Autobiographies

Reunion; Mel Torme and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette

I went through a four or five year period where I read a lot of biographies and autobiographies. The nightstand next to my bed had books by or about John Madden, Donald Trump, Queen Elizabeth II, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Tucker, President Woodrow Wilson, Saint Francis of Assisi and Sergei Prokofieff just to name a few.

It started, though, with an autobiography by Beverly Sills. “Beverly – An Autobiography” got published in 1987, only eleven years after her first autobiography: “Bubbles – A Self-Portrait By Beverly Sills”. At that time, I had only seen Ms. Sills on TV once; on the Muppet Show. But through all the humor and silliness, I knew that I was seeing a true class act. She was funny, down-to-earth, a good sport, perpetually effervescent and musically captivating.

Dad asked, “What are you reading?” An autobiography about Beverly Sills. “Ah! Bubbles.” I beg your pardon. “That’s her nickname.” How do you know that? And how do you know her? “Johnny Carson has had her on the Tonight Show for years. She’s cool.” I think that that’s the only time that I ever heard Dad use that word and not mean the local temperature.

Dad made it a point to know a little bit about a lot of things and, when he saw Ms. Sills on the Tonight Show, she made him aware of, well, her, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, Rudolf Bing, Rossini, Donizetti and the term bel canto. The fact that Dad could talk about these things intelligently, and off the cuff, made me realize that Ms. Sills was the friendly lens through which millions of people, who might normally and innocently maintain an isolation from this higher art form, could initiate a warmer and fresher perspective of the often standoffish world of opera. Her sincerity and commitment to music spilled into her audience and penetrated the TV screen. I question whether such an unwitting, yet natural, PR person the likes of Beverly Sills can or will appear on the opera scene again in a long, long while.

The second autobiography I read came from the shelves of the university bookstore at the University of Cincinnati. “It Wasn’t All Velvet” by Mel Torme came out in October of 1988. Dad and I had watched Mel Torme in his various cameo appearances on “Night Court” in the 1980’s. That’s the only connection that I had with the man up to that time. So, I bought the book out of curiosity, even though I had never heard Mr. Torme really sing in earnest. On “Night Court” he would allude to his singing career but he seldom sang on the show. The day I finished reading the book, I drove out to Kenwood Town Center to purchase one of his CD’s, hoping that I could have at least two or three from which to choose. I was not prepared for the total quantum of Torme CD’s on-hand. There must have been thirty different CD’s

Mr. Torme, I recalled as I stood before the Torme bin, had referenced Marty Paich several times in his book. Mr. Paich had been the music director for “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour”, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and “The Sonny and Cher Show”. In 1955, Mel Torme had asked Mr. Paich to put together a jazz ensemble similar to Gerry Mulligan’s “Tentette”: five brass (two trumpets, trombone, French horn and tuba), saxophone trio (alto, tenor and baritone sax), bass and drums. No piano. That part eludes me, but, whatever. But to distinguish Mr. Paich’s group of ten from Mr. Mulligan’s group of ten, Marty Paich called it the Marty Paich Dek-Tette. They put together an album called “Mel Torme And The Marty Paich Dek-Tette” and then made several more over the next decade.

In 1988, Mel, Marty and the boys had a reunion concert and put together one more album called “Reunion”. This time they didn’t pay attention to the numbers so much. Thirteen musicians play in this Dek-Tette. My friend A.D. and I claim that we have some fifty movies on our top ten lists. I’m not gonna count musicians in a band when the music sounds this good, this thrilling, this tight.

When I finished with Beverly Sills’ autobiography, I was sad for many days. I noticed that her career didn’t take off until she got married to Peter Greenough, whose family fortunes allowed for a comfortable lifestyle. She certainly had triumphs in her earlier years, but she constantly had to watch her wallet. After she got married, though, she could finally afford to have the career she wanted.

Credits: To the cast and writers of “Night Court”. Funny show. Thanks for having Torme on the show.