NICK CATALANO: A PRODUCER REMEMBERS @Arts & Opinion

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.