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Tom Talbert Jazz Orchestra

Allmusic

Sunday Night Jazz Showcase

Program #170 (June 11 at 8:00 p.m.)

As with all other art forms, the jazz community has many members who have made significant contributions to its development, yet never received their due recognition. Pianist, composer, and band leader Tom Talbert is one such artist, whose compositions have been ranked with Gil Evans and Stan Kenton.  

From listening to big bands in 1930s, Talbert got an ear for large ensembles at an early age. The following decade, he continued to compose for large groups in Los Angeles as small-group bebop spread from the East Coast to dominate jazz. While Talbert's music and location were at odds with his chosen field at the time, his work anticipated the forthcoming boom of West Coast or "cool" jazz.

The elegance of Duke Ellington and the European classical yearnings in the music of arranger and composer Gil Evans and pianist and composer John Lewis can be heard simultaneously in Talbert's compositions, even though they were written a decade before the advent of "Third Stream" jazz.

Talbert was born on August 4, 1924, in Crystal Bay, Minnesota, where he heard music mostly performed live on a parlor piano. Mostly a self-taught musician, he did learn a few rudimentary piano skills from his grandmother. The swinging sounds of big bands led by drummer Chick Webb, clarinetists Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman, and saxophonist Jimmie Lunceford thrilled Talbert at an early age and provided the inspiration for his own compositions.

In 1943, Talbert was drafted into the army and because of his considerable musical skills, he became arranger for a military band at Fort Ord in California. Under his leadership, the band performed for War Bond Drives throughout California. After his discharge, Talbert began arranging music for band leader Johnny Richards.

Richards, known for his innovative work with Stan Kenton, convinced Talbert to start his own band. Throughout the 1940s, Talbert continued to write for his big band even as bebop took over the scene.  

After being denied a record contract on the West Coast in the late 1940s, Talbert ironically headed for New York City just as the West Coast Jazz movement began to take hold. Still, his time in New York was not wasted -- he started experimenting with European classical music.

Talbert also began arranging for guitarist Johnny Smith, band leader Claude Thornhill, bassist Oscar Pettiford, pianist Marian McPartland and others. In 1956, Talbert recorded two albums that would define his work. The first album was Wednesday's Child, a collaboration with vocalist Patty McGovern.

Talbert's next album, Bix Duke Fats, became an even bigger hit, but commercial success was fleeting. Several ambitious follow-up projects, including a stage musical and two movie soundtracks, were never realized.

Frustrated with the record business, he left New York for his Midwestern roots in Minneapolis. He got married, helped run the family business, and moved even further away from the jazz world, to rural Wisconsin. In 1975, he returned to Los Angeles, where he began writing music for television and movie studios.

Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Talbert continued to play and write for various bands. During this period, he also got involved with jazz education, playing concerts in Los Angeles area schools. Although luck often played an adversary in Talbert's career, he continues to write and perform with an optimistic valor.

(story provided by NPR)

Paul Hitchcock earned his Masters in Communications from Morehead State University and Bachelors in Radio-TV/Psychology from Georgetown College. A veteran broadcaster for more than 40 years and an avid fan of blues, jazz and American roots music. Hitchcock has been with WMKY since 1986 and was named General Manager in 2003. He currently hosts "Muddy Bottom Blues" (Fri., 8pm-9pm), "Nothin' But The Blues" (Sat., 8pm-12am), "Sunday Night Jazz Showcase" and "Live From The Jazz Lounge" (Sun., 8pm-9pm) and "The Golden Age of Radio" (Sun., 2pm-3pm). He also serves as producer for "A Time For Tales" and "The Reader's Notebook."