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ANYTHING GOES on NBC - starring Frank Sinatra and Ethel Merman: An interesting incident happened on that show. I had done literally nothing in the business at that time - fresh out of leaving UCLA and my uncle Jule was the producer of "Anything Goes", along with the great Leland Hayward. I got sort of friendly with him. He thought I was amusing because I was young and Gung Ho about the biz and loved being around it - always asking him questions. I had known Frank Sinatra as a kid with Jule - my brother and I were his guests at various times through my Uncle, so in a way he was surprised that I was on the show having known Bobby and I since we were 9 (me) and 7 (Bobby) respectively. He even gave us bow ties. So what was I doing there? Now, dissolve, I'm on the show and (I'm sorry I can't say this now) looked really young - since I didn't conduct at that time as was barely a niche in the biz - I helped with the cue cards - Al Goodman was the leader of the NBC orchestra - what a tyrant but knew his stuff. So whenever we had a lunch break (The NBC theatre was on Vine St. and eventually became the Palace) we'd all go across the street to eat at whatever the Denny's-type place it was. And in a very nice way Frank used to refer to me as 'genius' - "What are we rehearsing after lunch, genius?" Stuff like that whenever our paths crossed during the long rehearsal process at The Medinah Temple on Hollywood Blvd. where every show rehearsed - and then in the theatre for - I don't know - a week maybe. I remember David Alexander directed - he also directed the revival of Pal Joey on Broadway that Jule produced. A very nice man. And very sweet to me. Helpful at all times.

At that time I was working with Ethel for the very first time - "What's your name again, Jule's nephew?" She always said if she was standing with a friend whom she invited to rehearsal or whatever, "This is Jule Styne's nephew" - my only worthwhile credit in her eyes at that time. Nepotism sure reared it's ugly head in my direction. My mother Claire tells her brother that I do music and he says something like, "Great Claire he can do the orchestrations for Anything Goes" - he never checked or even could cared just that he knew me. I was so bad just before that at the end of a song I arranged for The Ford Star Revue in NY at the Show of Shows Theatre I wrote an 'E' in the bass part at the end of a song I arranged instead of a 'C' - and it was in the key of 'C' - you're supposed to wrote the note 'C' in the bass part - not the 3rd of the chord. But it was learn while you earn - Carl Hoff the ork leader in NY would correct my scores before they went to the copyist. Yikes was I a dim-wit and I can't believe I'm telling this one - baring my soul.

So now it's orchestra rundown time. Frank had done "Songs For Swinging Lovers" and I played that recording to death. Those were great charts. I was so into Broadway that actually I was hired to write the orchestrations anytime Ethel opened her mouth. Jule must have loved working without a net as I know he never heard my work - but I worshiped him and actually sat in the room when he and Sammy Cahn wrote some of their greatest hits for Frank Sinatra - usually in the summer when Bobby and I visited him in Beverly Hills at 611 N. Elm Drive. Bob and Betty Young next door - one could hear them screaming at each other every night after heavy drinking.

So it's rehearsal and Al Goodman is conducting and Leland is sitting about 9 rows in front of me - listening intently to the rehearsal of the ork - Nelson Riddle is sitting about 3 rows in front of me - and I am obviously scared to hear my own stuff - I'm sure Al hated the fact that Jule shoved me in. Leland had his hands clasped - his glasses pushed back on top of his head and is looking up to heaven.

I didn't even know Nelson Riddle although when we were introduced he patted me on the back in a benevolent way - he was always nice to me after that whenever we bumped into each other, mostly at Capitol Recording studios - the other guys, especially Bill May when sauced, was awful to me - and when Gogi Grant bought me my own conducting chair as a gift for our two big hits - I recorded so much at Capitol that they stored it for me - in a drunken rage Billy May picked up my chair and threw it against the wall breaking it in pieces - "How the hell does a kid like that get to work with Ella...etc.he knows s--t about music - never with a band etc... (I was hired by Norman Granz on José Ferrer's tennis court after Norman had heard the flip side of The Cheers recording - "Bernie's Tune" - and said are you the same guy who did that - "Yes" - I'm starting a new label - popish - next week you wanna work for me - YES! On Monday it had no name and on Tuesday it was Verve!)

The band played "You're The Top" - my arrangement - it went okay - I could see Leland nodding to God that it passed his 'whatever' test. And then after whatever came one of Frank's solos - "Just One of Those Things" - Nelson's chart - right from his album - brilliant - they play it - Leland looks up to heaven - does not turn around and yells the following: "I hate that - Buddy do it over!" Now he's way down in front of me and Nelson is a few rows in front of me - Leland has just slammed Nelson and his INCREDIBLE orchestration of the song - and Nelson didn't move a muscle - I could only see his neck - but it didn't twitch - so I ran back to what was like a closet - and scribbled whole notes and half notes all the way through - my copyist would take each page as I finished it and ran to the other guys in the back - and it was actually ready to rehearse in about 40 minutes - believe me it was all whole notes and half notes - but in a more Broadwayish tradition. I mean it was just a bunch of musical pads - but when Leland heard it, he looked to heaven once again and said, "Great Buddy!" Nelson did not twitch and in the ensuing years he was continually polite - introduced me to his wife - who was having some sort of mental problem or something like that - and she was very sweet to me as well.

I then got the PANAMA HATTIE - Broadway on TV Show - on CBS from that one - Jule again produced - it was for CBS - and Jule was so volatile with Martin Manulis the co-producer that they had a punch-up in the back of the 81st & Broadway Theatre just before the audience came in. There is my very short uncle punching Martin Manulis - I mean it was so bizarre that Buster Davis, who conducted (I still wasn't there yet) said something like, "This is not really happening is it?!"

VICTOR BORGE - I did a big TV special on CBS with him. Just Victor and myself. I conducted the orchestra and Victor did his star thing. I vividly remember doing the Khachaturian Gayne (?) Suite - the CBS Symphony and I would furiously play Da-da-da-da-da-etc... and Victor would casually be toying with the audience and even yawning and at last second, play the last 2 notes - Daaaa-Yaaaa. Finally getting so bored with his part he'd practically fall asleep and wake up in time to play the last two notes. It was hilarious! I could hardly keep from laughing when the camera was on me.

I took my girl-friend, screenwriter Marie de Puthod to see his last concert at The Bowl - as she loved him as a kid in Paris and finally Colorado Springs and so we went - and he was so wonderful to me backstage - recounting the Khachaturian moment on the show - the high point for me as I had just finished scoring the Jerry Lewis "Delicate Delinquent" film at Paramount and was so tired I needed a rest - a year with Jerry doing his film, his act for The Sands and his album on Decca with "Rockabye Your Baby" on it.

So I decided to go down to Palm Springs and flake out and play some heavyweight tennis. First thing was to get a hair cut - which became a crew cut from the Paramount Barber. What a mistake. I go back to my office and my agent calls me and says that Victor Borge wants you to conduct the CBS Symphony Orchestra on his show and do lines and whatever. I said "Who is on it with us?" And he said, "Just you!" I told him about the crew cut but he said I had to do it anyhow - and be in NY by tomorrow.

Jerry Shaw, the director, picked me up at the airport and drove me to Victor's farm in Conn. for our first meeting. I was stunned to see thousands of Guinea Hens outside his windows. I didn't know that he raised Guinea Hens and would only play hotel chains that carried his hens on the menu. The Hilton chain being one of them! No wonder he was a billionaire!

