I just read via Michael Feinstein's Facebook posting that composer Johnny Mandel has passed away at age 94.
This is what he wrote:
"A dear friend and extraordinary composer arranger and all-around brilliant talent Johnny Mandel just passed away. The world will never be quite the same without his humor, wit and wry view of life and the human condition. He was truly beyond compare, and nobody could write or arrange the way he did. Lord will we miss him. Let’s celebrate him with his music! He would like that."
I just read via Michael Feinstein's Facebook posting that composer Johnny Mandel has passed away at age 94.
This is what he wrote:
"A dear friend and extraordinary composer arranger and all-around brilliant talent Johnny Mandel just passed away. The world will never be quite the same without his humor, wit and wry view of life and the human condition. He was truly beyond compare, and nobody could write or arrange the way he did. Lord will we miss him. Let’s celebrate him with his music! He would like that."
James
...as I just posted, and will again here. What a terrific, thoughtful composer. I love discovering his work but "The Sailor Who Fell...." will always be the vital piece for me. RIP JM, I hope more of his work is rediscovered soon. I'll be playing the excellent 3cd FSM set of Sandpiper, etc this week....
Sorry to hear it, but 94 is incredibly good innings.
I'm not really familiar with his work, other than the MASH and Hal Ashby stuff. I've always confused him with Jerrold Immel of DALLAS fame, for some reason.
Now's the time to explore more of his back catalogue.
Like Sean, my favourite score by him is The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea. I don't have a lot of scores by him on CD (I have POINT BLANK, paired with the Jerry Fielding and I know he's on Amazing Stories), but I keep meaning to pick up The Verdict. RIP Good Sir.
Style and grace in his scores. The Shadow of Your Smile from The Sandpiper is his contribution of a standard to the Great American Songbook. Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is just out on blu-ray.
Sad to see this master leave the scene. Nobody to could do "late afternoon sunny, melancholic lyricism" like Mandel. It's odd that I was just listening to THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE WITH THE SEA yesterday.
My favorite Mandel score remains POINT BLANK which was the icing on Boorman's unique cinematic cake, moving from icy dissonance to the short lyrical moment in Sharon Acker's flashback memory of her and Lee Marvin swimming into the surf.
And, hey, remember among all the songs in the film, Mandel did the score for CADDYSHACK. Rest in peace, maestro.
Loved his work. His arrangement of "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (for Andy Williams) is a holiday music staple and sounds just as fresh and alive today as it must have when it was originally recorded. Have heard the Williams track more times than I can count and never tire of it.
And I just heard that Carl Reiner died on the same day. Mandel and Reiner both did The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming! Rip to two great artists.
