Marty Paich - Paich-Ence

One of the best-known arrangers of the post-World War II era, Marty Paich had much stronger jazz credentials than many of his peers, thanks to his active presence on the West Coast scene during the '50s. Paich was born in Oakland, CA, on January 23, 1925; he started out as a pianist, and was performing professionally at age 16. Along with the up-and-coming Pete Rugolo, he wrote arrangements for local bandleader Gary Nottingham. Tapped for military service in 1943, he continued to arrange while serving as the leader of the Army Air Corps band through 1946. Following his discharge, he used the G.I. Bill to further his musical education, enrolling at UCLA to study arranging under Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (who also helped train Nelson Riddle). He earned a master's degree from the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music in 1951, and quickly found work in the industry as both an arranger and pianist, working with Jerry Gray and Dan Terry early on.

Paich soon graduated to higher-profile gigs, playing and arranging for Shelly Manne and Shorty Rogers over 1953-1954, and also serving a stint as Peggy Lee's accompanist and musical director. He led his own groups as well, and in 1955 he began recording for a succession of labels that included Mode, Tampa, Candid, Warner and RCA Victor. He also toured with Dorothy Dandridge, and arranged (and performed on) the soundtrack to the Disney film Lady and the Tramp (1955). During the mid- to late '50s, Paich wrote arrangements for a who's who of West Coast jazz, including Chet Baker, Buddy Rich, Ray Brown, Dave Pell, and Stan Kenton, among others. Perhaps his most notable work came with Mel Tormé, whom he often backed with a ten-piece group dubbed the Dek-tette; the pairing resulted in the classic album Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dek-tette, plus numerous other high-quality sessions through 1960. Additionally, Paich contributed the arrangements to altoist Art Pepper's 1959 masterpiece Art Pepper + Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics. Paich's work for both Tormé and Pepper reflected one of his greatest strengths as an arranger: making relatively small groups sound like full-size orchestras.

By the close of the '50s, Paich had already begun to branch out from his West Coast roots, arranging material for Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, and big-band leader Terry Gibbs. Around 1960, he elected to move away from his own recording career to focus on arranging for pop (and sometimes jazz) vocalists. Over the course of the decade, he worked with the likes of Ray Charles, Lena Horne, Helen Humes, Al Hirt, Andy Williams, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Astrud Gilberto, and Mahalia Jackson, among many others. He also composed music for films (including some animated Hanna-Barbera projects) and television shows, winning an Emmy for his work on Ironside. In the late '60s, he served as musical director on a succession of variety shows, including The Glen Campbell Good-Time Hour, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (as Nelson Riddle's successor), and The Sonny and Cher Show.

After the early '70s, Paich's activity began to tail off, though he still worked sporadically as an orchestra conductor and string arranger, both on movie soundtracks and for artists like George Benson, Carly Simon, Elton John, and Kenny Loggins. He also helmed Sarah Vaughan's Songs of the Beatles project in 1980. In the late '80s, Paich reunited with a resurgent Tormé, reorganizing the Dek-tette for a series of highly acclaimed recordings and tours. He also continued to work on soundtracks into the '90s, frequently as a conductor and musical supervisor. Colon cancer claimed Paich's life on August 12, 1995. *Steve Huey*

Marty Paich

Paich-Ence • The Unique Orchestral Sound

Complete Recordings As A Leader (1955–1956)

Marty Paich (1925-1995) became interested in jazz in 1940 when he heard the Jimmy Lunceford band play. As a student of the distinguished Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, he absorbed the fundamentals of harmony and counterpoint. In 1951, with a Masters Degree in Composition he became one of the most sought after arrangers of the music business in the Los Angeles scene.

These recordings, the first he did as a leader, are not only further evidence of the talent, versatility and imagination of Marty Paich, but also a showcase for the more academic approach to jazz scoring he promoted within the boundaries of the West Coast school of jazz during the mid Fifties.

*Jordi Pujol*

1 - Tempo De Sylva

(Marty Paich)

2 - Tomjean

(Marty Paich)

3 - Stranger In The Rain

(Marty Paich)

4 - Kentucky Blue Grass

(Marty Paich)

5 - Tenors West

(Marty Paich)

6 - Paich-Ence

(Marty Paich)

7 - Con-Spirito

(Marty Paich)

8 - The Dragon

(Marty Paich)

9 - Jacqueline

(Marty Paich)

10 - At The Marty Gras

(Marty Paich)

11 - Ballet Du Bongo, (part I)

(Marty Paich)

12 - Ballet Du Bongo, (part II)

(Marty Paich)

13 - Take The "A" Train

(Ellington, Strayhorn)

14 - Line For Lions

(Gerry Mulligan)

15 - There's No You

(Adair-Hooper)

16 - Shorty George

(Basie, Durham)

17 - Times Square

(Marty Paich)

18 - Coldwater Canyon Blues

(Marty Paich)

19 - Four Blow Fours

(Marty Paich)

20 - Lonely Time

(Marty Paich)

#1 to #4: from Jazz Music For The Birds And The Hep Cats (Bethlehem BCP-6039)

Conte Candoli (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve tronbone), Bob Hardaway (tenor sax), Marty Paich (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Max Bennett (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, CA, January 15, 1955.

#5 to #12: from The Marty Paich Octet Vol.10 (Gene Norman Presents GNP-153)

Conte Candoli (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Harry Klee (flute, tenor sax, alto sax), Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Jack Du Long (baritone sax), Marty Paich (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Art Mardigan (drums), Jack Costanzo (bongoes [#11, #12]).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Los Angeles, CA, February 1 and 2, 1955 [other source gives November 9, 1955.]

#13 to #16: from Tenors West (Gene Norman Presents GNP-21)

Conte Candoli (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Harry Klee (flute, tenor sax), Jimmy Giuffre (tenor sax), Jack Du Long (baritone sax), Marty Paich (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Frank Capp (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Los Angeles, CA, November 10, 1955.

#17 to #20: from Modern Jazz Gallery (Kapp KXL-5001)

Conte Candoli, Don Fagerquist, Ed Leddy (trumpets); Francis Fitzpatrick, Bobby Burgess (trombones); Herb Geller (alto sax); Richie Kamuca, Bill Perkins (tenor saxes); Marty Berman (baritone sax); Marty Paich (piano); Joe Mondragon (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, California, October 23, 1956.