Representative Albums: "I Want to Live," "MASH," "The Sandpiper"
Biography
Considered one of the top living composers during the 1990's, Johnny Mandel is one of the few writers around who is capable of writing standards that can be recorded and performed by a wide variety of jazz musicians and singer. Mandel starting writing arrangements when he was 13 but he made his living during the 1940's as a trombonist and trumpeter, generally playing in sections of big bands. He picked up experience playing trumpet with Joe Venuti (1943) and Billie Rogers, switching to trombone for stints with Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, Georgie Auld, Alvino Rey and most notably Woody Herman's Second Herd (1948) where his "Not Really The Blues" was one of several pieces that entered the book. He also worked with Chubby Jackson, Elliot Lawrence and Count Basie (1953), but by the early 1950's Mandel's writing skills were in greater demand than his trombone playing. He contributed arrangements for Artie Shaw's short-lived bop band (1949) and for Basie (1952-56). Settling in Los Angeles in 1953, Mandel (who played bass trumpet for a brief time with Zoot Sims before ending his active playing) since then has made a living writing for films including occasional scores that are jazz-oriented, most notably 1958's I Want To Live and 1965's The Sandpiper (which resulted in "The Shadow Of Your Smile"). In addition to his movie work, Mandel has written arrangements for a countless number of performers including Frank Sinatra and Shirley Horn. Other famous Mandel songs include "Emily" (from "The Americanization Of Emily"), "Close Enough For Love," "Hershey Bar" (recorded by Stan Getz), "Suicide Is Painless" (the "Theme from Mash") and "A Time For Love." ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Johnny Mandel studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School. In 1943 he played the trumpet with Joe Venuti, in 1944 with Billy Rogers and trombone in the orchestra of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, Georgie Auld and Chubby Jackson. In 1949 he accompanied the singer June Christy in the orchestra of Bob Cooper. From 1951 till 1953 he played and arranged music in the Band of Elliott Lawrence, and in 1953 with Count Basie. Later he resided in Los Angeles, where he played the bass trumpet for Zoot Sims.
A 1944 Band graduate of New York Military Academy, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY, he wrote jazz compositions like "Not Really the Blues" for Woody Herman in 1949, "Hershey Bar" (1950) and "Pot Luck" (1953) for Stan Getz, "Straight Life" (1953) and "Low Life" (1956) for Count Basie as well as "Tommyhawk" (1954) for Chet Baker.
In 2004 Mandel arranged Tony Bennett's album The Art of Romance. Bennett and Mandel had collaborated before on Bennett's The Movie Song Album (1966), for which Mandel arranged and conducted his songs "Emily" and "The Shadow of Your Smile", and was also the album's musical director.