We got along well, but I don't think he was prepared for me looking 15 years old - the MCA agents sold me because I was kind of hot from some hit singles and album stuff - I think he had probably a Daniel Baren-boim kind of guy in mind - definitely not me - especially with the crew cut. And I was not a classical conductor by any means, but somehow it worked out.

My girlfriend was actually in tears meeting him at The Bowl because not knowing English when they arrived in America, she saw Victor do the fantastic punctuation thing he did so brilliantly and she can still recite some of it today. She learned a lot from Victor Borge and was thrilled to see him in person although she had done so at Red Rock as a kid in Denver growing up nearby.

He was a very gracious and brilliantly talented man. I was fortunate to know and work with him.

I've lived and worked in France - I produced and directed the Roland Petit/Zizi Jeanmaire Shows with Yves St. Laurent costumes in Paris - wonderful shows. Roland asked me to restage all his ballets for the camera which I did also - 2 one hour specials - for which I won The Montreaux Golden Rose TV Award - Honorable Mention. Like 4th place - every major station in the world enters their best show of the year - NBC, CBS, BBC, RTF, Poland, Ireland, etc. - fun festival.

DIAHANN CARROLL and I got along really well - we would send each other up on a daily basis - we were very close - I did her cabaret act for about 3 years - new act every year - she had originally worked with Phil Moore but gravitated to me when she wanted to break away from 'the shackles that bind' - i.e. anything to do with her husband - so I was fairly hot at that time and she hired me - then later on when I was a producer/director at The BBC, I hired her - brought her over and did a wonderful show with her.

FUNNY GIRL/BARBRA STREISAND

Jule wanted me to conduct "Funny Girl" for the London run - of course not taking into consideration I was running a TV network - London's Weekend TV Station - I was Head of Entertainment after I was at the Beeb - and many many simply wonderful articles were written about me - a Yank - taking over - BUDDY SWINGS IN - BB's BRILLIANCE - TVs NEW WHIZZ KID TALKING etc... from the Daily Telegraph, The London Times, The Stage, etc... it absolutely floored me. In its own way a 'TV Executive Holocaust' - I inherited Ready, Steady, Go with The Beatles, The Stones, Jerry and the Pacemakers, etc. plus having to create a slew of new programming. Now my uncle Jule says, "You gotta conduct the show, you've got the American feel," etc... also I want some of Barbra's songs reorchestrated, etc..." I told him a had a heavy day job, and was even going to personally produce AN EVENING WITH JULE STYNE - and so on - I sometimes didn't leave my office until 8PM. So there was no way I could do both gigs.

But I did take time out to be with Barbra socially as well as rehearsing with her on 3 of the songs - redoing some of them and having her over to our flat for dinner. All she wanted was more potatoes that my wife had cooked: "Suzie how do you do those potatoes?" We're talking and she says, "Sue, can you make more of those potatoes!" etc. So Sue did - they were actually sliced thick from raw potatoes and pan roasted with a burned crust forming around it. I must say they were very good.

Then I took her to Danny La Rue's Show - what a mistake - of course Danny did everyone from Marlene to Marilyn to Tallulah - and you guessed it - Barbra. Well we were having a great time up to that point in Danny's club on Hanover Square - I quickly flashed on the Laird Cregar film Hanover Square with him burning in the same building we were in! Oh, it was awful. She turned to me and said, Let's get outta here." Now how do you do that? Danny's on and doing his shtick and she wants to walk out in front of 250 people. Yeah, sure. I told her we couldn't - and since that night, she was never the same to me. Like I set it up! Which of course I would never do.

When we rehearsed it was at a spinet in the rehearsal hall and we sat together on the very small piano bench - I mean close - I had to play with my elbows pulled in. I was playing a song in the key of C and she said could I play it in B - I said I can't even think in B - but I can play it in Bb or C and arrange it in B. She said glumly, "Allll rightttt." So I played it a few times in Bb and a few times in C and took it away to arrange it in B. It wasn't like now I can arrange a song in F and click on the computer and it will automatically transpose every single instrument into any key I designate. At that time that system didn't exist.

THE RUGGLES OF RED GAP - ORIGINAL MUSICAL ON NBC

I was Musical Director/Conductor/Arranger

The Ruggles of Red Gap album was released on Verve - IN FULL - what a great TV Special Show!

Almost every song in Gypsy was a trunk song - but Stephen didn't want to write to any trunk songs so Jule only played him a few - then every few days Jule would present Stephen a 'new' song that fit the moment - of course they were 'trunk' songs- now I can't be EXACT on this but Everything's Comin Up Roses, You'll Never Get Away From Me, Some People, etc... were songs previously written for other shows - Phil Silvers I know sang Roses - I think it might have started "This is it!" etc... something like that - from "Kill The Ump!"

Imogene Coca played David Wayne's wife. Sir Michael was wonderful. He and Lawford hated each other. Sir Michael had me beckoned to his dressing room after the last taping in NBC Brooklyn Studio #4 - I thought I had done something wrong. He said, "Buddy, you are the only person on this whole bloody show I like, so here." He handed me his Autobiography - signed to me from Michael Redgrave. A wonderful man - but not someone one could ever get close to. He always looked like he was smelling something awful.

PAUL LYNDE was an absolute HOOT! Every night I went back to my hotel aching from laughing. We could hardly walk after a day with him. I shared a limo with him and from the beginning of each day until late at night - we all ate dinner together as well - we were crying we were laughing so much - his humour was unbelievable - Audrey Hepburn was in the next studio doing Maerling with hubby Mel Ferrer in #3 and every moment I could sneak out, I did to be with her - I finally got her to come into our studio and she screamed with laughter - as Paul did her as The Princess in Roman Holiday - outrageously - camped about so much that when Mel came in - obviously not happy that she was there with me - Paul sidled up to him and in a tres butch manner and in keeping with the western theme of our show said, "Whatcha gonna do about it pardner?!" And then skipped off. It was and he was hilarious. Jane Powell will bear all of this out as she was at the wildest dinner with us at a steak house on 2nd Avenue that had sawdust on the floor. And Paul would freak out when the waiters would ask for everyone's autograph but his, and one time ran after a waiter into the kitchen screaming, "Your kids know me - they know who I am!" I'm laughing as I write this. He then came back to the table breathing hard and 'powdered' his face with HIS STEAK! It was so wild and it lasted over 4 weeks!

KAY THOMPSON

She was fun personally, and, not unlike me when I produce and/or direct, demanding. But nowhere near as demanding as anyone else was. Kay Thompson and The Williams Brothers whose act I arranged for Vegas etc etc etc... I Love A Violin and 95 other songs - Kay was demanding only because NOTHING WAS WRITTEN DOWN - my first cabaret act job in my whole life and nothing was written down. The 5 of them would sing and I'd have to take down the notes. Insane. The piano player, conductor, would be sipping Sherry while we did it, and was no help. She'd yell something out and the Williams Bros - Andy of course - would hit 4 part harmony like insane people - I was stunned - and such a neophyte that it was all whizzing by.

