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Mel Torme Fans

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About Me

This is a tribute myspace (started and maintained by fans) for Mel Torme (1925-1999) the incredibly talented singer, pianist, drummer, ukuleleist, composer, arranger, author, and actor. He was born on September 13, 1925, began performing at age 4, and was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1990. Although often tagged as a crooner of the 40s (the "Velvet Fog"), Mel was actually a full-fledged jazz singer who blossomed in the 1950s with the help of the Marty Paich Dek-tette at Bethlehem Records, then with a variety of arrangers, bands, and record labels, finishing his career with total artistic freedom at the Concord Jazz label. Mel Torme and lyricist Bob Wells wrote "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" which is considered the most popular holiday song of all time. He could also write epic material, as is evidenced by his 1949 California Suite, the first long player LP in Capitol Records history. (A second version of California Suite was recorded in March of 1957 with Marty Paich arrangements at Bethlehem Records.) Resource book for Mel Torme fans: "Mel Torme: A Chronicle of His Recordings, Books, and Films" by George Hulme. FLASH NEWS ALERT!! MEL AND MARTY'S LEGENDARY SESSIONS for LULUS BACK IN TOWN and MEL TORME SINGS FRED ASTAIRE ARE BACK IN PRINT ON ONE ALBUM!!! Talk about a good omen for 2007!! A PICTURE FROM THE MUST-HAVE NEW ALBUM "THE 1956 TORME-PAICH LEGENDARY SESSIONS" BY MEL TORME AND THE MARTY PAICH DEK-TETTE. THE BOOKLET FROM THIS RELEASE IS THE FINEST PRESENTATION OF MEL AND MARTY'S WORK TO DATE AND NO FAN SHOULD BE WITHOUT IT !!!! MEL TORME SINGS "LULU'S BACK IN TOWN" AND "TOO DARN HOT" FEATURING MARTY PAICH ARRANGEMENTS PERFORMED BY THE STAN KENTON ORCHESTRA!! UNBELIEVABLY CLASSIC STUFF!! MY GUESS ON THE DATE IS 1960........ I edited my profile with The Power of Swing!!

My Interests

MEL TORME SINGS "I'VE GOT A WORLD THAT SWINGS" ON THE JAZZ CASUAL TV SHOW ........Casting "the Mel spell" over unsuspecting tag-along audience members. ........ ...MEL TORME, JOHN HENDRICKS AND MEL LEWIS SING "DOWN FOR DOUBLE"!!!!.......... MEL TORME AND GEORGE SHEARING PERFORM "SINCE I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU" AND "ALL GOD'S CHILLUN." ............ ....SEE MEL TORME JAM WITH BUDDY RICH ON THEIR TRIBUTE TO ELLA FITZGERALD, "LADY BE GOOD"

I'd like to meet:

Mel Torme fans all over the world. This picture: Marty Paich, Red Clyde, and Mel Torme during his years with Bethlehem Records. MEL SINGS "WHEN THE SUN COMES OUT" AND "THE CARIOCA" WITH MARTY PAICH ARRANGEMENTS!!...... "GLOOMY SUNDAY" HAS THE UNFORTUNATE DISTINCTION OF BEING CONSIDERED THE SADDEST SONG EVER WRITTEN. LEGEND HAS IT THAT IT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A RASH OF SUICIDES BY ITS LOVELORN LISTENERS. SET TO PAINTER CHRIS EVITT'S SLIDE SHOW, THIS VERSION BY MEL IS ONE OF HIS MOST HAUNTING VOCALS EVER. (ARRANGEMENT BY MARTY PAICH)....... .........MEL TORME AND GEORGE SHEARING PERFORM "STARDUST" AND "THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT"

Music:

