Franklyn Marks

Last updated

Franklyn Marks (May 31, 1911, Cleveland, Ohio - July 12, 1976, Sherman Oaks, California) was an American composer and arranger, who worked principally in the idioms of film soundtracks and jazz.

Contents

Biography

Early in his career, Marks wrote the song Merry Widow on a Spree for Irving Mills (1937, as Frank Marks), which he also recorded as a pianist with the Millphonics Orchestra. [1] In the same year he played more of his compositions with his own band. [2] In the next few years, he arranged for Charlie Barnet and was involved in the orchestration of the musicals Too Many Girls and Best Foot Forward . [3]

Starting in 1950, Marks wrote compositions for the Stan Kenton orchestra that were oriented towards Latin jazz. His Trajectories were played by Kenton to open his concerts. Kenton also recorded his works Spirals and Evening in Pakistan. Songs by Marks were also recorded by Jerry Lewis, Mel Blanc, Ike Carpenter, Bob Crosby, Laurindo Almeida and Artie Shaw. In 1953 he accompanied Yma Sumac on the piano at the Mocambo-Club in Hollywood. [4]

Concomitantly, Marks worked as a composer and arranger for Hollywood studios, especially for Walt Disney Studios from 1955. Marks had less compositional freedom as a composer for Hollywood, But unlike in the jazz area, he could earn his living there. [5] As a composer, he played for an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club in 1955, from 1956 for 25 episodes of Disneyland , and other Disney television productions. For the cinema, he first orchestrated the music of cartoon, documentary, and feature films of the Disney studios for Paul J. Smith, George Bruns, and Marvin Hamlisch before writing the music for the first film featuring Scrooge McDuck in 1967. He also wrote single film songs, such as "Climb the Mountain" for William Alwyn's soundtrack to Third Man on the Mountain (1959). [6]

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Kenton</span> American musician (1911–1979)

Stanley Newcomb Kenton was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though Kenton had several pop hits from the early 1940s into the 1960s, his music was always forward-looking. Kenton was also a pioneer in the field of jazz education, creating the Stan Kenton Jazz Camp in 1959 at Indiana University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Lava</span> American composer (1911–1971)

William "Bill" Benjamin Lava was a composer and arranger who composed and conducted music for feature films as well as Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated cartoons from 1962 to 1969, replacing the deceased Milt Franklyn, making him the last composer and arranger in the classic era of Warner Bros. Cartoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lennie Niehaus</span> American saxophonist and composer (1929–2020)

Leonard Niehaus was an American alto saxophonist, composer and arranger on the West Coast jazz scene. He played with the Stan Kenton Orchestra and served as one of Kenton's primary staff arrangers. He also played with Ray Vasquez and trombonist and Vocalist, Phil Carreon and other jazz bands on the U.S. West Coast. Niehaus had a close association as composer and arranger on motion pictures produced by Clint Eastwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Rugolo</span> American jazz composer, arranger, and record producer (1915–2011)

Pietro Rugolo, known professionally as Pete Rugolo, was an American jazz composer, arranger, and record producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shorty Rogers</span> American jazz trumpeter (1924–94)

Milton "Shorty" Rogers was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurindo Almeida</span> Brazilian guitarist and composer

Laurindo Jose de Araujo Almeida Nobrega Neto, popularly known as, Laurindo Almeida was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He was one of the pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the first guitarist to receive Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. His discography encompasses more than a hundred recordings over five decades.

William Joseph Russo was an American composer, arranger, and musician from Chicago, Illinois, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marty Paich</span> American musician

Martin Louis Paich was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kenton, Al Hirt, Art Pepper, Buddy Rich, Ray Brown, Shorty Rogers, Pete Rugolo, Ray Charles and Mel Tormé. His long association with Tormé included one of the singer's earliest albums, Mel Tormé with the Marty Paich Dek-Tette. Over the next three decades he worked with pop singers such as Andy Williams and Jack Jones and for film and television. He is the father of David Paich, a founding member of the rock band Toto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Garcia (composer)</span> American songwriter

Russell Garcia, QSM was an American composer and arranger who wrote a wide variety of music for screen, stage and broadcast.

Gene Roland (1921–1982) was a talented jazz musician, composer, and arranger who contributed richly to American jazz, especially through his work with the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Born in Dallas, Texas, he played multiple instruments, including the trumpet, trombone, and saxophone, and collaborated with icons like Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. Roland was pivotal in defining the unique "Four Brothers" sound that influenced big band jazz. Throughout his career, he contributed groundbreaking arrangements and compositions for many major bands, performing globally and even working with Denmark's Radiohus Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manny Albam</span> American musician and composer

Manny Albam was an American jazz arranger, composer, record producer, saxophonist, and educator.