My mother (Jule's sister) got me the job. She was friendly with Kay through Audrey Meadows I think. When I arrived at Mocambo to meet her, they all thought I was delivering some food. But I wasn't. They wouldn't stop singing; then when they did Andy walked over and said, "Can I help you?" I said my mom said Kay wanted to meet me. He told her. Then she yells out, "Oh, you're Claire's boy." I acknowledged and she said that my mom had said "My son does music." Whatever that meant, and Kay then asked what it did mean, and I boldly said something like , "I means that I do arrangements." "For what?" "For the band." "Oh, we need an arranger." The piano player stiffened on that one. "Okay, gosh, that's great." "Here, take this down." It was I Hear a Violin and they just sang it over and over and stopped for me and kept going - I looked at the part the piano guy was playing and it looked like Hieroglyphics to me. So in a sense she was demanding in a different way - a way I never knew before or since. Then every day I'd keep taking stuff down until I had it all down and orchestrated all of it. Lots of it ended up on an MGM LP - I remember the yellow label - I think.

Little did I know I was orchestrating one of the greatest Cabaret Shows in history. Every time they started to sing and move about the stage (automatically knew where they were supposed to be and when they were to move to another spot) I got chills. It was the most thrilling act I had ever seen and when we went to Ve-gas it got standing ovations every show - 2 shows a night. I saw Kay many times since that time and al-ways bumped into her in a foreign city. Rome, Paris, London - I would just hear the voice and knew it was Kay! She loved my mother! Thought she was funny. I was so sad when she passed on I immediately went out and bought all the Eloise books.

PEGGY LEE - I did work with her but NEVER recorded with her. I was Musical Director/arranger/conductor on "The Eddie Fisher Show" on NBC and did 40 shows with him - Peggy Lee was on one of them. She liked the way I snapped - so I was the snapper on 'Fever' - and did a few charts when she sang with Eddie. Yikes what a picture! Afterwards we got together at her house and she was a bit too crabby with me and I - in those days and even today - had a smart mouth - and it didn't go over too well. And in silence we both decided to not work on anything together. After all, I had already had 6 months with Judy!

PAUL ANKA - I laugh as I write this - he comes into the studio - I'm tall he's short - I'm standing on a podium he's not - he says, "Is this the studio where Frank records?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Good!" Awful album of French, Italian, etc... songs - I did half the charts and I think Billy Byers did a few + a few others - forget it! I conducted the album for Don Costa and Quincy Jones who were the producers.

FRED ASTAIRE - What can I say. He met my daughter at a party when Tracey had just won the EMMY Award for her role as Lauren Fenmore on Young & Restless and he was at the party. She went up to him and introduced herself as Buddy's daughter. Fred said, "I love your father!" Good reason. He was a songwriter and I recorded ALL OF THEM with him. Norman Granz threatened me that if I did the sessions-sions he would fire me. Now how does one turn Fred Astaire down. I did the sessions - what can I say - I loved Fred more than my own father - who could love him? A tyrant. Of course it did not sell - but with my 2 Ella double albums - Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart hits he let it slide I guess - but brought it up every time I wanted to do something out of the ordinary - but as A&R head of Verve (I started Verve with the mad man and Mo Ostin was our accountant/manager) I did have some clout but around him he bellowed just like my dad and that never went down well with me. I used to go to Fred's Tower Rd. house every Thursday afternoon and he would always be on the drums. The Butler would let me in and I'd hear Bim Bam Boo, etc... and he would be playing along with Count Basie or me or someone... such a fabulous human being. But he was a bit of a nudge as a songwriter and would walk down to Beverly Hills from his house and stop into my office for a critique on his work - every day - it got so I sometimes hid behind the vanity panel of my desk because I was so busy I didn't have time for him. Once I asked how I could get the pink socks he wore in Silk Stockings in the opening shot of just his feet - what a shot - AND YOU KNEW IT WAS FRED! So he said to wait he's be back in 10 minutes. He comes back to my office with a brown paper bag and dumps 6 pair of the pink socks onto my desk. Bought them for 50c each at Woolworth's! Great man.

BASSEY BITCH

This was one of those situations where Shirley's (Bassey) agent said she was available and we needed star power for my first 3 months at the Beeb (I produced and directed 15 one-hour shows in my first 3 months there) and so I (with my producing hat on) felt we would get good numbers with her - which we did - but I also have the feeling that Billy Cotton or David Attenborough were pushing her to do a show for them - either way I ended up with her - but since I was never a fan of hers - although worshipping at the feet of La Merman since the day I was born - I felt Shirley overemphasized every lyric of every song - including probably The Lord's prayer - and I had been at parties with her - given by an unknown (today) lovely singer and person Alma Cogan who consequently died of cancer at a very early age. She was a wonderful hostess and gave great parties - all showbiz - and I was new in town and she was a fan of mine from re-cordings so I was invited and every time Paul Mc Cartney was there as well as Shirley and lots of other singers - I think that's where I met Janie Marden as well - Long John Baldry who I used on my Tribute to Cole Porter Special - he sang All of You - Funk Unleashed - he was great and also Georgie Fame with whom I starred in my Olivia Newton John film for 20th Century Fox Features/Rank releasing. It eventually ended up as TV in the States.

She is ONE NOTE ALL THE WAY - I brought out the nuances as best I could with her - soft shading and mellow tones - but at the optimum of my talent and her listening to me it still wasn't really what it should have been - but that's her - yes everyone said - and the reviews bear this out - that it was the best specials ever done with her and one of the best specials ever. Hey, 8 cameras shooting one lady - can't be bad!

Our trouble was that she had an attitude and I had one too - but mine only reared it's ugly head because of hers - so at best it wasn't great - but she loved the shots (I invented the 'creeper' camera and it shot this lonely figure from the floor itself and she was engulfed by the shot - I only used it a couple of times but it was very effective) and she loved the fact that I understood music and in the end I absolutely hated work-ing with her.

Also in the compliment of 8 cameras I used 2 Transatlantic Cranes that went down and up to a height of 21' in the air. Plus 2 pedestals and two Herren Cranes and one handheld.

The show was so successful that my boss David Attenborough, head of BBC at the time and now has his own fabulous nature/animal shows - and is the world's nicest man - asked me to produce and direct a 2nd Shirley Bassey Special which I turned down - now when one is under contract to the largest network in the world one is not allowed to do things like that - but David understood and let me off the hook. Shirley wondered why I turned it down - that's how full of herself she is!

I can't get myself to call her Dame Shirley. Since Judi Dench is a good friend of mine, I absolutely love calling her Dame Judi but Shirley never!

DICK HAYMES

He was so nice to my brother and I when we were kids vacationing in Palm Springs with our parents. He took us up for rides in his Navion plane - and when I went to UCLA I played tennis at his home in Encino with his brother-in-law Peter Marshall - who was Joanne Dru's brother - and Dick was married to her at the time.

Bobby and I even talked about this yesterday at our Bregman Christmas bash. We loved Dick. Never worked with him after college but have warm fond memories as a child.

