[78-L] Artie Shaw

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

That’s an interesting list you have, Jeff. To that one could add Marty 
Paich, George Williams, Bill Holman, Gerry Mulligan, Bobby Scott, etc. 
One time I was visiting Philly Jo Jones’s house in the Bed-Stuy area of 
Brooklyn. At the time I was taking drum lessons from him. Working at 
his kitchen table was his wife, Gwen, who was copying parts for an 
arrangement. The particular one she was working on was for Basie. 
Nearby was a stack of scores. I looked at them. They were all done by 
Tadd Dameron. Jones told me he was taking care of them while Dameron 
was away on sabbatical. Many of these musicians were amazing people, 
with incredible knowledge and skills. I’ve talked with composer/pianist 
Jack Reilly about his studies with Tristano and his account was 
exciting to listen to. Fletcher Henderson has gotten the lion share of 
the attention and acclaim for the arrangements he did for Goodman. 
Overlooked are Jimmy Mundy who actually contributed heavily to the 
Goodman book; Benny Carter, Mary Lou Williams, and Spud Murphy, who 
provided a lot of excellent arrangements for the first edition of the 
Goodman band. Joe Haymes was also a marvelous arranger.
Geoffrey Wheeler