Show Notes
In this pilot episode of Rearranged, Lawrence Lanahan explores the life and music of someone who helped Miles Davis create some of his most unforgettable music: arranger Gil Evans. Lanahan uses "Moon Dreams," the Johnny Mercer tune that Evans rearranged into a work of art on Davis's "Birth of the Cool" album, to consider the underappreciated art of arranging…and to investigate the deepest meanings of the human song. Guest: Larry Hickok is the author of Castles Made of Sound: The Story of Gil Evans, DaCapo Press, 2002.
Thanks to:
Glenn Askew, author of Johnny Mercer: Southern Songwriter for the World, Professor of History at Georgia State University, and director of the GSU World Heritage Initiative
Kevin S. Fleming, Popular Music and Culture Archivist, Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library
Andrea Appleton
Bruce Wallace
The theme music and other scoring music for Rearranged was written and recorded by Lawrence Lanahan.
Music discussed:
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Master and Everyone, Drag City, 2003,
Miles Davis, Birth of the Cool, Capitol/Blue Note, 1957
Martha Tilton, The Capitol Recordings, Capitol, 2000,
Glenn Miller, Army Air Force Band, Capt. Johnny Desmond and the Crew Chiefs, “Moon Dreams,” V-Disc
Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain, Columbia, 1960
Claude Thornhill and His Orchestra 1947, Hindsight, 1978
Research notes:
Much of this episode is drawn from Hickok, Castles Made of Sound.
“Mercer…once said, ‘I fool around on the piano…’”: Gene Lees, Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, Pantheon, 2004: 156.
“Recorded at the very first Capitol Records session”: Robert Kimball, Barry Day, Miles Krueger, and Eric Davis, The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer, Knopf, 2009: 128.
“This one was likely arranged by Weston”: Glenn Askew, personal communication, “That would be my hunch”
Paul Weston and mood music: https://www.spaceagepop.com/weston.htm
Weston as “almost avant-garde”: Lees, 160-161.
“higher standards…Whiting,” Askew, 195-196.
“Pete Rugolo,” Askew, 218.
“Moon Dreams” from Gil Evans memorial service in 1988: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=rt3pK9SXjI8
“Boplicity” from Gil Evans memorial service in 1988: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zenzUq6tn20
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More from Rearranged
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We visit the composer's Peabody class on "Listening to Baltimore" and discuss his "intimate and epic" music.
Clare and Olivier Manchon on their dedication to craft and never ever cutting corners in songwriting, arranging, and film scoring. Clare and Olivier Manchon met in a world of sound as students at the Berklee College of Music. Over the last couple decades they've brought the world many rich arrangements, both in their band Clare and the Reasons, and on arrangements and film scores. In this episode, they discuss their dedication to craft--and to "never ever cutting corners." In this episode, Clare and Olivier discuss their songs "The Lake" and "The Mauerpark" from the Clare and the Reasons album KR-51, as well as their arrangement of "Great, Great Day" by John Legend. Clare and Olivier also discussed scoring the documentaries Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World and Turn Every Page. Thanks to Osiris Media for marketing and distribution. Rearranged theme music composed and recorded by Lawrence Lanahan. https://www.olivierandclaremanchon.com/ https://www.olivierandclaremanchon.com/purchase-music/kr-51 https://www.sonyclassics.com/film/turneverypage/ https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/mary-oliver-documentary/37967/ https://music.apple.com/us/song/great-great-day-bonus-track/1764420444
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