George Bassman
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George Bassman | |
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Birth name | George Bassman |
Born | February 7, 1914 |
Origin | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Died | June 26, 1997 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 83)
Occupation(s) | Composer, arranger |
George Bassman (February 7, 1914 – June 26, 1997) was an American composer and arranger.
Biography
Born in
He studied orchestration and composition formally[citation needed], but in his teens he left home against his father's wishes to play piano in an itinerant jazz group, and subsequently worked as an arranger for Fletcher Henderson in New York.
Through that gig, he became part of the burgeoning swing/big band scene and was soon writing songs as well. Bassman peaked in that career when he and Ned Washington wrote "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" for the bandleader Tommy Dorsey. Bassman also worked in radio as an arranger for Andre Kostelanetz, and made the move to Hollywood in the mid-1930s.
Among his earliest film jobs was orchestrating the
Bassman's career was interrupted in the midst of the
Bassman left
Bassman had seemingly beaten the blacklist, and without too much inconvenience, but then his professional luck ran out, oddly enough upon his return to MGM for the first time in more than a decade. He clashed with the makers (including director Sam Peckinpah) of what could have been a triumphant comeback, on Ride the High Country (1962). He closed out his film career with Mail Order Bride (1964), and saw several of his scores (including one for Bonnie and Clyde) rejected.
In 1961 he arranged all the music for Mitzi Gaynor's very first nightclub act which debuted at The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
Late in his career, he re-orchestrated the 1922 one-act jazz opera by George Gershwin and Buddy DeSylva, Blue Monday. This version has been recorded.[according to whom?]
In the late 1960s, he acquired ownership of and operated the Savoy Club, a contract bridge club located on Sunset Strip catering to Hollywood personalities and local bridge professionals.[1]
Death
Bassman's died in Los Angeles surrounded by his loved ones in 1997.
External links
- George Bassman at IMDb
References
- ^ Paul Groman, ed. (1968). "The Club Where Hollywood Plays Bridge". Popular Bridge. 2 (2). Encino, CA: Behn-Miller Publishers: 54–60.