I.\tJACK SHELDON DOCUMENTARY OPENS FRIDAY, MAY 30th!
\nII.\tTHREE LEGENDS LOST
\nIII.\tCONCERTS
\nIV.\tCOMMENTS<\/p>\n
==============<\/p>\n
Greetings Colleagues!,<\/p>\n
If you attempted to remove yourself from the list in the last few
\ndays and was unsuccessful, please try again. We just changed
\nour server to another company.
\nWe apologize for any inconvenience.<\/p>\n
THE COMMITTEE<\/p>\n
==============<\/p>\n
I. JACK SHELDON DOCUMENTARY OPENS!<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not often we hear of documentaries about musicians who are
\ngiants within the business but not household names. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Documentary \u201cTrying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack
\nSheldon\u201d opens today (Friday, May 30th) at the Crest Theater on
\nWilshire Blvd in Westwood. It will be running for two weeks
\nstarting today.
\nThe film was created by Penny Peyser and Radio Host\/Jazz
\nAficionado Doug McIntyre to help who many consider to be \u201cthe
\nbest Jazz trumpeter you\u2019ve never heard of\u201d achieve a wider
\nrespect, especially among East Coast Jazz critics.<\/p>\n
You can read more about the documentary in Friday\u2019s LA TIMES
\nCalendar section and on their website, latimes.com. You can
\nalso visit Jack Sheldon\u2019s website for the address and showtimes:
\nhttp:\/\/www.jacksheldon.com\/calendar.htm<\/p>\n
Congratulations to Jack for this most richly deserved attention!<\/p>\n
II. THREE LEGENDS LOST<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a tough few weeks for the music community.
\nWe\u2019ve lost three legends recently: Alexander Courage,
\nBob Florence and Earle Hagan.<\/p>\n
Below you will find information from various sources
\nincluding the Society of Composers and Lyricists. We
\nthank them for their information.<\/p>\n
These giants of the music business will be dearly missed.<\/p>\n
—————–<\/p>\n
ALEXANDER (SANDY) COURAGE
\nDecember 10, 1919 – May 15, 2008<\/p>\n
The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) mourns the
\nloss our dear friend and colleague, Alexander (Sandy)
\nCourage, composer of the original STAR TREK theme
\nand an Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated arranger for
\nTV and movies, having died May 15 at the Sunrise
\nassisted-living facility in Pacific Palisades, Calif. He
\nwas 88 and had been in declining health since 2005.<\/p>\n
Courage\u2019s fanfare for the Starship Enterprise, written in
\n1965 for the original STAR TREK pilot, was heard throughout
\nthe three original seasons of the show and has been reprised
\nthroughout all the STAR TREK feature films and several of
\nthe TV series, especially STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
\nin the 1980s and \u201990s.<\/p>\n
He won a 1988 Emmy as principal arranger for the ABC
\nspecial JULIE ANDREWS: THE SOUND OF CHRISTMAS
\n(shared with music director\/principal arranger Ian Fraser,
\nand principal arrangers Chris Boardman and Angela Morley),
\nand received Oscar nominations (both shared with Lionel
\nNewman) for his adaptation scores for THE PLEASURE
\nSEEKERS in 1963 and DOCTOR DOLITTLE in 1967.<\/p>\n
For CBS Radio, he composed and sometimes conducted for
\nsuch shows as Hedda Hopper\u2019s THIS IS HOLLYWOOD, SCREEN
\nGUILD THEATER, THE ADVENTURES OF SAM SPADE, DETECTIVE
\nand YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR. From 1948 to 1960, he
\nworked as an orchestrator and arranger at MGM, including work
\non the classic musicals SHOW BOAT, THE BAND WAGON, SEVEN
\nBRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, GUYS AND DOLLS, IT\u2019S ALWAYS
\nFAIR WEATHER, FUNNY FACE, GIGI and others.<\/p>\n
Television became Courage\u2019s primary outlet for composition,
\nincluding various episodes of M SQUAD, WAGON TRAIN and
\nTHE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR at Universal, NATIONAL VELVET
\nat MGM and THE UNTOUCHABLES at Desilu. VOYAGE TO THE
\nBOTTOM OF THE SEA, DANIEL BOONE, LOST IN SPACE and LAND
\nOF THE GIANTS at 20th Century Fox among other series. <\/p>\n
He did a great deal of work on THE WALTONS, scoring over 100
\nepisodes in the 1970s and early 1980s, plus four WALTONS TV-
\nmovies in the \u201980s and \u201990s.<\/p>\n
As composing work in TV waned, BMI-affiliated Courage
\nreturned to orchestration for old friends including BMI-
\naffiliated John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. For Williams,
\nCourage orchestrated several scores including FIDDLER
\nON THE ROOF, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, HOOK and
\nJURASSIC PARK. He also adapted Williams\u2019 themes for
\nSUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, and wrote many
\norchestral arrangements for the Boston Pops during Williams\u2019
\n1980-93 tenure as conductor. For Goldsmith, Courage
\norchestrated numerous films including BASIC INSTINCT,
\nFIRST KNIGHT, THE MUMMY, AIR FORCE ONE, MULAN and,
\nironically, STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT and STAR TREK:
\nINSURRECTION.<\/p>\n
He was among the founders of the Composers and
\nLyricists Guild of America (CLGA), the predecessor to
\nthe Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL). <\/p>\n
His third wife, the former Shirley Pumpelly, died in 2005.
