Often, the question arises, what
exactly does a producer do? The word is so overused that
it confuses some. A producer can be simply a money source
with no creative role whatsoever; usually the term ‘executive
producer’ is used here. Someone who gathers talent
and arranges performances is another type of producer. Someone
who coordinates elements of a performance -- lighting, sound,
technical equipment and cast synchronicity -- is sometimes
referred to as a line producer. I have functioned in all
of these roles and acquired a perspective that is quite
singular. Following are moments that capture that singularity.
I was once asked
to work on Woody Herman’s 40th anniversary concert
at Carnegie Hall. I had produced several concerts with Woody
and knew his book. The concept was simple – Woody
had had famous sidemen in his bands and it was decided to
bring them on stage one at a time and feature each in a
tune that he had recorded and performed with Woody’s
band so often that the audience would immediately make the
connection. So legends such as Al Cohn, Gene Ammons, Terry
Gibbs, Shelley Manne and Serge Chaloff we're brought out
on stage one at a time and featured as they had been of
yore.
Above
the eaves in the green room of Carnegie Hall is a window
where the producer can see what’s happening on stage
and coordinate the sequence; that was my job. The musicians
received great applause as they marched out and played on
stage. The last figure was Stan Getz who was the most famous
alumnus. He and I were alone in the green room as he asked
to see the newly arranged music sheets with copyist’s
ink barely dry. I spread out eight sheets of music and Stan
turned each page over in the proverbial blink of an eye
and after just a few seconds said, “Ok, I got it .
. . ” I was astounded. I’d never met anyone
with a photographic memory before. I thought, “holy
smoke, it’s impossible to memorize notes that quickly
. . .” But he did it and went down on stage and performed
the chart flawlessly.
During this
time I was producing a lot of dances that featured the great
bands of the 40s: Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey,
Artie Shaw and Harry James etc. The people who came to the
sold out shows had met, courted, and danced to these bands
in their youth and were able to dance to their favourite
tunes 40 years later. The leaders were deceased but these
‘Ghost band’ -- this was the term that was used
-- sounded exactly like their predecessors. The patrons
were thrilled and the shows sold out immediately. The dance
music, completely dominant in the 40s, continues to enjoy
niche popularity. The Glenn Miller ghost band has been annually
touring Japan for almost 90 years.
Lee Castle,
a star trumpeter during the swing era, had by now bought
the rights to The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and
performed
for me frequently. One night, a couple sauntered over to
the stage, looked up at Lee, and shouted “Jimmy, you
look just like your brother Tommy.”
The late comic/actor
Richard Belzer was asked to host a late night radio talk
show that would treat standup comedy as a serious art form.
In addition to three comics on a panel, Belzer had ‘the
late’ Rick Newman on the panel who would discuss the
challenges of running a showcase comedy club ( Catch a Rising
Star) and myself as a producer of comedy concerts. Callers
would phone in with their questions and comments. The very
first caller had some innocuous comments that begged some
sort of satiric response. A veteran comic Bobby Alto was
the first to respond and he began a tirade designed to lampoon
the caller. But no sooner had Bobby begun his response he
was cut off by J.J. Wall who injected a funny one-liner
that precipitated huge laughter from everyone. That laughter
had hardly subsided when Ed Bluestone, another talented
satirist, jumped in with another hysterical comment. By
now the entire panel including Rick and myself were laughing
out of control and any attempt to return to the original
‘serious’ discussion was doomed. As other listeners
called in, most with cursory comments that invited comic
put-downs, the dominant sound over the air was uncontrollable
laughter from all of us in the studio, But the phone kept
on ringing and by now other comics from around town who
were listening to the show were calling in and, of course,
their seasoned comments were also funny. At this point it
becomes impossible to describe the intensity of the laughter
but Rick and I both had to leave the panel for the rest
room.
On
occasion I was asked to emcee special shows at clubs and
concert venues with jazz luminaries that I had produced
in my own shows or had reviewed in the media. One night
there was a special evening at the Village Vanguard to honour
a new autobiographical book from Dizzy Gillespie dubbed
“To Be or not to Bop.” The event was attended
by jazz all stars including James Moody (a longtime intimate
of Dizzy’s) and Lorraine Gillespie, Dizzy’s
long time spouse who was seated at our table. The headline
group for the evening was a quartet led by Red Rodney that
featured an exciting new saxist Chris Potter, who has since
become a jazz master.
All during Rodney’s
opening set both Dizzy and James Moody, highly impressed
with Potter’s performance, were shouting humorous
comments at Potter urging him to leave the group and sign
on with their quintets. Rodney comically shouted back indicating
he would razz back when Dizzy got up to the bandstand to
read from his new book.
The room was
by this time comically energized and all abuzz as Dizzy
came up to the stage. He began reading and referencing some
well-known highlights of his European tours. As he read
he came to a sequence innocently describing a time where
he had closely affiliated with a beautiful groupie. Instantly
Lorraine arose and shouted words of consternation indicating
she had never known about this encounter. As we all roared
at the table, Lorraine, unimpressed with Dizzy’s feeble
apologetic response, rushed up on stage and wound up chasing
Dizzy all over the Vanguard as our laughter escalated out
of control.
Many similar
experiences from producing activities in all the arts are
described in my book New
York Nights.