when we all happened to be in Boston. Subsequently he gave me the assignment to conduct and write the arrangements for Wynton's Hot House Flowers album. One of the best orchestras I ever worked with was assembled at RCA's acoustic treasure, Studio A, in Manhattan. Wynton got a Grammy Award for the album (which was on the Billboard charts for over a year) and the Stardust arrangement got a nomination.Stardust
JOHN ALLMARK recording
There are undoubtedly hundreds of great bands around the country which, for various reasons, never get widespread attention. The one led by trumpeter and arranger John Allmark in the Rhode Island area is an excellent example. John recorded a couple of my charts. The audio clip was taken was taken from one of his CDs. I Love You (hums the April breeze)
MAYNARD FERGUSON recording
I was working at The Stable in Boston, playing alto on the Herb Pomeroy band and intermission piano on the band's off-nights. Maynard was playing at George Wein's Storyville across the street. Carmen Leggio had to leave Maynard's band for a couple of nights and by some quirk of Fate I was hired to fill his chair. But nobody told me that the book for that chair was written almost entirely for tenor - so I showed up with my alto. It was quite an adventure sight-reading and transposing those fingerbusting charts. Anyhow, I asked Maynard if I could write something for his band, he said "Yes", so I wrote And We Listened and he recorded it on his Message From Newport album.And We Listened
WAYNE NAUS recording
At one point in time Wayne and I were serving simultaneous sentences at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston. Wayne had gotten hold of a couple of arrangements I wrote for a gig with Louie Bellson's band at The Metropole in New York City (I had met Louie when he and I were on Duke Ellington's My People band in Chicago) and asked me to write something for his orchestra. He told me to "challenge" them. Blunique was that challenge and, as you can hear, they dealt with it nobly.Bluenique
NOBUYA SUGAWA - RON CARTER recording
Mr. Sugawa is an extremely talented Japanese saxophonist whom an inspired record producer decided to pair with Ron Carter to do an album of new approaches to familiar musical material. My arrangement of I Got Rhythm was one of the elements of that project.I Got Rhythm
MAKOTO OZONE recording
Given the fact that Makoto is himself such a talented composer/arranger I was pleasantly surprised when he invited me to write some charts for one of his recording projects. Makoto decided not to conduct from the piano, so I also got to stand in front of a string section with a population roughly that of a small midwest town.How Long Has This Been Going On?
BROADWAY SHOW recording
That wonder-musician Al Cohn was the orchestrator of the Broadway musical RAISIN at its inception. Fortunately for me he had to remove himself from the show's staff a few weeks before its first out-of-town preview. Orchestrating for composer Judd Woldin was a pleasure I'll always treasure. Judd is a true music maven who is a great partner to anyone with whom he works. The show went on to win the prestigious Tony Award and the cast album won a Grammy. Thanks to the fact that Al Cohn was so busy with other projects I got to orchestrate the Prologue.
The PDF document has 2 items in it:
- Letter from Bob Nemiroff, producer of RAISIN. He had asked me to help out a new young conductor who was about to take over the show on the road.
- Note from Judd Woldin. When the show won the Tony Award Judd sent life-size raisins made of solid gold to the cast and staff. (Mine got lost in the mail.) When the original cast album won the Grammy in its category Judd followed up with silver ones. He is always appreciative of the work of others.
Prologue from RAISINView Document.jpg)
HERB POMEROY recording
Herb received many offers to take his band on the road and into the national spotlight, but he turned them all down because some of the charter members couldn't or wouldn't leave the Boston area for extended periods of time. Herb felt that the band was successful primarily because of its personnel and he didn't want to tour with "ringers". I wrote The Blue Charles during the time I was playing alto with the band.The Blue Charles
GROVER WASHINGTON, JR.
Grover wanted to explore new ways to expand the scope of his musical expression. The ARIA CD we did for Sony was to have been the first in a developing series. Grover and I spent a great deal of time sharing ideas while I was writing the arrangements. I would fax him score excerpts, he would make comments and suggestions, and the final versions were all products of that cooperation. Thirty members of the esteemed Orchestra Of St. Luke's were brought in to play the arrangements - and the icing on the cake was the participation of pianist Billy Childs and bassist Ron Carter.Je crois entendre encore (Bizet)View Document
JOE WILLIAMS recording
This arrangement was written in the middle of the night prior to a 10:00 A.M. recording session. Joe sang as though he were doing his strongest set of the evening in a club and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band sight-read the chart, making it sound like it had been in their book for years.Night Time Is The Right Time
DAVID NEWMAN recording
This clip is from an album David did consisting entirely of Ellington tunes. My goal here was to write an arrangement that would present the song in a way that was substantially different from how it's usually done. The opening drum beat was created by Lewis Nash The trombone player is the always inspiring Jim Pugh.I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
DUKE ELLINGTON
This photo was taken in Chicago at the recording session for the original cast album of DUKE ELLINGTON'S show, My People.
The man in the light jacket just behind Ellington is BILLY STRAYHORN. (I'm the tenor player between HAROLD ASHBY and RUSSELL PROCOPE.) I got to play a 1-bar solo fill on "My Mother, My Father". It's on the audio clip. The sensitive vocal is by Jimmy McPhail. My Mother, My Father (Heritage)
MILES DAVIS
Tenor player Jay Migliori got me the opportunity to sit in on piano with Miles for a set at the Hi-Hat in Boston. We didn't know we were being recorded and it's only through some weird fluke that this cut ended up on the CD. All of the other tunes are from a different night. A Night In Tunisia (Live)
HARRY BELAFONTE
Discussion with HARRY BELAFONTE in an RCA recording studio. We had just returned from a 2-week engagement in Las Vegas and were recording some of the songs from that show. Something In The Way She Moves
WOODY HERMAN
In the photo I'm playing baritone sax with Woody's band. The audio clip is from a vocal album Woody recorded using arrangements by Marty Paich. On it I'm playing bari in a group that includes Bill Harris and Charlie Shavers. What a ball that was! Can't We Be Friends?
SERGE CHALOFF
Newspaper clipping (PDF) about the Serge Chaloff Sextet with Herb Pomeroy (trumpet), Boots Mussuli (alto), Gus Johnson (drums), Everett Evans (bass) and me on piano. When the sextet went on the road Herb and Gus were unavailable to go, but Boots, Everett and I all made the trips. Most memorable was a Thanksgiving night gig at the original Birdland in New York City. Even with very small audiences in attendance Serge played - as he always did - with total devotion to the music. I believe that he was the best jazz bari player ever. View Document
GEORGE KIRBY
At the piano, playing for GEORGE KIRBY at the Apollo Theater in New York City. I'd met George the previous week when I was there rehearsing arrangements I'd written for Beverly Todd's engagement. George wanted a pianist who looked like me to assist him in one of his comedy routines, so I got a gig playing with the great Apollo band for a whole week. Five shows a day. Quite an experience.
CHARLES STROUSE
Once Mr. Strouse was so kind as to write, “I have had the good fortune of working closely with Robert Freedman as my orchestrator . . . Mr. Freedman is terrific in every respect.” I got to orchestrate one of Charles' Broadway shows as well as his opera, Nightingale. The marvelous soloist on this audio clip from the opera is Susannah Fellows Why Am I So Happy
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