\nSurvivors include four stepchildren: Raphael Pumpelly,
\nAndrea Steyn, Lisa Pompelli and Renata Pompelli, all of
\nLos Angeles; and six grandchildren. Plans for a memorial
\nservice will be announced shortly.<\/p>\n
————-<\/p>\n
BOB FLORENCE
\nBob Florence has written some of the most beautiful big
\nband arrangements since Duke Ellington’s, but many of
\nthem have gone unheard or unrecognized because of an
\nunfortunate matter of bad timing. At a time when the
\nmarket for big bands dried up, Florence discovered a
\npassion for composing and arranging for large jazz
\nensembles. Florence’s work is scattered across hundreds
\nof albums by dozens of artists, it remains some of the
\nmost beautiful and delicate music in the entire Big Band
\nRepertoire.<\/p>\n
Florence took his first piano lesson before the age of four
\nand was performing at recitals at seven. Los Angeles City
\nCollege started him down the jazz\/pop path he’s been on
\never since. Florence was immediately attracted to working
\nwith a jazz-oriented group, and it led him to set up an informal
\nband at college that met and performed his works. At the time,
\nL.A. City College’s study body included such musicians as:
\nDennis Budimir, Herb Geller, Tommy Tedesco, and John
\n(“Star Wars”) Williams. He started a weekly session at the
\nmusician\u2019s union that quickly proved a great word-of-mouth
\nsuccess.
\nHe briefly toured with Alvino Rey, then wrote for Harry James,
\nLes Brown, Si Zentner and others. He helped Zentner score
\nperhaps the last big band hit with a rockin’ version of the
\nHoagy Carmichael tune, “Up a Lazy River”.
\nIn 1964 Florence record his own album, Here and Now,
\nthat earned rare and genuine praise from one of the
\ntoughest critics in jazz, Thelonious Monk. he later released
\nPet Project, a collection of tunes associated with singer
\nPetula Clark.<\/p>\n
Florence wrote for a number of television shows, including
\n“The Red Skelton Show” and “The Dean Martin Show.” He
\nreunited with Les Brown on an album for Decca, as well as
\nSergio Mendes (sans Brasil ’66) on Atlantic, and Count Basie,
\non an album of Beatles hits. <\/p>\n
In the 70\u2019s he was able to record several albums with his
\nband for Pete Christleib’s Trend label and with his group
\n\u201cLimited Edition\u201d recorded on a label set up exclusively for
\nhis own works, funded through his non-profit MAMA
\nFoundation. The band’s album, Serendipity 18, received
\nthe 2000 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance by a Large
\nEnsemble.
\n“My career has not been entirely a jazz career,” Florence
\nobserved a few years ago, “although this is the way most
\npeople think of me, particularly in the last few years. I’d
\nhate to be thought of as a total jazz musician, just as I’d
\nhate to be thought of as a total ‘commercial’ musician. My
\npersonal tastes are so wide-ranging that I like to do as
\nmuch as I can in different ways.”<\/p>\n
THE BOB FLORENCE MEMORIAL IS SLATED FOR JUNE 15th,
\n(From Kim Richmond)<\/p>\n
This is to let you know about the Memorial Tribute
\nconcert to celebrate the life of the late composer\/pianist
\nBob Florence.