ELLA AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL

Q: I'd love to know how Ella reacted to having to get through all those lyrics (I've read somewhere that she blenched a bit, especially at the profusion of verses)

A: I picked every single song - but when the list for each was finally over 50 - I asked Norman Granz to cut it down I was on overload and had to write the orchestrations as well as do my A&R job - I thought to 12-15 - but even he couldn't cut them down below 32 which is why we ended up with double albums of both! Yes the verses posed a problem - I was encyclopedic on the verses of these two composers/lyricist so when I sang every verse and even chorus to Ella - I really sold it - I was slightly disappointed in the final outcome of the verses - because - and don't forget we recorded a voluminous amount of material - they were sung slightly 'reticent' to me - but we could only 2 takes on each - maybe 3 if it really didn't work - and remem-bering back to Just One Of Those Things verse - As Dorothy Parker Once Said... well I knew that by heart - and Ella struggled - "Who is Dorothy Parker? Writer/reviewer etc. Who is Is abel? Queen Isabella of Spain. Who is Abelard? Who is Eloise? etc. All documented in the Songbooks booklet! Yes the verses were a struggle but I insisted on the verses because they are part and parcel of each song - I don't think verses are ever written NOT to be sung!

Q: and what responses, if any, you got from Porter and Rodgers themselves.

A: I got a beautiful note from Cole Porter - Norman flew to NY and played the dubs for him in person - every track - he went bonkers - naturally I don't know where the heck it is - but it was short and sweet. Richard Rodgers on the other hand wrote a glowing long note - and afterwards gave me the rights to do - TOO GOOD FOR THE AVERAGE MAN (Little Known Songs of Rodgers & Hart) in NY which I pro-duced - Free of Charge - (he sat next to me on opening night and kept leaning over and asking "What Song is that?" I answered, "Take & Take & Take" etc. when he heard the verses - even he didn't remember the verses to his own songs; of course some were written many many years before and he wrote over 1000 songs) and at the BBC when I produced & directed The World of Richard Rodgers Pts 1 & 2 - he gave me the rights to both catalogues free as well - and when I came back here the same - but now with Ted Chapin and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Office in full swing - doing a very professional job on both catalogs and Irving Berlin's stuff, etc.... and Richard Rodgers not being alive, that will never ever happen again.

Q: Also, how much input, again if any, did you have in choosing the songs?

A: As I said before I picked all the songs - Norman had his asst. bought sheet music, etc... to about 100 songs for each composer - Ella and I whittled them down to about 50 and after that we were on overload and I just dumped them on Norman Granz's desk and said something like, "It's whittle down time." After my 2 years there - the first 2 years of Verve's existence - I remember mentioning that I believe these 2 albums will have saturated the market and I know you're going to do Berlin, Arlen, etc... and I don't believe anything after these 2 will ever near the sales figures they did - they were the most recognized composers, most 'popular' of show tunes, never been done on this scale before, 9000 reasons - but of course nothing could ever stop him, and he finally got the older more seasoned arrangers to do them, and he was happy - except re one area - I was right - none of the others done after the 2 I did ever came near the sales the 1st 2 did - all the profits from Cole/R&H went to pay for the recording sessions of the others - need I say more.

In fact the first weekend of The Cole Porter album in the NY area at Liberty Music Shops alone sold 20,000 units - why I remember this figure I do not know - it might have been the whole NY area but I seem to remember the figure via Liberty Shops - but I could be wrong. But I'm sure it was the first Fri-Sat-Sun that generated the figure and the figure is imbedded in my brain.

ADDENDA: At Basin St and The Americana Hotel in NY When I went to see Ella perform - she said something like this to the audience - and remember I never really spent any other time with her other than the work - "Now Ladies & Gentleman I'd like to introduce a man who brought me back from the 'dead' - A man who completely changed my career for the better - brought me back (words to that effect) [My wife and I think wow Norman Granz must be here] - then she introduces me! I was stunned, stunned, stunned - both times this happened - so even though she never said any of that to me in private she did in public. Very very nice woman. My wife had tears in her eyes when Ella then said, "Mister Buddy Bregman!"

KESSLER TWINS

I believe they have CDs out - as well as a lot of Kinos - they speak fluent German (obviously) French (Al-ice's husband is/was? Marcel Amont) Italian (they did Studio Uno a thousand times/Ellen's husband was/is Umberto Orsini) Spanish (all the waiters we encountered all over Europe seemed to be Spanish and they were fluent with them) English (perfectly with me at all times and rapid-fire).

I did their Cabaret and TV Act for the whole world and it was translated into all 5 languages! At the Busola Club in Viraggio near Pisa they did the whole show in Italian. At The Sporting Club in Monte Carlo they did the whole show in French. In Villars (Switzerland) for BBC Television they did the whole show in English. They were/are astounding talents and fabulous personally and were the top act at the Lido in Paris for years - sang/danced, etc. - 5'11" - 6' in their stocking feet.

I never knew them early on - only met and worked with them in the mid - late 60s - then completely lost touch - as one does in this biz - they loved my wife and my daughter and did I ever love them - from afar obviously - but always got that twinge whenever I looked at them. Ellen was my all time fave - as she much less Teutonic than Alice - whose movements were a bit stiffer and more robotic.

JOSÉ GRECO

I produced and directed two very large José Greco Specials for the BBC as well - Part 1 - FLAMENCO and Part 2 - THE DANCES OF SPAIN.

I loved Joe, as he wanted to be called - from Brooklyn: And I thought he was form Spain. On Stage A GIANT - offstage NOT A GIANT - he was short - he looked 12 feet tall on stage.

I waited for him outside Royal Elizabeth Hall for our meeting after I saw his shows - I had written volumes on a pad of ideas of how turn to what I saw into TV fare - etc... Finally everyone had gone and I couldn't find him - he had said on the phone to wait outside the stage door under the large outdoor a Period Street Lamp - which I did - but couldn't find him - and suddenly a voice from behind me said, "You Buddy? I'm Joe." I turned around to this short guy who looked like a hit man - and he said, "Let's go eat!"

His dancing partner (the unbelievably gorgeous and fab performer) Nana Lorca slinked out from the shad-ows and we went out. Had a ball - with some of the other members of the troupe - worked together for a month - and did 2 spectacular shows.

I didn't like being assigned shows at BBC because I mostly created my own shows from scratch and they were very dramatic and/or funny and/or musical - but the Makeba and Greco (4) shows I value highly as I took what I saw on stage and created a brand new format for what were already proven entities.

I did the same with Roland Petit-Zizi Jeanmaire-Yves St. Laurent shows I produced and directed in Paris - the only difference was - and it was an exciting difference - Roland wouldn't restage his dance numbers when I asked him to - he said, "You do it!" Talk about frying pan into the fire - but it was an exciting prospect - added to the already burdensome job of producing and directing the shows - but they came off pretty well as evidenced by the fact that I won an award at Montreaux for my work on the them.

My favorite two TV Specials I produced and directed at The BBC were with MIRIAM MAKEBA - I even had her walking through fire - she also tried to teach me the Click Song - obviously to no avail - and when I worked with her at The Tivoli Gardens in Amsterdam before I took she and the whole troupe back to London to shoot the shows she tried to get me to try her special Cayenne Pepper - when she opened the canister at dinner one night to show it to me - the fumes almost blinded me - I don't even put salt on my food.

Also working with Hugh Masakela (trumpet/leader) and Larry Willis (piano) and the band was fun - Hugh and I hit it off right away and Larry helped everything because he knew a lot of the guys in the Basie Band whom I had worked with previously.

