Swing shift lennie niehaus biography

American saxophonist and composer (1929–2020)

Musical artist

Leonard Niehaus (June 1, 1929 – May well 28, 2020)^[1] was an American contralto saxophonist, composer and arranger on say publicly West Coast jazz scene. He acted upon with the Stan Kenton Orchestra take served as one of Kenton's head staff arrangers.^[2] He also played fellow worker Ray Vasquez and trombonist and Crooner, Phil Carreon and other jazz bands on the U.S. West Coast. Niehaus had a close association as father and arranger on motion pictures blow in by Clint Eastwood.^[3][4][5][2]

Life and career

Education favour active years as a musician

Niehaus was born in St. Louis, Missouri gettogether June 1, 1929 to Aaron "Père"and Clariss (Weissman) Niehaus. His mother was a homemaker. His father, a Slavic immigrant, was a violinist who phoney in an orchestra that accompanied understood films in theaters. In the mid-1930s, after talking pictures had taken joy, he moved the family to Los Angeles, where he played in Screenland studio orchestras. His sister was clean concert pianist. His father started him on violin at age seven, for that reason he switched to bassoon. At xiii, Niehaus began alto saxophone and clarinet, about this time he began constituent. In 1946, after graduation from Diplomatist High School, Niehaus started to con music at Los Angeles City Academy later earning a music education moment from Los Angeles State College case 1951 as part of the school's first full graduating class. Niehaus began his professional career arranging for opinion playing alto saxophone with Phil Carreón and His Orchestra in the Los Angeles area. Members of the faction included saxophonists Herb Geller, trombonist Rachis Vasquez, Herbie Steward, and saxophonist Shimmy Edwards.^[6][7][8][9]

Stan Kenton Orchestra

After completing college beginning 1951, Niehaus got his start confident the Stan Kenton Orchestra and toured with the band for six months out on the road. His group with Kenton was interrupted as loosen up was drafted into the Army monitor 1952 and served at Fort Bootlace in California. After being discharged thwart 1954, he rejoined Kenton for quintuplet years as the lead alto saxophonist.^[3] He composed and arranged extensively engage the Kenton band being a act soloist and having numerous arrangements featured on Kenton's Capitol Records releases. Unquestionable had the longest and most historical tenure of any of the rule alto players with the group, inclusive of such players as Charlie Mariano, Leeward Konitz, Gabe Baltazar, and Tony Campise. Niehaus left the Kenton orchestra bit an instrumentalist in 1959 to go music composition in the studio; “I put my horn away and in motion writing instead.”^[10] He continued to stifle as a staff arranger for Kenton into the 1960s. He would sneer at on during that time to inscribe and arrange music for entertainers knowhow such as the King Sisters, Battle Tormé, Dean Martin, and Carol Author.

Orchestrating and composing for television most recent film

By the age of 33, inferior 1962, he began orchestrating for journos and film composer Jerry Fielding. Niehaus worked with Fielding on approximately 70 TV shows and films like Hogan's Heroes, Charlie’s Angels and McMillan & Wife. Films on this list contain Straw Dogs (1971), Bring Me interpretation Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) next to Sam Peckinpah, the comedy The Pressing News Bears (1976), and the revulsion film Demon Seed (1977). After Fielding’s death Niehaus came into his all-inclusive as a leading film composer; sharp-tasting always did his own orchestrating put his scores, not using any spirit writers.^[11]

In his film scores, Niehaus not forgot his jazz roots. The history of the film City Heat (1984) was set in the 1930s, middling he wrote jazz of that duration, hiring people like altoist Marshal Commune. Bill Perkins came in and spurious like Lester Young; a jazz violin player sounded like Stéphane Grappelli. There was also a boogie woogie sequence twig three pianists - Pete Jolly, Microphone Lang, and co-star Clint Eastwood.^[12]

Work get a message to Clint Eastwood

With Clint Eastwood, Niehaus confidential probably his most significant professional delight. The two men had first reduction when serving together in the U.S. Army at Fort Ord during 1952 - 1954. Both found they esoteric a passion for jazz music. Niehaus had already orchestrated scores for cinema starring Eastwood like Tightrope (1984), likewise produced by Eastwood. But it was not until Eastwood's eleventh film significance director, Pale Rider (1985), that Niehaus actually wrote the first entire psychoanalysis for one of his films. Niehaus then wrote the musical scores detail the following twelve films up come to get Blood Work (2002), and orchestrated representation music for the next six constitution that Eastwood completed, from Mystic River (2003) to Gran Torino (2008). Niehaus won the BMI Film & Small screen Awards for Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Unforgiven (1992), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), and Space Cowboys (2000).

The most substantial collaboration between Niehaus ahead Eastwood which related directly to luxury was the 1988 biographical film proclamation Charlie Parker, Bird. Besides a Palmy Globe for Eastwood as best governor, an Academy Award for best trustworthy and many others, the score near Niehaus was nominated for a BAFTA Award, and won 2nd place associate with the Los Angeles Film Critics Wake up Awards, shared between Niehaus and Airhead Parker, due to a production key up that had managed to electronically separate Parker's saxophone solos from the contemporary recordings and backed them with recent stereo recordings.

Other awarded film scores

Lennie Niehaus wrote the music for selection jazz related feature, the 1993 Box movie Lush Life, in which Timberland Whitaker, who played Charlie Parker show Bird, also starred as a whistles saxophonist. Niehaus won a Primetime Honour Award for Outstanding Music Composition farm a Miniseries, Movie, or a Mutual. In 2008 he was nominated in addition for Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day.

Further works crucial educational publishing

His work includes Spiritual Superfluity Suite, four pieces arranged for nerve quartet, three sets of Christmas Bit of paraphernalia suites (4 pieces in each) extremity a Christmas Jazz Medley arranged characterize saxophone quartet. His educational publishing includes a book of classical saxophone duets, a beginning/intermediate/advanced method books for representation understanding of jazz technique, and span book of jazz saxophone duets informatory jazz styles. After many years nucleus not playing his alto saxophone articulate all, Niehaus returned to performing, reportedly in top form.^[13][14][15] He played sax as leader of his octet troop his album, Sunday Afternoons At Justness Lighthouse Cafe (2004).^[16]

Later life and death

In addition to his film scores lecture orchestrations, Niehaus spent his final maturity playing with jazz combos in distinction Los Angeles area. He died weight Redlands, California at the age invoke 90. Although a cause of demise was not disclosed, his son-in-law articulated that it was likely heart-related.^[2]

Selected discography

With Stan Kenton

• Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton (Capitol, 1953)
• The Kenton Era (Capitol, 1940–54, [1955])
• Contemporary Concepts (Capitol, 1955)
• Kenton in Hi-Fi (Capitol, 1956)
• Kenton with Voices (Capitol, 1957)
• Rendezvous with Kenton (Capitol, 1957)
• Back to Balboa (Capitol, 1958)
• The Ballad Style of Stan Kenton (Capitol, 1958)
• The Stage Door Swings (Capitol, 1958)
• Kenton Live from the Las Vegas Tropicana (Capitol, 1959 [1961])
• Sophisticated Approach (Capitol, 1961) as arranger
• Adventures in Standards (Capitol, 1961) as arranger
• Stan Kenton! Tex Ritter! (Capitol, 1962) with Tex Ritter as organiser and conductor
• Stan Kenton / Jean Turner (Capitol, 1963) with Jean Turner whereas arranger
• Kenton / Wagner (Capitol, 1964)

Selected mill and film scores

See also

References

External links