\nWHAT: Bob Florence Tribute Memorial concert
\nWHEN: Sunday, June 15 (Fathers’ Day), 2008, 1 PM to 5 PM.
\nWHERE: CATALINAS Bar & Grill, 6725 WEST SUNSET BLVD,
\nHollywood, CA. telephone 323-466-2210
\nWHO: The Bob Florence Limited Edition big band, playing
\ncompositions and arrangements by Bob Florence; the Phil
\nNorman Tentet playing music by Bob; a multi-media event
\nabout Bob’s life by his daughter Melanie, and various speakers.
\nAll are invited. Parking in the adjoining garage.<\/p>\n
—————<\/p>\n
EARLE H. HAGEN
\nJuly 9, 1919 – May 26, 2008<\/p>\n
The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) mourns the
\nloss our dear friend, colleague, mentor, instructor, SCL
\nAmbassador Earle H. Hagen, Emmy-winning composer
\nof some of the most memorable musical themes in
\ntelevision history, died of natural causes Monday at his
\nhome in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 88. <\/p>\n
Hagen wrote the popular themes for THE ANDY GRIFFITH
\nSHOW, THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, THE DANNY THOMAS
\nSHOW, I SPY, THAT GIRL, THE MOD SQUAD, MICKEY
\nSPILLANE\u2019S MIKE HAMMER, and many more. He composed
\noriginal music for more than 3,000 individual television
\nshows during his TV career, which spanned more than
\nthree decades. <\/p>\n
He was also active in the film business, mostly as an arranger
\nand orchestrator for 20th Century-Fox. He received a 1960
\nOscar nomination (shared with Lionel Newman) as musical
\ndirector for the Marilyn Monroe film LET\u2019S MAKE LOVE. <\/p>\n
Hagen composed the jazz standard HARLEM NOCTURNE.
\nWritten in 1939 for big-band leader Ray Noble, the mellow
\ntune went on to be recorded by Charlie Barnet, Les Brown,
\nGlenn Miller, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Ray Anthony, Ted
\nHeath and many other bands. It eventually became the theme
\nfor the MIKE HAMMER series in 1984. <\/p>\n
He was an author and educator, penning one of the first
\nhow-to books for aspiring film composers and later leading
\nthe film-scoring workshop for the performing rights
\norganization Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) for a decade in the
\n1980s and \u201990s. <\/p>\n
Early in his career, Hagen played trombone with the Benny
\nGoodman and Tommy Dorsey bands in 1937 and 1938,
\njoining the Ray Noble band in 1939. For Noble, he not only
\nplayed trombone but also became one of the band\u2019s top
\narrangers. <\/p>\n
Hagen wrote three books. SCORING FOR FILMS, which for
\nmany years was the only available textbook on how to
\nhandle the technical aspects of writing music for movies,
\nwas published in 1971. It was an outgrowth of a private
\nstudy group he held in his home for composers interested
\nin learning the techniques of film scoring (an avid golfer,
\nhe charged for his services by asking students to bring
\nthree dozen golf balls). <\/p>\n
Hagen won BMI\u2019s Richard Kirk Award, a lifetime achievement
\nhonor, in 1987; its President\u2019s Award, for teaching the
\nworkshop for a decade, in 1996; and its Classic Contribution
\nAward, for his iconic themes and lifetime of mentorship, in
\n2006. <\/p>\n
In October 2007, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
\npresented him with a special award at an event in North
\nHollywood for his pioneering work and enduring contributions
\nto television music. And on April 20 of this year, the National
\nAcademy of Television Arts & Sciences (the New York-based
\nother TV Academy) inducted him into its Gold Circle for 50
\nyears of service to the television industry. <\/p>\n
Hagen\u2019s wife of 59 years, the former Elouise Sidwell, died in
\n2002. Survivors include his second wife, the former Laura
\nRoberts; two sons, Deane Hagen and James Hagen, both of
\nPalm Desert, Calif.; three stepchildren and four grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Funeral plans are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family
\nsuggests donations to the Mr. Holland\u2019s Opus Foundation,
\nwww.mhopus.org.<\/p>\n
=============<\/p>\n
III. CONCERTS<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022MONDAY, JUNE 2nd\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
CHRIS WALDEN BIG BAND<\/p>\n
Mon June 2nd
\n8 pm, $10 cover<\/p>\n
TYPHOON Restaurant
\n3221 Donald Douglas Loop S
\nSanta Monica CA 90405
\n(310) 390-6565<\/p>\n
——————<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022TUESDAY, JUNE 3rd\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
