by Tom Hammett
posted June 28, 2008
) Johnny and Betty Mann and Tom and Faye Hammett at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo |
Once, in the late 1970s I was visiting my parents in Montgomery, Ala., and while my Dad was preparing to go to his optical dispensary, I mentioned that there were two people I wanted to meet sometime. One was William Dawson, the other was Alice Parker. To my surprise, Dad asked if William Dawson were from Tuskegee? When I affirmed, he again questioned, "Is he 'somebody?'" I assured him Mr. Dawson was a major contributor to the body of Spirituals and had been world renowned in music for decades. To my amazement, Dad said, "Well, he has been a customer of mine for over 20 years and will be in my office this morning around 10:00 o'clock. Would you like to meet him?" Needless to say, I was there promptly and met Bill Dawson. I was on my way to Atlanta for a session with the Atlanta Symphony Chorus. Mr. Dawson asked me to stop by his house on my way back through Tuskegee. The afternoon I went to his house was delightful. He was renewing his copyrights that afternoon with all the complicated paperwork. We talked music for hours and he played several of his favorite recordings. I later saw Mr. Dawson and Jester Hairston together in a hotel lobby at the ACDA convention. There was a total of over160 years of music history with 2 feet of each other! The Dawson link was an interesting coupling since he was mentioned in conversation in relation to Alice Parker.
It was early in 1980 when I was asked to participate in an extraordinary musical event at Carnegie Hall with Robert Shaw, The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony Chorus. They were to perform the Brahms, Berlioz, and Verdi Requiems three consecutive evenings in New York. The very first evening at Carnegie Hall I was assisting Mr. Shaw with some of his personal items in the dressing room and was introduced to none other than the co-arranger of the Shaw-Parker choral arrangements, Alice Parker! To this day I recall her warm and gracious greeting. Subsequently I have had two other occasions to participate in her workshops. It was her work in choral arranging for the Robert Shaw Chorale that became part of my bedrock foundation in great choral music. The Shaw Chorale was perhaps the finest vocal ensemble in the history of the world...certainly of the 20th Century. The musical arrangements were an important portion in establishing the reputation and international influence of the Chorale. They remain the Gold Standard by which all serious choral ensembles are measured.
There were two branches of choral music which stemmed in my mind during the late 1960s. There was that serious branch of classical and sacred work as represented by the Shaw Chorale, then there was the popular venue that had grown through the work of Fred Waring, Norman Luboff, Mitch Miller and others. The group that really captured my ear and heart in popular music was the ever-effervescent Johnny Mann Singers. From the first time WCOV Radio played "Up, Up and Away,” I was hooked like cocaine! Johnny's Singers recorded everything popular that came out of Hollywood...commercials, pop albums, radio jingles, Gospel music, you name it...it was the Johnny Mann Singers. For over 30 years I made periodic attempts to contact Johnny Mann without success.
About five years ago a friend was able to supply me with Johnny and Betty Mann's home address in California. I wrote him a typical fan mail letter with praise oozing from every paragraph. A few days later I nearly suffered cardiac arrest when the phone rang, and on the other end of the line an energetic voice said, "Is this Tom Hammett," "Yes," I replied." "This is Johnny Mann." That conversation began a series of letters, phone calls and e-mails that grew into a most enjoyable corresponding friendship.
Not long thereafter, Johnny and Betty moved from California to Anderson, S.C., to be closer to Betty's family. Johnny continues to fly to California when necessary for recording sessions with his singers. Before their new home construction was completed, actually while they were still living in their motel suite, my wife, two daughters and I drove to Anderson to spend the day with the Manns. We visited a while, Johnny listened to Emily Grace's new songs for her first potential CD recording, we went to lunch, and then spent several hours sitting around the pool talking music and family. By the end of the day, we felt as if we had known each other for 40 years.
Since then, the Manns have visited twice in Chattanooga and Johnny has conducted several of his arrangements with my church choirs. The last visit was our opportunity to present the premiere performance of Johnny's newest composition, "One Nation Under God." Johnny, the 38 voices of the Brainerd Presbyterian Church Choir and the great music, brought the house down on May 18, 2008. I was well into my 50s when I began to listen "with both ears" to Johnny's wonderful arrangements, and began to realize what little jewels of choral arranging each of those popular pieces really are. I began to realize why his music had stayed at the top of my list for 45 years. Not only has our friendship grown into a close brotherhood, the Manns and the Hammetts are as family now, and our girls have an extra set of grandparents.
Finally, yet one more arranger has embedded his creative work into the core of my music foundation. Canadian composer/arranger Larry Nickel came to my attention through the broadcast recordings of the West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir via the Moody Broadcasting Network from Chicago. Greg Wheatley, one of America's outstanding radio talents hosts "Sound of Majesty" on Moody Radio and frequently plays Mr. Nickel's arrangements. The more I heard of Mr. Nickel's work, the more his choir became my "favorite general listening choir." Their sound is amazingly clean, balanced, exciting and simply beautiful. It is of the second generation of great choral singing as inspired by the high performance standards set by the Robert Shaw Chorale. There are a number of excellent ensembles throughout the world, but none exceed the vocal excellence of Tony Funk's Chamber Choir. Larry Nickel's work, like that of Shaw, Parker, and Mann resonated in my mind at a level of the highest caliber. Larry's arrangements are wonderfully creative, fresh, serious choral art. Many arrangements are immediately familiar and completely enjoyable. Others require a second listening, or perhaps a third. The reality of profound talent is eventually discovered in virtually every composition. As our friendship began to grow through correspondence, I became aware of the performance of his doctoral dissertation composition "Requiem for Peace" which was to be performed at the University in Vancouver.
Thanks to the availability of staff development funds at church, my wife and I were able to attend the premiere performance of "Requiem for Peace" in Vancouver. Not only was the Requiem the first significant choral work of the 21st Century, but attending the performance provided the opportunity to meet the composer and his family, and spend a couple of days in a wonderful city. Another of life's blessings was solidified during that visit and I feel that we have become eternal friends. Larry Nickel belongs to that rarefied group of truly great musicians of the world, perhaps in the top 1%.
So, these three craftsmen of the musical arts have entertained and inspired millions of people for many decades. They make the art of arranging appear to be so simple. They all have the ability to just place the right note, in the right voice with the right rhythm with the right emphasis and create something of which I do not speak lightly...they create perfect music. Whether you consider the spiritual arrangements, various folk albums or more popular recordings of the Shaw Chorale, they are all perfect. When you examine the recordings of the Johnny Mann Singers, they are perfect. The perfection of the WCMCC warms, inspires or excites one's heart in every cut of the CD. The three distinct styles of these ensembles and arrangers cover a wide range of vocal colors and performance venues yet they each occupy unique and significant positions in choral music.
These comments came into mental focus this week as I attempted to create a vocal arrangement of my own. Warnings are often given on television when dangerous feats are performed by professionals or by fools, "Please do not attempt this at home!" I was once again reminded last week why I made "Cs" in music theory and composition in college. The gifts possessed by likes of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Verdi, Toscanini, Waring, Shaw, Parker, Mann and Nickel are rare. That's why they have become household names. There is a reason they are called professionals. They are extraordinarily gifted craftsmen of the musical arts.
What a treat to have access to the Parker, Mann and Nickel libraries. What wonderful inspiration and entertainment they have provided. How nice to have crossed paths with such gifted artists. Thank you, my friends for being diligent in your crafts.
Proverbs 22:29
Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
Tom Hammett
tommusic50@aol.com
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |