[78-L] David Hall. Was: Mercury [FWD]

[Jeff Sultanof]

I distinctly remember reading of Hall's passing some years ago, but don't
remember details.

I used to go to the Rodgers and Hammerstein archive on an almost weekly
basis to get an education in composition, arranging and sound recording.
Back when I went, there were a great many recordings that I wanted to hear
that were simply not available (and I couldn't afford to collect recordings
back then; I was 17 when I first went up to the archive). Think Jimmy
Mundy's big band on Varsity, Franklyn Marks on Master Records, and Kay
Thompson on Viking.

Hall was an imposing teddy bear of a man to my eyes. He seemed to have
little use for me when I first went up to the archive, although he would
look surprised at some of the obscure items I wanted to hear. Once I began
asking him some questions about such composers as Harris, Siegmeister and
the like, he could go on for quite some time with incredible information.
>From that time on, he was very pleasant to me and forthcoming with new
aquisitions that hadn't been catalogued yet (which used to piss off the
other librarians).

I have very warm memories of sitting in a booth and discovering many
wonderful recordings. And he opened the door.

Jeff Sultanof

On Sun, Sep 27, 2009 at 3:06 AM, Mike Harkin <harkinmike at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I read somewhere, long ago, that he was born in 1915.  The Record Book and
> TRB Internataion edition opened my ears to tons of beaustiful music to
> which I otherwise probably wouldn't have paid any attention....
>
> Long may he wave, or RIP, whichever is appropriate!
>
> Mike in Plovdiv
>
>