\u2028AFTER WORK JAZZ COOL DOWN
\n**** Summer Music Series ****
\n\u2028Hollywood Park Casino\u2028
\nTuesday, June 3, 7:30 PM\u2028 – 5th Floor-Club Hall of Fame
\n\u2028\u2028The Billy Mitchell Group\u2028
\nRobert Kyle-sax
\nQuentin Dennard-drums
\nNori Iji-bass \u2028
\nYu Ooka-guitar
\nBilly Mitchell-keys
\nMunyungo Jackson-percussion\u2028…
\nand Special Guests\u2028\u2028($10 admission includes 2 drink tickets)
\n\u2028\u2028www.billy-mitchell.com
\n\u2028www.minority-report.net<\/p>\n
———–<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022SATURDAY, JUNE 7th\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Pierce College Department of Music Presents
\nTHE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
\nUnder the baton of Maestro James Domine<\/p>\n
\u201cMUSIC OF THE MASTERS\u201d
\n\u2028Saturday, June 7, 2008, at 8:00PM
\nThe Performing Arts Building
\nLos Angeles Pierce College<\/p>\n
Animatas Mobilarus (Cartoon Suite)
\nCHARLES FERNANDEZ
\nConducted by the composer<\/p>\n
Concerto No. 22 in A minor
\nGIOVANNI BATTISTA VIATTI
\nRuth Bruegger, Violin Solist<\/p>\n
Symphony No. 3
\nRALPH VAUGHN-WILLIAMS<\/p>\n
$25 general admission, $20 students and seniors, $15 children under 12
\n for more information, please call (818) 347-4807<\/p>\n
=============<\/p>\n
IV. COMMENTS<\/p>\n
The comments below represent the uncensored views
\nof the readers and not necessarily those of the COMMITTEE.
\nIn the faith that freedom of expression allows for the
\nbirth and ascendancy of the most beneficial ideas, all
\nsentiments expressed are welcome, subject to the
\nbounds of good taste and decorum. If you disagree
\nwith an opinion expressed by any contributor, we
\nencourage you to rebut it here.<\/p>\n
—————-<\/p>\n
In case anyone is still wondering, Local 47, under the
\nleadership of the power-seeking Hal Espinosa, is a subidiary
\nof the RMALA. The RMALA sets policy, and RMALA priorities
\nare the only priorities considered.<\/p>\n
The average Local 47 member is being used, and frankly,
\nscrewed. And this is what the membership deserves. Union
\nmembers have given power to others to make decisions for
\nthem, power to elites to impose their will on them, and have
\nsurrendered their liberties without the slightest protest. Why
\ndo people do that? The herd mentality can be self-destructive,
\nas can ideologically based collectivism.<\/p>\n
Collective bargaining and the right kinds of union activity
\ncan be very beneficial to workers. Under the right circumstances
\nit can be the best way to organize labor — to the benefit of
\nworkers and industry. But make no mistake, that is not what
\nis going on in Local 47.<\/p>\n
Local 47 has been corrupted. That’s right, it is corrupt. It has
\nbeen hijacked. Local 47 is destroying work in LA. And now it
\nis undermining the entire AFM. <\/p>\n
This destruction would not be possible without the acquiescence
\nand neglect of the Local 47 membership. I would like to think
\nthat the membership is not completely unaware and irresponsible
\nbut I see no evidence to support that thought. The membership
\nis getting what it deserves — massive unemployment — and the
\nAFM, already weak, will be weakened further, eventually to the
\npoint of irrelevance. It is clearly already irrelevant to many of its
\nown members. <\/p>\n
Some measure of beneficial union function can still be salvaged,
\nI believe, but leadership that has not sold out to the RMA is
\nessential. The health and survival of the AFM and Local 47
\ndepend largely, at this point, on the ouster of the Espinosa
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
Rick Blanc (please attach name) <\/p>\n
[Editor\u2019s note: For the record, our local has some wonderful
\nemployees who do great service for our members. Our problem
\nis with the conduct of the officers and much of the board and the
\npartisanship of their loyalties. When you hear someone
\ncomplaining about our \u201cattacks on the Local\u201d, it\u2019s not the
\nLocal itself we have issues with, it\u2019s those who make the
\ndecisions.<\/p>\n
——————-<\/p>\n
There has been much written and said about the recording
\nwork situation in L.A. All I can say is that the mid-level
\nrecording work I used to do has all but evaporated. For
\nthose qualified musicians who are not blessed to be in
\nthe DeCrescent club there has been a steady decline
\nin recording activity here each year. Even when I was
\nan RMA member I was not allowed into the inner sanctum.