BOBBY SHORT & CARMEN McRAE

I of course have to take the (dubious) credit for doing - arranging/producing/conducting Bobby's STAND-UP Musical Show for Vegas. It was a really great production. He only sat at the piano near end of the act - what a brilliant idea on my part??!! Almost sent him out of the business - no one twigged to Bobby Short standing and dancing and singing - they only loved him sitting and singing. Go know!? I'm just happy he has said hello to me after that! But he always loved my mother. "How's Claire, I love her!" (Jule's sister)

ANOTHER ALBUM I JUST THOUGHT OF: SOMETHING WONDERFUL with Carmen McRae on Columbia - Teo Macero produced it - I came up with the idea to salute the Great Ladies of the Musical Theatre - did all medleys from King & I, Two on the Aisle, Bells Are Ringing, etc... see list below:

SOMETHING WONDERFUL - CARMEN MC RAE ALBUM: (Columbia)

Salute to Ethel Merman: Blow Gabriel Blow; All Thru the Night; Anything Goes - from ANYTHING GOES

Salute to Judy Holliday: Long Before I Knew You; Just in Time - from BELLS ARE RINGING

Salute to Pearl Bailey: Come Rain or Come Shine - from ST. LOUIS WOMAN

Salute to Ella Logan: If This Isn't Love; Look to the Rainbow; That Great Come and Get It Day - from FINIAN'S RAINBOW

Salute to Mary Martin: A Wonderful Guy - from SOUTH PACIFIC

Salute to Jo Sullivan: Don't Cry; I Like Ev'rybody; Warm All Over - from THE MOST HAPPY FELLA

Salute to Dolores Gray: Give a Little, Get a Little; There Never Was a Baby Like My Baby - from TWO ON THE AISLE

Salute Gert. Lawrence: Getting to Know You; Hello Young Lovers; Something Wonderful - from THE KING AND I

I had half the Basie Band on the date - and Carmen's Rhythm Section - I think Sol Gubin was the drummer - I did it in NY and Teo got the band together as I knew no NY musicians except the Basie guys I had worked with when I recorded with them or Sammy Davis (Sammy Awards - Decca) using mostly the whole band.

Working with CARMEN McRAE (with her friend Jason by her side constantly; he would always make tea and cookies and stuff like that) was turgid - like getting your feet stuck in pots of glue as you walked through The Village - where she lived and where (to my shocking surprise) Andy Warhol glorified Jason in an endless bio film about he and The Village Meat Rack (Market?) - after 10 minutes one wonders why anyone would look at that c---!

She used to look at me like "Why am I working with this guy?" But but but she is the best female singer I ever recorded with - ever ever ever - and the worst experience - the verse on Just in Time and the rest of it with her wry delivery is classic. Those few bars of the verse are classic full understanding of what the lyrics meant!

FAN MAIL:

Buddy, Just a quick note to say that I'm a big fan of yours. I first discovered your great arrangements on Ella's Cole Porter Songbook. Ever since then, I try to find your name on albums. I've had some success, but would love to find more. I have Ella's Rodgers and Hart songbooks also.

But, the one I love the best is the "Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings" album. Your arrangements are perfect on that album. I actually had never appreciated Bing Crosby before hearing that album. His timing and phrasing are impecca-ble. I have to admit, I almost didn't get it because of the steep price, but have found that it's worth every penny and more.

I just got your new "Swing" album and am very excited to start getting into it. I'm so glad to see you're still doing new albums. Any chance of your getting a gig with one of the few remaining "big band singers" (I don't know what else to call them!). Rosemary Clooney is still out there.

I think Tony Bennett should take a break from his small combo stuff and do a big band album with you! I know you did one or more albums with Anita O'Day. I'm not really familiar with her. Hmmnn, Jack Jones would sound great with your arrangements.

Wait! I've got it! A new set of Steve & Eydie Songbooks in the Ella style, with Buddy Bregman doing the orchestrations. Don't waste a minute. Get on it right away while Steve & Eydie are still at the top of their game. It's a shame that they (and you) haven't recorded more in recent years. Ya gotta do it! Tom Cafarella

Dear Mr. Bregman, I am a huge fan of your work not only with Bing but with Ella Fitzgerald as well. You really are a genius! I am so glad that your record with Bing is being released on CD. It is about time!

He (Buddy) is very underrated but is on the same level as Nelson Riddle, Marty Paich and Billy May. Support him & buy this gem! pal - Amazon.com review of SWING CD on Varese Sarabande.

Mr. Bregman, I just bought a copy of Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings on Gold CD and I wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying it. I'm 40 years old and looking for something new, I found your Bing CD which is just fantas-tic! The charts are stupendous. Not over done as I find some of Billy May's and somehow "lighter" than Riddle's, yet it really swings. I'm not a musician but I think you're great. I just LOVE "Mountain Greenery". If Mr. Crosby did more of this kind of music (with the excellent fidelity of Bing Sings...) I need to find it. Thanks for making my life a little bit happier with the discovery of this great recording. Have a wonderful New Year. Best wishes, Mitchell Press (Just North of San Francisco)

Hi! - I came across your e-mail address through your reviews on amazon.com and just wanted to send you a note expressing appreciation for your wonderful talent. I am a law student in Chicago and have been in love with jazz vocalists for a long time. Your work became familiar to me when I was in high school and first came across the Cole Porter album you recorded with Ella. What a gem! And then I picked up the Anita O'Day albums (just bought the Mo-saic CD set which gathers all her Verve output).

Recently, I had a chance to listen to the "Swinging Kicks" reissue (on Verve) and was very touched by the Ben Webster solo ballad. Your music has obviously been an inspiration to many musicians as well as listeners. I am sure you have three million incredibly interesting stories to tell and I know you offered to answer questions anyone might pose you. Well, I am sure you are terribly busy so I won't impose. Of course, if you have any story you would like to share I would feel honored... But my main reason for writing was simply to say thank you. It may be easy to forget at times that your work was so important and is still so much appreciated. My younger sister and I danced and sang along with some of the albums you were so much a part of. She is still living in Italy, while I moved back to the States for school (my mom is Italian, my dad American but they got divorced and we stayed with la mamma in Vicenza, (near Venice). Anyway, right now I'm thinking of her and the happy moments we passed with your music. And I feel privileged to let you know you were a part of our memories. Thanks, David

Mr. Bregman, I saw your email online while browsing the Amazon.com "Basie" section and I had to drop a line and tell you how much I dug your record, "Swinging Kicks". I saw it at a store and took one look at it and said "this has gotta be something I'll like!" What stellar players! Plus, the arrangements are my favorite kind of swing: BLAST! It hasn't left my CD player in weeks! Thanks for a great listening experience, Darren Gauthier New Orleans, LA - Darren Gauthier host of THE TOP END Sunday Nights, 7:00 PM a 106-7 The End STEREO presentation

BUDDY BREGMAN'S BIG BAND SWING ALBUM ON VARESE SARABANDE THAT CAME OUT IN MID 1999 WAS VOTED ONE OF THE TOP CDs OF THE DECADE!

