Manny Albam (June 24, 1922 – October 2, 2001) was an American jazz arranger, composer, record producer, saxophonist, and educator.

Early life

A native of the Dominican Republic, Albam grew up in New York City. He was attracted to jazz at an early age when heard the music of Bix Beiderbecke.

Career

He left school in his teens and played saxophone in a Dixieland band led by Muggsy Spanier. When he was with the Georgie Auld band, he learned about arranging with Budd Johnson. By 1950 Albam was concentrating less on performing and more on writing and arranging. Within a few years, he became known for a bebop style that emphasized taut and witty writing with a flair for distinctive shadings; flute-led reed sections became something of an Albam trademark. One of his most popular works from that era was "Samana", an Afro-Latin composition he did for the Stan Kenton Innovations Orchestra, named after his birthplace Samaná in the Dominican Republic. He worked with bandleaders Charlie Barnet and Charlie Spivak before collaborating with Count Basie, Stan Getz, Bob Brookmeyer, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Jones, Mel Lewis, Art Farmer, Urbie Green, and Milt Hinton. Albam wrote arrangements for Leonard Bernstein's score for the musical West Side Story in 1957. The work earned him a Grammy Award nomination in 1959. He was invited by Bernstein to write for the New York Philharmonic, and he began to study classical music with Tibor Serly, eventually writing Quintet for Trombone and Strings. He also wrote music for movies, television, and commercials. In the early 1960s he became music director for Solid State Records. For the rest of his career, he taught at Glassboro State College, Eastman School of Music, and Manhattan School of Music. He helped start and lead the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.

Personal life and demise

He died of cancer in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, aged 79, in 2001.

Compositions

Discography

As leader

As arranger

With Count Basie With Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band With Al Cohn With Jose Feliciano With Curtis Fuller With Freddie Green With Coleman Hawkins With Groove Holmes With O'Donel Levy With Jimmy McGriff With Joe Newman With Freda Payne With Oscar Peterson With Buddy Rich With Zoot Sims With Dakota Staton With Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson With Dionne Warwick