\nThe RMA only represents that golden 25% of it’s members.
\nThe situation is like the shrinking water hole in the desert
\nwith the predators circling the remaining game. If the idea
\nwas to force anyone but the Anointed out of business and
\ndrive the work to other non-union venues it has gone quite
\nwell.<\/p>\n
————————–<\/p>\n
I have just unsubscribed from your “list” again- Jesus Christ!!-
\nget a real hobby and practice your instruments or compose
\nsome music but get off this paranoid delusion that everyone’s
\nout to get you. Maybe if you actually had some skills you
\nguys would work more!!! What a bunch of crybabies.
\nGoodbye again!!<\/p>\n
—————————<\/p>\n
Hi Committee,
\n I am so glad you brought the lawsuit (backed by the
\nRMA\/PMG) to the memberships\u2019 attention. It is important
\nto understand what this lawsuit is really all about. I would
\nlike to direct the whole memberships\u2019 attention to the Film
\nMusicians Secondary Market Fund, headed by Dennis Drieth. <\/p>\n
You can read his status report on the 82 million dollars
\ncollected this fiscal year for scoring musicians, music
\nprep, sideline musicians, phono re-use, musicians and
\nbeneficiaries (he left out contractors and operating costs
\nand Himself). The report is dedicated to politics, and is
\nfull of statistical approximations. The report states that
\nthe funds are split between “about” 18,000 people. This
\nyears so-called increase in money collected is from film
\nwork. Well, 90% the film scoring under union contracts
\nare done here in LA by 50 to 80 people max. And you Mr
\nDrieth, have the nerve to use this report as a political forum
\nby subverting facts. 82 mil split between 18,000 people is a
\nlittle over 4,500 a piece. You said, 2000 people received an
\nexcess of $2,500.00. If you were accurate, you would be right
\non the money, bub. And there is no reason why you should
\nnot be accurate. Then you use this statement as a political
\nforum to express your views by saying it is the amount
\nmandated by the AFM for work dues. The report is an editorial
\nat best. <\/p>\n
How about explaining away this political football: $100,000.00
\nin residual for a Nifty Fifty is 5 million. You can’t bet the rest of
\nthose residual checks might make a house payment for a month
\n(not to make light of beneficiaries and retirees, but thanks for the
\nrub). The report points out that inflation has brought work back to
\nLA. It brings back work to the USA, including Seattle. That is unless
\nthe RMA\/PMG has some kind of sweet deal with a non-union orchestra.
\nSo some one is getting greased really good. That is why Mark Twain
\nsaid: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics”
\nand BBC Home Page says: “This quote from Mark Twain is accurate;
\nstatistics are often used to lie to the public because most people
\ndo not understand how statistics work”. <\/p>\n
==============<\/p>\n
Until Next Time!,<\/p>\n
THE COMMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I. JACK SHELDON DOCUMENTARY OPENS FRIDAY, MAY 30th! II. THREE LEGENDS LOST III. CONCERTS IV. COMMENTS ============== Greetings Colleagues!, If you attempted to remove yourself from the list in the last few days and was unsuccessful, please try again. We just changed our server to another company. We apologize for any inconvenience. THE COMMITTEE ============== […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-committee-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}