I think your charts for Anita O'Day are the best she ever had and form a cornerstone of jazz musicianship! Darwin Bell SF

Mr. Bregman, you make me happy every day! Whether I am listening to one of Ella's "Songbooks" or my current favorite, "Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings," I'm smiling. I have your CDs in my car so I can listen on the way to and from work. They ought to hand them out at the Motor Vehicles Bureau with each new driver's license -- no one could possibly fall victim to "road rage" when Bing is singing "I've Got Five Dollars!" I didn't know that you had released a new CD in 1998, but I've ordered and can't wait to hear it.Thank you!!!! Lelia Kelly Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Mr. Bregman; I saw your comments on Amazon.com's listing of Ella Fitzgerald albums...I'm thrilled that it is possible to send my comments to you. I am a recent "convert" to Ella's music - I'm 45 years old and was one of those 'rock'n roller' types, but thanks to a wonderful friend (for whom I will always be indebted), I was turned on to Ella's mu-sic...I have never been so swept away by music so beautiful and intoxicating. ...And the Rodgers and Hart lp has to be my favorite. Your musical arrangements - Rodgers and Hart's compositions - and Ella's magnificent voice...musical perfection. I simply can't get enough of it. (Despite rumors to the contrary, I think you really can wear CD's out - no need to fear - I'd be out the next day for another copy).... Thank you thank you THANK YOU for this music that has become an important part of my life!! Now - and forever - a fan, Randy Oftedahl Rhode Island

I just wanted to add a comment about a particularly favorite number of mine: "My Romance," and the subtle and brilliant piano work on the piece. Priceless. I love the Cole Porter Songbook as well, of course, but I remember reading a comment by Ella that she most enjoyed singing ballads. It definitely shows. And since you orchestrated her finest ballads...well, what a fitting tribute... I was very taken by your comments on Lorenz Hart's life...I didn't know that, but it makes sense. Those words must have come from somewhere... And thank you again for your comments. This makes all that wonderful music seem all the more personal now. Highest regards, Randy Oftedahl

Buddy: I have about 15 Ella CDs - and I SWEAR to you, this is true - when I heard the arrangements on the Rodgers & Hart album, I was so impressed, I had to check out the Arranger - and I said to myself, this guy is GREAT! Of all of Ella's albums, YOUR arrangements are the best. Coleen Toews

On another subject, I spoke with Wendell Echols of Audiophile Records last night. As it turns out, Wendell is a huge admirer of Mr. Bregman's work over the years. Among other observations, he thinks that Mr. Bregman provided Bing Crosby with the best back up of his career, and he thinks Ella's Cole Porter album is simply one of her best. High praise coming from a man who knows as much about singers as anyone I've ever known. As for me, and this is the first time I've added my name to the list of Buddy Bregman's admirers, in college a friend gave me the Annie Ross Gypsy album, and I wore the thing out! It's still one of all time favorite albums.

ELLA FITZGERALD - Sings The Cole Porter Song Book - Verve One of her best selling and most popular recordings, this newly reissued 2-CD set was Ella's first songbook collection produced by Norman Granz and it is clearly one of the most definitive performances of Cole Porter's music on record. No other artist could match Ella's interpretations of Porter gems 'Love For Sale,' 'Just One of Those Things,' 'So In Love' and many more standards with the Buddy Bregman Orchestra. Great sound, great music

OSCAR PETERSON sure does sound like Nat - I did his vocal album on Verve. What a wonderful man. And as a player - I can't even describe the feeling he gives to me. I also produced and directed the Newport Jazz Festival - which I should own - but don't - too much Europe and a fire at my storage place in Swiss Cottage in London - it was a cute little garage where I used to get my cars worked on and they said they would store anything for me while I was in NY - only a few months - and when I returned all my stuff and the garage was gone - burned up - but on The festival Oscar played the SONG IS YOU - oh, My Lord - a tempo that should be on The Indianapolis Speedway - Monk was on it too - I tried to work with him - Uh Huh - Duke - Basie - Joe Williams AND Jimmy Rushing in the afternoon with Basie's band singing GOIN TO CHICAGO as a duet!!!

LAS VEGAS DAYS

Since I worked there in that hey day I have to say that almost everyone I saw was wonderful - especially the acts I worked with - did the music for - Ray Bolger - Sammy Davis - Jerry Lewis - Kay Thompson - Kay Thompson - Kay Thompson - Diahann Carroll - Eydie Gormé - NOT Eddie Fisher - Joel Grey - Van Johnson - The Rat Pack (I did not do any work for but loved them and was very close to Sammy and Peter - especially Peter) - Lena (did not work for but loved her) - but the best times were when Milton Berle used to host parties on Saturday night in the black section - and invite all of us whom he was working with or knew - it was hilarious beyond belief - totally integrated when it wasn't supposed to be and Milton would say ANYTHING - I remember moments with Sammy Davis watching Milton really in top form and saying racist things beyond belief - re white girls and black men and prowess in the sack, eating ribs which we all were, etc... it was wild and at 5-6AM when it was finally over no one in the room could rise from their chairs without their ribs hurting - it was beyond funny - and the audience was comprised of all pros!

But almost all of my memories were at The Sands - I did so many acts for the Copa Room and arranged all the music for the line numbers - so I was there at least for one week every 2 months - for rehearsal and show openings using my music.

I was also arranging all the line numbers at The Sahara, The New Frontier, The Sands, The Flamingo and The Tropicana - so I got to see all of them - BUT NOTHING TOPS Rickles alongside Louis & Keeley at The Sahara AND The Mary Kaye Trio. Every night after the 2nd show - food at The Colonial House and then to Th Sahara for 2-3 hours of music and laughs! I also loved Shecky Greene at The Riv - he was always a riot. One night he was working with Lionel Hampton and his band and forced me up on stage to play with them - I can play the piano but I can't PLAY the piano.

I luckily saw em all in the hey day when I was barely beginning and feel good about the fact that I did, but also sad that it was eons ago!

Speaking of eons ago I have to go to Jack Haley Jr's funeral on Wednesday with the after-party-wake at Nancy Sinatra's for those of us closest to Jack - and I am not looking forward to it because it is so sad that Jack just decided to allow himself to go - not caring about living for the last 3 years or so - and at the beginning of my career we were together a lot - and I will have to also see the sea of faces from my beginning days during college days - it is so sad - such a waste of such a unique talent - and before his wishing to 'demise' he was a lot of fun - and also at times a pain - and we would just say, "That's Jack." Or Jackie if you knew him when.

NANCY SINATRA, the doll of the century, is ALWAYS THERE when you need her. Especially for the Haley family - she and Jack were very close. She is truly one of the wonderful women of this world. It's always a treat to see her - even under these circumstances.

EYDIE GORMÉ sang "After You've Gone" one night at The Concord in a tempo slower than the slowest turtle walks. It was breathtaking - sensuous - sad - like 10 times better than her "Guess Who I Saw Today", which is also pretty bloody great.

I was enraptured and felt like we were back together like when I was doing her charts for her Vegas Act - I was transported - other than the fact that my wife was sitting next to me and Steve Lawrence's mother for an hour before Eydie finally had the unbelievable solo spot kept leaning over to me and saying, "Dot's my son!" Well I mean Sue, Tracey and I were their invited guests and we already knew that - but she said it to me 3 times during the show.

I don't know if it's recorded by her - and even if it is it could never capture that moment - it it frozen in time in my memory. What a brilliant thrilling singer she is/was - probably 'was' is the operative word now. But boy she had lots of those moments in the act - and after I would conduct for the rehearsals and sometimes 1st night and then her conductor/piano player would take over I would watch her from the wings or from a table in the audience and was mesmerized even though I did the act.

