Gary McFarland born 23 October 1933

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.