Gary Robert McFarland (October 23, 1933 – November 3, 1971)
was a composer, arranger, vibraphonist and vocalist. Largely forgotten now, Gary
McFarland was one of the more significant contributors to orchestral jazz
during the early '60s. He had an unfortunately short career. But he was
surprisingly productive in the brief decade he was captured on record
(1960-70). An "adult prodigy," as Gene Lees once noted, McFarland was
an ingenious composer whose music revealed shades of complex emotional subtlety
and clever childlike simplicity.
While in the Army, he became interested in jazz and
attempted to play trumpet, trombone, and piano. In 1955, he took up playing the
vibes. Displaying a quick ability for interesting writing, he obtained a
scholarship to the Berklee School of Music. He spent one semester there and
with the encouragement of pianist John Lewis, concentrated on large-band
arrangements of his own compositions.
He attained early notoriety and success working with
Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Hodges, John Lewis, Stan Getz, Bob Brookmeyer, and Anita
O'Day. unique arrangements and an early devotion and sympathetic understanding
of the bossa nova. McFarland began devoting more attention to his own career
and in 1963 released what is often regarded as his most significant recording
-- The Gary McFarland Orchestra/Special Guest Soloist: Bill Evans -- a sublime,
evocative score that revels in its simplicity. He also started recording in
small-group settings which began to feature his own vibes playing (Point of
Departure).
In 1964, shortly after staging his own ballet,
Reflections in the Park, McFarland issued Soft Samba, a set of pop-rock covers
featuring some of the earliest jazz covers of popular Beatles tunes. The
controversial album featured pleasant samba-like rhythms enhanced by wordless
vocals and whistling and minimal improvising. While Soft Samba attracted a
sizable and appreciative audience, the jazz press and McFarland's early
admirers were harshly dismissive. But McFarland experienced his first real hit
and a taste of considerable popularity.
The success of Soft Samba allowed McFarland to form his
first performing group. The band toured clubs across America during the summer
of 1965 and recorded an album similar -- but superior -- to Soft Samba, called
The In Sound. Here, McFarland mixed his brand of pop vocalese with the
substantial improvisational talents of unique accompanists, most notably Gabor
Szabo.
The following year found McFarland devoting his talents
to the large-scale orchestras which provided his initial notoriety. A February
6, 1966, performance at New York's Lincoln Centre yielded the record Profiles,
which collected New York's finest jazz musicians and soloists.
McFarland went
on that year to record an album of blatant, Beatlesque pop with Gabor Szabo (Simpatico),
a soundtrack for a David Niven film and wrote and arranged the highly regarded
The October Suite for pianist Steve Kuhn, an outstanding set of lyrical and
moody tone poems in a chamber jazz setting. He also recorded Zoot Sims in an
orchestral ("sax with strings") setting for the lovely Impulse album
Waiting Game.
McFarland then teamed with guitarist Gabor Szabo and
vibist Cal Tjader in 1968 to form the Skye Recordings label under the direction
of their mutual manager Norman Schwartz. McFarland recorded several titles of
his own for the label; a few overtly pop-jazz endeavors (Does The Sun Really
Shine on The Moon, Today), a soundtrack (Slaves) and his critically acclaimed
orchestral work, America the Beautiful.
McFarland acted as "artists and repertoire" man
for each Skye recording. Whether performing, arranging and/or producing,
McFarland, unlike the other principals of Skye, participated in each of Skye's
20-something recordings (also including Szabo, Tjader, percussionist Armando
Peraza, vocalist Grady Tate and blues singer Ruth Brown).
The Skye label lasted less than two years and McFarland,
Tjader and Szabo went their separate ways - never to work together again.
McFarland went on to compose another film score (Who Killed Mary What's 'Er
Name), record a folk-pop record with cartoonist Peter Smith (Butterscotch
Rum), arrange a Steve Kuhn pop album and
supervise the Broadway musical To Live Another Summer/To Pass Another Winter.
By late 1971, McFarland was working hard toward making a
name for himself in Broadway and film, two areas he'd hoped to explore in
greater depth. But on the afternoon of November 2, while with friends in a New
York City bar,he suffered a fatal heart attack and died instantly. He was
declared dead at New York City's St. Vincent Hospital that day. The official
cause of death was a heart attack, but it soon became apparent that the seizure
had been triggered by liquid methadone that was added to his drink and those of
two friends who were with him. One of them, jazz drummer Gene Gammage, barely
survived but never disclosed the events of that day, while the other, writer David
Burnett, went into a coma and died several days later.The police never investigated.
(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic&
Jazzwax)
Here’s
a Fresca TV ad that McFarland wrote, arranged and conducted in 1966. It was
posted by Kristian St. Clair, who directed the documentary This Is Gary
McFarland.
6 comments:
For "Gary McFarland - Soft Samba (1965)" go here:
https://mega.nz/#!9tJjwKrT!GmwSDWiX9Zq7VH7jbubUr6d-2dFOIgr8HKxLCSje8Tg
1. Ringo
2. From Russia With Love
3. She Loves You
4. A Hard Day's Night
5. The Good Life
6. More (Theme From The Film "Mondo Cane")
7. And I Love Her
8. The Love Goddess
9. I Want To Hold Your Hand
10. Emily
11. California,Here I Come
12. La Vie En Rose
For "Gary McFarland - The In Sound (1966)" go here:
https://mega.nz/#!YgZSBJZR!jY5zUYALvagFbMnQTs0l0G4A036XdaabNBD7u7PbPIs
1. The Moment Of Truth
2. Bloop Bleep
3. The Hills Of Verdugo
4. Over Easy
5. Here I Am
6. Fried Bananas
7. The Sting Of The Bee
8. Wine And Bread
9. I Concentrate On You
10. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
Other selected discography :
Gary McFarland Sextet - Point Of Departure (1963)
https://mega.nz/#!DAB3AZTS!fDZPRhhYOi97nKIds3WSkC7sNX8gBRC6rRFcTLNe_Xg
Gary McFarland - Does The Sun Really Shine On The Moon ? (1968)
https://mega.nz/#!kp4m0J6Y!hgVPHApzl7KV6xAonul8CRN88JVAgVmlur6g0acS0vk
Gary McFarland - America The Beautiful (1969)
https://mega.nz/#!QgQn0BIB!KkTycsKeUn33zNljbG8VgdTQga8jnZxJmVMQQJanLbA
Gary McFarland - Gary McFarland Today (1970)
https://mega.nz/#!MgoCDIID!8-oJmrP6dWJYLcPtnTUJWBO3f-ohhxuf4Au_xPKW3FQ
A big thank you to Jose Sandoval @ A walk In The Black forest blog for all active links.
Thank you. McFarland was an interesting arranger although his albums are a very mixed bag.
Amazing educative site for many tastes. Thanks.
hi from Canada,
can it be possible to reload the G.Mcfarland (does the sun really shine on the moon) , the link is dead ?
Hello pe-35, Here's the LP you're after...
https://www.imagenetz.de/aKLLr
allright thanks very much, i appreciate, also i've watch the Fresca commercial, very cool the snow everywhere in the studio ....
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