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American musician and composer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Manny Albam (June 24, 1922 – October 2, 2001) was an American jazz arranger, composer, record producer, saxophonist, and educator.[1][2]
Manny Albam | |
|---|---|
Manny Albam conducting | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Emmanuel Albam |
| Born | June 24, 1922 Samana, Dominican Republic |
| Died | October 2, 2001 (aged 79) Croton-on-Hudson, New York, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, Latin jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, arranger |
| Instrument | Saxophone |
| Labels | Solid State |
| Formerly of | Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman |
A native of the Dominican Republic, Albam grew up in New York City. He was attracted to jazz at an early age when heard the music of Bix Beiderbecke.[3]
He left school in his teens and played saxophone in a Dixieland band led by Muggsy Spanier. When he was with the Georgie Auld band, he learned about arranging with Budd Johnson.[3] By 1950 Albam was concentrating less on performing and more on writing and arranging.
Within a few years, he became known for a bebop style that emphasized taut and witty writing with a flair for distinctive shadings; flute-led reed sections became something of an Albam trademark. One of his most popular works from that era was "Samana", an Afro-Latin composition he did for the Stan Kenton Innovations Orchestra, named after his birthplace Samaná in the Dominican Republic.[4] He worked with bandleaders Charlie Barnet and Charlie Spivak[3] before collaborating with Count Basie, Stan Getz, Bob Brookmeyer, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Jones, Mel Lewis, Art Farmer, Urbie Green, and Milt Hinton.
Albam wrote arrangements for Leonard Bernstein's score for the musical West Side Story in 1957. The work earned him a Grammy Award nomination in 1959. He was invited by Bernstein to write for the New York Philharmonic, and he began to study classical music with Tibor Serly, eventually writing Quintet for Trombone and Strings. He also wrote music for movies, television, and commercials.[3] In the early 1960s he became music director for Solid State Records.[3] For the rest of his career, he taught at Glassboro State College, Eastman School of Music, and Manhattan School of Music.[3] He helped start and lead the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.[3]
He died of cancer in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, aged 79, in 2001.[5]
With Count Basie
With Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band
With Al Cohn
With Jose Feliciano
With Curtis Fuller
With Freddie Green
With Coleman Hawkins
With Groove Holmes
With O'Donel Levy
With Jimmy McGriff
With Joe Newman
With Freda Payne
With Oscar Peterson
With Buddy Rich
With Zoot Sims
With Dakota Staton
With Dionne Warwick
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