Marty Paich

Marty Paich
Birth name Martin Louis Paich
Born (1925-01-23)January 23, 1925
Oakland, California
United States
Died August 12, 1995(1995-08-12) (aged 70)
Santa Ynez, California
United States
Occupation(s) Musician, composer, arranger, producer, music director, conductor
Instruments Piano, accordion
Associated acts Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Mel Tormé, Ray Charles, Art Pepper
Website www.martypaich.com

Martin Louis "Marty" Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor.

In a career spanning half a century, he worked in these capacities for such artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Kenton, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, Ray Charles, Gary Crosby, Spirit, Johnny Rivers, Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt, Al Hirt, Jack Jones, Neil Diamond, Stan Getz, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Jackson, Art Pepper, Ethel Azama, Mahalia Jackson, Linda Lawson, Toto (his son David is a founding member of that band), and many others.

Early life

His earliest music lessons were on the accordion, and thereafter on the piano. By the time he was 10 years old, he had formed the first of numerous bands, and by the age of 12 was regularly playing at weddings and similar affairs. Paich first attended Cole Elementary School in Oakland, California. After graduating from McClymonds High School, he attended a series of professional schools in music, including Chapman College, San Francisco State University, the University of Southern California, and the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, where he graduated in 1951 magna cum laude with a Master's degree in composition.

His private teachers included Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (studying in his home at 269 South Clark Drive in Beverly Hills) and Arnold Schoenberg. The Gary Nottingham Orchestra provided his earliest paying work as arranger; together with Pete Rugolo he wrote some of that band's best-known charts. Paich served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, there leading various bands and orchestras and helping build troop morale.

Professional career

From the beginning of his professional career, he also learned music in the time-honored ways: he transcribed tunes and charts from recordings, he attended concerts, and he sat-in on a jams.

After finishing his formal studies, Paich took a series of jobs in the Los Angeles music and recording industry. These included arranging (and playing) the score for the Disney Studio's full length animated film Lady and the Tramp, working as accompanist for vocalist Peggy Lee, playing piano for Shorty Rogers' Giants, touring with Dorothy Dandridge, and providing arrangements for many local bands in Los Angeles.

1950s

During the 1950s, Paich was active in West coast jazz performance while also working intensively in the studios. He not only played on, but arranged and produced, numerous West Coast jazz recordings, including albums by Ray Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Terry Gibbs, Stan Kenton, Shelly Manne, Pete Jolly, Anita O'Day, Dave Pell, Art Pepper, Buddy Rich, Shorty Rogers, Toni Harper and Mel Tormé. His professional and personal association with Tormé, though occasionally a difficult one, would last decades. Many jazz critics feel their work with the Marty Paich Dektette to be the high point of their respective careers.

1960s

In the 1960s, he became more active in commercial music, and extended his talents to include work for such pop musicians as Andy Williams, Al Hirt, Dinah Shore, and Jack Jones. His orchestrations for the American band Spirit incorporated use of symphonic arrangements into their albums Spirit, The Family That Plays Together, Model Shop (soundtrack album for the Jacques Demy film of the same name), and Clear. From the late 1960s into the mid-1970s, Paich was the studio orchestra leader for such television variety shows as The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (where he replaced Nelson Riddle), and The Sonny and Cher Show. He also scored such television programs as Ironside, for which he won an Emmy Award. At this time, he began serving as teacher and lifelong mentor to his son, David Paich, soon to make his own reputation with the band Toto, and to become a distinguished musician in his own right. In the late part of his career, his students included the film composer James Newton Howard and the conductor Charles Barber.

Death

Paich died of colon cancer on August 12, 1995, aged 70, at his home on Baseline Road in Santa Ynez, California. He was survived by his brother Tom, second wife Linda and his children, Lorrie (Cohen) and David Paich.[1]

Discography

With Hank Crawford

With Ella Fitzgerald

With Shelly Manne

With Shorty Rogers

See also

List of jazz arrangers

References

  1. ↑ "Martin L. Paich, 70, Conductor-Arranger". The New York Times. 18 August 1995.
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