Dewells "Dee" Barton Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, big band drummer, and prolific composer for big band and motion pictures. He is best known for his association with the Stan Kenton Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Holman (musician)</span> American composer, conductor and saxophonist (1927–2024)

Willis Leonard Holman was an American composer, arranger, conductor, saxophonist, and songwriter working in jazz and traditional pop. His career spanned over seven decades, starting with the Charlie Barnet orchestra in 1950.

<i>Cuban Fire!</i> 1956 studio album by Stan Kenton

Cuban Fire! is an album by Stan Kenton and his orchestra released in 1956 by Capitol Records. This was Stan Kenton's big band's first full-length recording of Afro-Cuban-styled music. The LP charted for four weeks in Billboard starting on September 15, 1956, peaking at #17. The concept of the original 1956 recording centers on the Cuban Fire! suite Kenton had commissioned from composer Johnny Richards. The 1991 CD re-issue is augmented with one extra track from the 1956 sessions and five cuts recorded four years later by the first of Kenton's mellophonium orchestras.

<i>City of Glass</i> (Stan Kenton album) 1951 studio album by Stan Kenton

City of Glass, an album originally issued as a 10" LP by Stan Kenton, consists entirely of the music of Bob Graettinger. The original album has been reconstituted in different LP re-issues, and the entire set of Kenton/Graettinger Capitol Records sessions is on the digital CD City of Glass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Curnow</span> American musician

Robert Harry Curnow is an American musician who served as a trombonist, staff arranger and producer for the Stan Kenton Orchestra during the 1960s and 1970s. As a composer and arranger, he has become well known for large ensemble jazz music set to contemporary fusion and rock music of groups such as Chicago, Blood, Sweat and Tears, and the Yellowjackets. Most notably, he arranged the music for and produced the award-winning and critically acclaimed CD, Bob Curnow's L.A. Big Band Plays The Music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays. His compositions and arrangements are heavily influenced by earlier writers for the Stan Kenton Orchestra such as Pete Rugolo, Bill Russo, Johnny Richards and Bill Holman. Curnow is currently owner and President of Sierra Music Publications, Inc., he is also prominent in the instrumental music and jazz education fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Comstock</span> Musical artist

Frank G. Comstock was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and trombonist. For television, Comstock wrote and arranged music for major situation comedies and variety shows. His theme and incidental music for Rocky and His Friends (1959–1964) are probably his best-remembered works. Additionally, his music for Adam-12 earned him a 1971 Emmy nomination.

<i>Adventures in Jazz</i> (album) 1962 studio album by Stan Kenton

Adventures in Jazz is an album by the Stan Kenton Orchestra, recorded in late 1961 but not released until about a year later in November 1962. The album won a Grammy Award in the category for Best Jazz Performance – Large Group (Instrumental) category in 1963. This would be Kenton's second Grammy honor in as many years, the first being Kenton's West Side Story winning the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 1962. Adventures In Jazz was also nominated for Best Engineered recording for the 1963 Grammys. The 1999 CD re-issue of Adventures In Jazz is augmented with two alternate takes from the original recording sessions and one track from Kenton's release Sophisticated Approach.

<i>Kentons West Side Story</i> 1961 studio album by Stan Kenton

Kenton's West Side Story is an album by the Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded in 1961 and released by Capitol Records. It won the Grammy Award in 1962 for Best Jazz Performance – Large Group (Instrumental). The album was recorded in 1961 and released quickly to take advantage of the movie premiere of the musical West Side Story. Kenton won his first Grammy Award and he won again the next year in the same category with Adventures in Jazz. Kenton's West Side Story peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard magazine album chart.

<i>The Jazz Compositions of Dee Barton</i> 1968 studio album by Stan Kenton and His Orchestra

The Jazz Compositions of Dee Barton is an album by bandleader Stan Kenton recorded in 1967 by Capitol Records.

References

  1. Brian Rust, Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942): L-Z, p. 1173.
  2. Brian Rust, The American Dance Band Discography 1917-1942: Arthur Lange to Bob Zurke, p. 1187.
  3. Steven Suskin, The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2011, pp. 338, 377.
  4. Billboard , October 3, 1953, p. 15.
  5. Letter in 1967 to Michael Sparkes. Stan Kenton: This is an Orchestra! Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2010, p. 85.
  6. Ian Johnson, William Alwyn: The Art of Film Music. Boydell & Brewer 2006, p. 288