We visit with pianist and arranger Bob Alberti and talk about the Hollywood music scene that he and Johnny Mandel made their careers in.
Thursday at 6, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday at 5pm on WZUM
In the process, we also play a lot of music of Johnny Mandel:
The Shining Sea, Michele Bensen and Bob Alberti
Stardust, Mel Torme (arranged by Bob Alberti)
I’m Gonna Go Fishin’, Mel Torme (arranged by Johnny Mandel)
I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Diana Krall (arranged by Johnny Mandel)
Emily, Bob Alberti Trio
Sure As You’re Born, Stanley Turrentine
Keester Parade, Cy Touff Octet
Everything I Love, Bob Alberti Trio
Composer and arranger Johnny Mandel died June 29 at the age of 94. Born in New York, he settled into the Los Angeles music scene (his family moved to LA before he was 10). Music “took,” and he studied at the Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard, and then on the road with the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, Georgie Auld.
While we know Johnny Mandel for his songs and scores for Movies, he was very busy as an arranger for everyone from Count Basie to Mel Torme and Tony Bennett.
Pianist and arranger Bob Alberti is about 10 years younger than Johnny Mandel, grew up in New York - where, as a teenager, he studied piano with Teddy Wilson. After years on the road with bands from Charlie Spivak to Louis Prima, he eventually settled in LA - where he became phenomenally active in the music of stage and television, including Paul Anka, Jack Jones, Kay Starr, Johnny Mathis, Dean Martin and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson - plus a 23 year stint with Bob Hope. By the 1990’s he left the LA scene and settled in Hilton Head, South Carolina where he has recorded a number of well-regarded jazz albums, including one with our own Michele Benson.