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Jack Sheldon

American trumpeter, singer, and actor (1931–2019) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jack Sheldon

Beryl Cyril "Jack" Sheldon Jr. (November 30, 1931 – December 27, 2019) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and actor. He performed on The Merv Griffin Show and participated in episodes of the educational music television series Schoolhouse Rock!

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Jack Sheldon
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Sheldon at the Palo Alto Jazz Festival, September 26, 1987
Background information
Birth nameBeryl Cyril Sheldon Jr.[1]
Born(1931-11-30)November 30, 1931
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
DiedDecember 27, 2019(2019-12-27) (aged 88)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, actor
Instrument(s)Trumpet, vocals
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Biography

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Bubba Kolb, Jack Sheldon (center), and Ira Sullivan, Village Jazz Lounge, Walt Disney World, c. 1980s

Music and TV

Sheldon was born in Jacksonville, Florida.[2] He originally became known through his participation in the West Coast jazz movement of the 1950s, performing and recording with such figures as Stan Kenton, Art Pepper, Gerry Mulligan, and Curtis Counce.[2] Sheldon played the trumpet, sang, and performed on The Merv Griffin Show. He was Griffin's sidekick for many years. Prior to joining Griffin's show, he served as bandleader for the short-lived The Las Vegas Show.

His voice is perhaps best known from the Schoolhouse Rock! cartoons of the 1970s, such as "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill". He appeared in two episodes of Johnny Bravo as the Sensitive Man. He sang a few songs in the episodes similar to the Schoolhouse Rock! style. Sheldon returned to the Schoolhouse Rock! series for a 2002 episode titled "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College", explaining the electoral college process, distributed on the series' DVD collection that same year. Sheldon sang and played trumpet for the new segment.

Sheldon voiced "Louie the Lightning Bug" in a series of animated musical public service announcements (animated by legend Bob Kurtz from his Kurtz & Friends studio) aimed at children across the United States and Canada, beginning in May 1984, promoting safety with electricity.[3] In 2001, the "Louie the Lightning Bug" videos were updated with new voice-overs by Sheldon and new music tracks produced by Mark Harrelson, with updated musical arrangements by Ray Reach.

He sang the tune "King Putt" for The World According to Goofy Parade at Disneyland, which ran for five months in 1992. A trumpet solo of his is featured throughout the Francis Ford Coppola film One from the Heart (1982). Tom Waits' 1977 album Foreign Affairs includes Sheldon playing trumpet on several cuts, including the solo at the end of "Burma Shave".

Sheldon starred with Cara Williams and Frank Aletter on the CBS situation comedy The Cara Williams Show in 1964–1965. From 1966–1967, Sheldon starred in his own 16-episode CBS sitcom, Run, Buddy, Run, as Buddy Overstreet, a young accountant taking a steam bath who, overhearing a mobster's plot to kill a colleague, then goes on the run to keep from being killed. Bruce Gordon, formerly of The Untouchables, played the mobster, "Mr. D". Sheldon made numerous appearances on the 1967–1970 version of Dragnet. He also played John Davidson's brother (and Sally Field's brother-in-law) on The Girl with Something Extra (1974). In 2004, he performed live at the end of ALF's Hit Talk Show.

Film

Sheldon appeared in an Oscar-nominated documentary film Let's Get Lost about the life of fellow jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. He made an appearance in the 1994 film Radioland Murders as the ill-fated trumpet player Ruffles Reedy, who becomes a victim of the gruesome goings-on during a 1939 radio show.

Jack's poignant trumpet solo on "The Shadow of Your Smile" which was introduced in the 1965 film The Sandpiper helped earn it Song of the Year at the 1966 Grammy Awards and Best Original Song at the 1965 Academy Awards.

Sheldon performed one of the many versions of the title song featured in Robert Altman's 1973 film The Long Goodbye. His version was intended to be released as a single, but never was.

Sheldon is the subject of a documentary, Trying to Get Good: the Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon (2008). Produced by Doug McIntyre and Penny Peyser, the film features interviews with Clint Eastwood, Billy Crystal, Merv Griffin, Chris Botti, Dave Frishberg, Johnny Mandel, Tierney Sutton, as well as never before seen concert footage of Sheldon playing, singing and joking. Trying to Get Good won Jury Prizes at the 2008 Kansas City Film Makers Jubilee and Newport Beach Film Festival, as well as Audience Prizes at Newport Beach and the Indianapolis International Film Festival.

Parody

Sheldon parodied his own performance in "I'm Just a Bill" in an episode of The Simpsons called "The Day the Violence Died", where he is an "amendment to be". He reprised his roles as the Bill and the Conductor from "Conjunction Junction" in two episodes of Family Guy.[4]

Death

Sheldon died of natural causes on December 27, 2019, at the age of 88.[5] He was survived by his manager and partner Dianne Jimenez, and his children Jessie and John.[5]

Discography

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As leader

  • 1954 - Get Out Of Town (Jazz West, 1955) [10'' Lp]
  • 1955 - The Quintet With Zoot Sims (Jazz West, 1956) [10'' Lp]
  • 1954-55 - The two previous 10'' Lp reissued as The Quartet and The Quintet (Pacific Jazz)
  • 1957 - Jack's Groove (GNP Crescendo, 1958-61) (Aka J S And His All Star Band)
  • 1961 - A Jazz Profile of Ray Charles (Reprise, 1961)
  • 1962 - Out! (Capitol, 1962)
  • 1962-64 - Oooo, But it's Good (Capitol, 1963)
  • 1964-65 - The Entertainers (V.S.O.P., 1994)
  • 1965 - Live at Don Mupo's Gold Nugget (V.S.O.P., 1997)
  • 1968 - The Warm World of Jack Sheldon (Dot, 1968)
  • 1969 - The Cool World of Jack Sheldon (Dot, 1969)
  • 1972 - In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album (Jazz Detective, 2024)[6]
  • 1979 - Singular (Beez, 1980)
  • 1980 - Angel Wings (Dan/Tokuma, ?)
  • 1980 - Playin' It Straight (RealTime, 1981)
  • 1983 - Stand By for The Jack Sheldon Quartet (Concord Jazz, 1983)
  • 1984 - Blues In The Night (Phontastic, 1985) Jack Sheldon And The Swedish All Stars In L. A
  • 1986 - Playing for Change (Uptown, 1997)
  • 1987 - Hollywood Heroes (Concord Jazz, 1988)
  • 1991 - On My Own (Concord Jazz, 1992)
  • 1992 - Jack Sheldon Sings (Butterfly, 1993)
  • 1995 - Jack is Back! (Butterfly, 1995)
  • 1998 - Class Act (Butterfly, 1998)
  • 1999 - JSO Live! On the Pacific Ocean (Butterfly, 2001)
  • 2005 - Sunday Afternoons at the Lighthouse (Woofy, 2005)
  • 2006 - Listen Up (Butterfly, 2006)
  • 2007 - It's What I Do (Butterfly, 2007)

As guest

With Curtis Counce

With Jimmy Giuffre

With Stan Kenton

With Tom Waits

With others

  • VV. AA., A Jazz Band Ball First Set (Mode, 1959)
  • Lena Horne, Lena...Lovely and Alive (RCA, 1962)
  • Johnny Mandel "The Sandpiper" Musical score and soundtrack (Filmways, Mercury Records, 1965)

Filmography

References

External links

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