George Shearing, Gerry Mulligan, Bob Wells, Jimmy Wisner Trio (Ace Tesone, Dave Levin), Ken Peplowski, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Marty Paich Dek-tette, Shorty Rogers, Lionel Hampton, Chico Marx, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, Benny Barth Trio (Gary Long, Perry Lind) The Coon Sanders Nighthawks Orchestra, Harry James, Jennifer Jane Leitham, John Colianni, Donny Osborne Jr., Brian Torff, John Campbell, Don Fagerquist, Max Bennett, Mel Lewis, Alvin Stoller, Herb Geller, John Hendricks, The Judy Garland Show, Jack Jones, Tommy Dorsey, Bing Crosby, Herbie Mann, Charlie Barnett Orchestra, Jimmie Lunsford, Anita O'day, Joe Williams, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Bob Dorough, Fred Astaire, Carmen McRae, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Jerome Kern, Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Sammy Cahn, James Torme, Steve March Torme............ MEL TORME AND GEORGE SHEARING PERFORM A MEDLEY TRIBUTE TO COUNT BASIE AND A HYPER VERSION OF "LOVE IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER."

Movies:


powered by frazy.com Mel's Movies (his side career): 1999 Harold Arlen: Somewhere Over the Rainbow 1998 Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary Years 1995 Seinfeld: The Jimmy 1992 Night Court: Opportunity Knock Knocks, Part 1 1992 The Return of Spinal Tap 1992 Night Court: Shave and a Haircut 1991 Night Court: Santa on the Lam 1991 Night Court: Hey, Harry, F'Crying Out Loud--It's a Wonderful Life...Sorta 1991 The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear 1990 Colt Firearms Legends 1990 Night Court: Melvin and Harold 1989 Night Court: Strange Bedfellows 1989 Mel Tormé: Standing Room Only 1988 Night Court: I'm OK, You're Catatonic/Schizophrenic 1988 The Snader Telescriptions: The Vocalists 1988 Daffy Duck: Quackbusters 1987 Night Court: Christine's Friend 1986 Night Court: Leon, We Hardly Knew Ye 1985 Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got 1983 The Mel Torme Special 1983 Mel Torme 1983 Hotel 1982 Pray TV 1981 The Land of No Return 1981 Mel Torme and Della Reese in Concert 1975 Snowman 1971 One Night Stand: Lionel Hampton and an All-Star Jazz Ensemble 1969 Pineapple Rose 1967 The Lucy Show: Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map 1967 The Lucy Show: Main Street U.S.A. 1966 A Man Called Adam 1964 The Patsy 1964 Jazz Casual: Mel Torme 1963 The Judy Garland Show, Episode 15: The Christmas Special 1961 The Private Lives of Adam and Eve 1960 Walk Like a Dragon 1959 The Big Operator 1959 Girls' Town 1958 The Fearmakers 1957 Playhouse 90: The Comedian 1954 The Jo Stafford Show [TV Series] 1950 The Duchess of Idaho 1948 So Dear to My Heart 1948 Words and Music 1947 Good News 1946 Janie Gets Married 1945 Let's Go Steady 1945 Junior Miss 1944 Ghost Catchers 1944 Higher and Higher 1944 Pardon My Rhythm Meet the Singers, Vol. 2 Swing Era: George Shearing Buddy Rich: Jazz Legend, Volume 2 - 1970-1987 Buddy Rich: Jazz Legend, Volume 1 - 1917-1970 .......... MEL SINGS "PRETTY LITTLE BLUESETTE" WITH THE BUDDY RICH BAND ON THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW; GREAT MELODY AND SCAT!...

Television:

Night Court...what else? Oh, and The Judy Garland Show. Mel Torme sang "Lady Be Good" with Ella Fitzgerald at the Grammy Awards in 1976, and if anyone can get a copy and post it on YouTube you will be called blessed by your children and your children's children. (We Will settle for the same pairing which performed together on The Gary Moore Show in 1960.)

powered by frazy.com ................ .....I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT THE MEL TORME COMMERCIAL FOR OLDSMOBILE IS BACK UP!!.......... MEL TORME, NAT KING COLE, AND JUNE CHRISTY SING "HOW HIGH THE MOON"

Books:

