Manny Albam

Manny Albam (Emmanuel Albam) is a Saxophoniste, but especially an arranger of American Jazz , born the June 24th 1922 with broad of Samaná (Dominican Republic) and deceased the October 2nd 2001 with New York.

Biography

Manny Albam is born at sea, with broad of (the Dominican Republic, whereas its family emigrated of the USSR. It is 6 weeks old that Manny Albam thus arrives at the the United States. He studies the clarinet with “tuyvesant High School” of New York before passing to the Saxophone (viola then baritone).

He makes his professional beginnings at sixteen years in the formation of the Cornet tist Don Joseph. He plays then in the orchestra Dixieland of Muggsy Spanier. One then finds it in the Big band S of Georgia Auld (1942-43), Charlie Spivak, Boyd Raeburn (1943-1945, with an interruption during which he plays in an orchestra of US Army), Herbie Fields, Bobby Sherwood, Sam Donahue, Charlie Barnet and Charlie Ventura. He exerts in these formations as saxophonist, but these are especially the remarkable qualities of arranger which make its celebrity.

From 1950, he east becomes type-setter and arranger “free lance”. He writes partitions for Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Woody Hermann, Terry Gibbs, Buddy Rich, Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Chuck Mangione… He also records under his name of the discs of jazz with orchestras of studios (where one finds the old ones from Duke Ellington or Count Basie, of the representatives of the Jazz West Coast and the “sharks of New Yorkean studios”)

He also works for recordings of “variety”, for the radio and television (for telefilms, but, also especially for advertizing clips). In the Sixties, he becomes artistic deputy manager, with Sony Lester, of the label “Solid State”. He carries out also a career of teacher (“Eastman School off Music”, “Glassboro State College”, “Manhattan School off Music”).

Suffering from a Cancer, it dies out in 2001.

To define his style, the critic of jazz André Clergeat wrote: “The major tradition of the jazz is always present in the orchestrations of Manny Albam. The major influence that he acknowledges is that of Duke Ellington. Its writing simple, functional, is humbly put at the service of the soloist, able however to galvanize musicians of desk and to make them be expressed with swing and generosity”.

Discography as leader

1955 : Jazz workshop (Victor)
1956: The drum continuation (RCA Victor)
1957: The Greats jazz off our time, vol. 1 (MCA)
1957: Jazz heritage: Jazz greats off our time, vol. 2 (Coral)
1957: The blues is everybody' S business (Coral)
1957: West side story (Coral)
1958: Ellington (Coral)
1958: Jazz New York (Dowry)
1958: Steve Allen' S songs (Dowry)
1959: Something new something blue (Columbia)
1959: Drum feast (United Artists)
1961: Manny Albam and his orchestrated (RCA)
1961: I had the craziest dream (RCA)
1962: Jazz goes to the movies (Pulse!)
1966 : Arm one fire (Solid State)
1966: drunk The off the city (Solid State)

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