DELLA REESE

Della did the all-timer - and I witnessed it - my daughter did an MOW with her playing the younger daughter of Ann Miller - and I picked Tracey up at Fox on the last day of filming and as we were packing up her clothes into the car, Della and her husband came out - the girls kissy-kissed good-bye - love ya stuff - her husband had wheeled out a rack - with all Della's own clothes and all of the MOW (heavy $$$) designed clothes from the film. So little Tracey says, "Oh, Della, we were told we weren't supposed to take any of our film clothes home with us." "That's all right honey, I take em from every show I ever do!"

ANNI ANDERSEN

Anni and I hooked up in London - I vividly remember her - a lot like Lina Olin in looks only much sexier - fabulous jazz singer - I loved her personally also very, very much - she was so much fun - and wow did she have a mouth on her - said lots of four-letter words and would break me up. And you're right no accent when she sang - I knew Lil Babbs (Swedish) as well, but Anni had much more than Lil did.

We had some great times together - then.... awful... tragic...

MEL TORMÉ

Steve and Melissa Tormé changed their name to March the second Candy married Hal. As soon as Mel was on "Night Court, suddenly it was changed. At one of Missy's clients' openings. Robert Collins, ex-Calvin Klein salesman and brilliant comedian, it was Melissa Tormé and Steve was Steve Tormé I still have a hard time with it.

The hate Candy levied on the kids - now not kids - was awful - I mean Mel was the white Sammy Davis - played every instrument - wrote every arrangement etc. etc. etc. so he told me after I gifted him with Welcome To The Club chart when he came to London for me and I did 2 shows with him - and he (unfortunately) was introduced to Janet Scott inside The BBC Club on the 4th floor of Television Centre - she was with David Frost at the time so I introed them - and he said to me on the way out - "I must see her" - he did and they married and one night she said she was going to the store and hopped on an airplane with the kids and returned to England never to speak to him again.

He was difficult but brilliant. When he and Sammy were together it was mayhem - "What was the name of the weirdo in the Robert young Film in 1939 who kept peeking out of the bushes?" "Porter Hall." "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." They were fun if you were a voyeur.

Steve's okay - worked with Kathy Lee on Name That Song - got his baptism - but he ain't no Mel. He'll hate me for saying that - but it's true. And Kathy Lee Epstein ain't no Ella.

HUGH MARTIN

I was around them quite a bit - Hugh more than Ralph. Hugh was a great vocal arranger - and wrote the best vocal stuff I ever heard for "High Button Shoes" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Especially on "Bye Bye Baby". His teacher was of course the great Kay Thompson.

I was around Make a Wish a bit. Hugh Martin played the piano, wrote vocal arrangements and wrote the music and lyrics. Great songs/numbers like, "Suits Me Fine", "That Face" (I later recorded the other version of it with Fred Astaire written by The Bergman's and Lew Spence - as I remember it was through this session [which Norman threatened to fire me once again if I ever recorded again with Fred] that Alan and Marilyn met). Alan wrote his first song with me - "South of the Mason Dixon Line" - he whispered all the lyrics in my ear when I bumped into him at an ASCAP dinner.

Also in MAW When Does This Feeling Go Away is one of the great ballads ever written. Unfortunately Nanette Fabray look more 40 than 14 and that helped sink the ship - but the score soared and every musical/lyrical moment was a gem. And Gower's choreography - brilliant!

Ralph Blane was a great idea guy and wrote the words; I used to see Ralph at a certain singer's house - who kind of adopted me while I was at UCLA and had a great family. I always felt Ralph was a guy who probably re-wrote (1st shot dummy lyrics of Hugh's). A nicer kinder man one could never meet - but talent did not ooze out of him like it did Hugh.

Hugh was my idol as far as vocal arrangements (plus the additional lyrics he always added) for the chorus are concerned and I loved the fact that I worked a lot with Hugh's star pupil Buster Davis - who was my uncle Jule's pet.

Buster did almost every show Jule ever wrote. And then when I made a mark in the biz worked with me on many an occasion. Fabulous person, unbelievably funny. I can still see the dark glasses and the swinging brief case walking down Broadway to meet me in front of the Mark Hellinger Theatre (where Jule officed) or Nola Rehearsal Studios.

When Buster played a show - like Gentlemen - his piano was propped up so the cast could see him better than they could see Milton Rosenstock the conductor for the vocal cues. Women used to come to matinees and evening performances in a row just to see him (with the darkest glasses known to the world on) and swinging and swaying back and forth. One girl was so intense that the whole cast was transfixed on her transfixed on Buster. And when she came back stage to see him - she gave a note to the old guy at the door - he goes to Buster's dressing room and hands it to him. Buster reads it, looks up and says to the old guy, "Ask her if she's got a brother!"

Even though I'm encyclopedic on Jule Styne songs - I never was on Rodgers & Hart - and it was through Buster I learned all about the unknown stuff - as I type this I am looking at a major pile of original R&H sheet music with Buster's stamp on it - bearing his name and 58th St. address.

As a sidebar I remember that I was always fascinated by Hugh Martin's fingers - the longest I have ever seen.

THE GREATEST: Count Basie Plays - Joe Williams Sings Standards - Verve

Arranged & Conducted By Buddy Bregman

1. A Fine Romance - one of my all-time favorite (Kern) Fred & Ginger songs
2. Come Rain Or Come Shine - my least favorite chart - I've done better
3. I Can't Believe You're in Love With Me - I hated the song but Joe liked singing it when he did his solo act so I did it for him.
4. I'm Beginning to See the Light - I like this one!
5. My Baby Just Cares For Me - Again Joe wanted to do it so I wrote the chart
6. Nevertheless - never liked this song but there is something magical when he does it - I guess one believes what he is saying/singing about - he made me a believer how meaningful the lyric can be in the right hands.
7. Our Love is Here to Stay - lovely - Frank Wess plays a nice flute on this.
8. 'S Wonderful - great one - fantastic response from Appollo audience.
9. Singin' in the Rain - brilliant - I thought it might be interesting to do and it was.
10. There Will Never Be Another You - I overwrote on this one - of course in those embryonic days I overwrote on everything except the ballads for Ella in the Rod-gers & Hart album.
11. This Can't Be Love - Joe is great on this one
12. Thou Swell - fab!

SINGLES: Silent Treatment+++ - Verve

Silent Treatment - Music By Donald Kahn (Gus Kahn's son) Lyrics by (my cousin) Stanley Styne (Jule Styne's son) I recorded 4 singles with Joe - Silent Treatment was one of them - the other 3 were also very good.

SONNY PAYNE Drums (Count Basie Band) - the all-time greatest in my book and the sweetest guy in the world - lots of fun - one of the few guys in the band I was friendly with - always smiled - then did away with himself somehow on drugs - what a shame; Joe Newman and Thad Jones on trumpets (Joe did the harmon mute stuff behind Joe Williams - Thad did a solo I think) Frank Wess on tenor and flute - still one of the greatest) - Frank Foster - tenor extraordinaire and great great great arranger (Every Day I have the Blues for Joe - one of the all-time greatest charts!) - I learned a lot from him just by listening - he was a real nice guy - I'm sure I used some of it in my future stuff - Benny Powell on Trombone WOW AND DOUBLE WOW player - he and I really hit it off - what a fun person and my kinda guy - always excited about the work and couldn't wait to get started on the music. Rehearsed his part to the max.