Mel wrote books, and he was a VERY good writer:The Other Side of the Rainbow by Mel Torme. Traps, the Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich by Mel Torme. It Wasn't All Velvet: An Autobiography by Mel Torme. Drummin' Men: The Heartbeat of Jazz by Mel Torme et al. My Singing Teachers by Mel Torme. Wynner by Mel Torme. Resource book: Mel Torme: A Chronicle of His Recordings, Books, and Films" by George Hulme.
powered by frazy.com MEL TORME SINGS "SWEET GEORGIA BROWN" AND "JUST IN TIME" with Marty Paich conducting his own arrangements! VERY EARLY MEL TORME VIDEO SINGING "APRIL SHOWERS"; DATE IS 23rd & 24th August 1950, Los Angeles THIS MAY BE THE OLDEST MUSICAL FILM OF MEL THAT I'VE SEEN: "THE BABY BOOGIE" IS FROM 1943 OR 1944: THAT PUTS MEL AT AGE 18 OR 19.

Heroes:

For vocals: Ella Fitzgerald, who Mel named "The high priestess of song/she can do no wrong." For drums, Buddy Rich (see videos below)..... ........ELLA FITZGERALD AND JOE PASS SING ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM'S "MEDITATION"

My Blog

JAMES TORME CONCERT!!!

James Torme July, 6 2007 at Thousand Oaks Center For Performing Arts/Kavli Theater with The New West Symphony Orchestra 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 91362Cost : $22-$122 Scat is Back wi...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:33:00 PST

Solos on LULUS BACK IN TOWN

I went to Naperville, Illinois the other day to see the singer-songwriter Denison Witmer, and stopped in Remember When record store. I went into the basement where they keep the used records and found...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Tue, 01 May 2007 08:06:00 PST

Mel sings "Lulu" and "Too Darn Hot" with Paich arrangements!!!

Wow!! Check out this link to see Mel in heaven with his beloved Marty Paich horn arrangements! He sings some classic material-- "Lulus Back in Town" and "Too Darn Hot"! This is rare footage of Mel wit...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Wed, 21 Mar 2007 10:48:00 PST

You Tube video!! Mel with Stan Kenton Orchestra!!

Visit this link to see Mel perform with the Stan Kenton Orchestra:    1. Moonlight in Vermont. 2. Mel plays drums with the jazz band!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMirMuq0eAU...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 10:03:00 PST

New Mel-Marty CD PURE OBSESSIVE TORMANIA!!!

Wow, I was just listening to the new Mel Torme & Marty Paich and I suddenly thought they had accidentally put the songs in the wrong order. That's cuz I was looking at the LULU'S BACK IN TOWN CD c...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Tue, 30 Jan 2007 10:25:00 PST

Read Salon.com's tribute to Mel Torme upon his passing

Here is an excellent, short tribute to Mel upon his passing in 1999. --==-=- om=-=-=- Nick http://www.salon.com/people/obit/1999/06/12/torme/...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Sat, 06 Jan 2007 06:08:00 PST

3 page article on MARTY PAICH's work with MEL TORME

Here is an excellent three page article covering all the Mel Torme/Mary Paich collaborations.  =-==- om--==-=- Nick http://www.jazzinchicago.org/Internal/Articles/tabid/43/arti cleType/Articl...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:03:00 PST

Mel & Marty's 1956 albums back in print on CD!

MEL & MARTY'S 1956 albums back in print on CD !!!!! TORME-PAICH LEGENDARY SESSIONS BACK IN PRINT @.$.^.$%^ I was just alerted in my MEL discussion group (at yahoogroups.com (TotalTorme) tha...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:00:00 PST

James Torme debut CD release!!

    Debut release by James Torme! Hear full length versions of his interpretations of ELLA BE GOOD and COMIN' HOME BABY at his myspace: myspace.com/jamestorme   or visit h...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Mon, 01 Jan 2007 06:55:00 PST

Torme Sings Torme: Steve March Torme starts tour Jan. 5, 2007

Steve March Torme's tour starts in just a few days! I'm not sure if all the shows feature a big band (featuring arrangements by Marty Paich and Mel Torme); some may be with only a three piece. Apparen...
Posted by Mel Torme Fans on Mon, 01 Jan 2007 06:38:00 PST