Hear are a few rants and ravings from buyers of the 2 Songbook albums + some others I did:

DOWN BEAT MAGAZINE REVIEW
By John McDonough
BUDDY BREGMAN: Swing (Varese Sarabande) ***** (5 stars – the highest – no other band got 5!!!) The young prodigy who (arranged and) conducted Ella Fitzgerald’s classic Cole porter and Rodgers & Hart Songbooks, Bregman has produced a superb magnum opus of pop swing. By treating the canon creatively, Bregman gives us a dozen instrumentals that take the material to new places without losing the spirit or drive of the originals or letting singers get in the way. Good Old ‘In The Mood’ starts in the familiar manner, then turns into a series of clever modulations, contrapuntal riffs and variations. Bregman finds similar opportunities in ‘Take The A Train,’ ‘Opus #1’ and especially Les Brown’s ‘Leap Frog,’ which stretches into a charging little swing con-certo grosso. This characterizes the whole CD. With solos brief and the sound centered on ensembles, Bregman the arranger has done it the hard way and put his signature on every bar. Engineer Vince Cirelli, by the way, has crafted the 8 brass and 5 reeds with a big, dense sound to keep the speakers booming at swing dances. Let’s have a volume 2!

52nd Street
Reviewed By: Les Line
Buddy Bregman Swinging Kicks Verve Reissued 1998 Time: 39 minutes
Musicians: Buddy Bregman (composer/arranger/conductor) with (collective personnel) Conte Candoli, Pete Candoli, Maynard Ferguson, Conrad Cozzo and Ray Linn (trumpet); Milt Bernhart, George Roberts, Frank Rosolino and Lloyd Ulyate (trombone); Herb Gel-ler and Bud Shank (alto sax); Georgie Auld, Bob Cooper, Stan Getz and Ben Webster (tenor sax); Jimmy Giuffre (baritone sax); Andre Previn and Paul Smith (piano); Al Hen-drickson (guitar); Joe Mongragon (bass); Stan Levey and Alvin Stoller (drums).

Look what fell out of the Verve closet! Buddy Bregman is best known in jazz circles as the young arranger who was hired by Norman Granz for Ella Fitzgerald's first Verve date--the "Cole Porter Songbook." Purists tend to put down his big-band-plus-strings or-chestrations as being insufficiently jazzy. However, Granz was packaging Ella for a broader audience and in that context, Bregman's writing for Ella holds up remarkably well years after the fact.

He also scored major television series, was musical director of the Eddie Fisher show, and arranged for Bing Crosby and Jerry Lewis, among others. But Buddy apparently had few opportunities to strut his stuff as a leader: the discographies show only this and an-other LP for Verve and one for World Pacific. "Swinging Kicks" was probably picked for reissue in the label's budget-priced "By Request" series because of its title, swing being "in" these days. But the music actually is the re-orchestrated and expanded score that Bregman wrote for a long-forgotten flick called "The Wild Party." He utilizes both a big band and an octet comprised of the best jazz players in Los Angeles (check out the list above).

The tracks range from 1:18 to 3:46 in length, the solos are mostly brief, but a lot of fine playing is crammed into these miniatures, reminding us that the lack of time limits at a jazz recording session is not necessarily a blessing. Bregman's charts for the small group are straight out of the then-popular West Coast Jazz mold, with Bud Shank the major so-loist. Ben Webster has several solo spots with the big band, making this CD a must-have for the tenor giant's many fans. Maynard Ferguson gets a chance to pierce the clouds with his high notes. In short, I didn't know this album existed but it's given me a lot of swinging kicks over several playings, though I'm not sure of the significance of the scantily chick on the brass bed on the cover.

MARLENE DIETRICH/AUDREY HEPBURN/VAN JOHNSON/KAY THOMPSON:

I don't know why but I forgot to write about Marlene Dietrich for my web site. I knew her quite well. She had had her day in the sun by then even though she killed the people in Las Vegas - a major hit there after her film career was over. I was hired by 2 ex-MGM stars to do all the music for their cabaret shows (separate) at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. The Rat Pack had been there and in between them they had Sammy Davis (whom I have already written extensively about as I also did his first cabaret solo act after recording 5 albums with him) - and they then booked Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers (I did their act as well - my mother knew Kay through my Uncle Jule Styne - her brother) and told her she had a son at UCLA "who does music" = whatever that means - and Kay (who starred in Funny Face with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn - who I fell madly in love with - and luckily followed her [strictly by work] to Paramount and then NBC in New York when we worked side by side - she in Studio 3 doing Mayerling and I was in Studio 4 - unfortunately she was married and I was still in my teens.

So Kay Thompson hired me and Marlene came to rehearsal on occasion - maybe for an hour or so and the ladies would huddle for a while and then she would leave - and then Kay would give us some new directions to go - obviously heeding some sort of advice. While they were doing their routines and the few times she was there I sat near Marlene and took notes.

Then Kay recommended me to Van Johnson as he was also booked into the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. He absolutely loved my mother - he always called me "Claire's Boy" - finally figuring out my name. Early in my producing and directing career I hired Van as a reciprocal measure to star in a gigantic TV Special I shot all over Europe and one day he was to be lowered into a scene standing inside a glittering cutout - as his entrance - Very Ziegfeld - unfortunately the foreign crew guys didn't lower him evenly - and he had vertigo - and after the 3rd try he yelled out to my wife: "Suzanne, tell your husband that this is the last time I do this and if it doesn't work I will leave the show/ Thank God it worked.

Marlene came to rehearsal for Van's act almost every day. Kay also joined in and I had a ball with the two ladies and Roger Edens MGM Musical Director) and Nick Castle (Choreographer) - and Van was fabulous to me and he was a major smash in Las Vegas - and what a great person - knew my brother and I when we were little kids at The Racquet Club in Palm Springs with our parents and was always wonderful to us then and to me later on. Marlene wore US Army fatigues every day with those big brown army boots - and looked incredible - I mean outlandishly wonderful - what a dream lady.

When I was in London at The BBC I got a call from Burt Bacharach who asked if I would conduct for Marlene in Australia - she would pay me top dollar for 6 weeks because he was too tied up to go - I told him I was under contract to the Beeb and could not leave as I was producing and directing major specials back-to-back-to-back etc... he asked if I would please meet with her as maybe she could talk me into it. I never told him I already knew her as I didn't know her that well - only during rehearsals - and she did come to Vegas with Van at The Sands.

So we met at The Dorchester Hotel in London for 'Tea at 4' - there we were - sitting on a love seat - she did not want me to sit across from her with the tea table in between but insisted I sit right next to her - and we talked for 2 hours - her trying to get me to go as Burt had said such nice things about me etc... and she knew from before - and I told her I couldn't because of my contract and she finally understood.

And just tonight I saw Maria Riva her wonderful daughter on Larry King - and I loved how Larry treated her - with great reverence for her mother and respect for Maria - it was one of the best interviews I've ever seen him do - he was lovely. The only other interview that certainly ranks as high as tonight's was just the other night when he interviewed Audrey's son - wow was that moving and sad and brought tears to my eyes.

So there again my past flashed by and there is Van and Kay and Marlene and Audrey! Wow - when I think about the times with the four of them I realize how monumental it really was; I never thought about it at the time - hey, I was working!!!

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