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UNSUNG HEROES (from the Columbus Dispatch, 1997)
At least in central Ohio, bandleaders give arrangers their due

By Curtis Schieber For the Columbus Dispatch

This guy walks into a pet store and hears a spell binding song from a canary in the back.
"How much for the bird?" he asks.
"Twenty-five bucks," says the shop owner.
"Is that all?"
"You have to have the other bird, too."
"How much?"
"Five hundred"

The guy is puzzled. The other bird is crumpled and beaten. He's leaning against the cage dissolute.
"Why?"
"He's the arranger."

Jazz lore is rife with the biographies of invisible geniuses, many of them underappreciated arrangers.
Devotees, however, hold arrangers in awe.
Central Ohio musicians who are in the know certainly do.

At concerts by the Famous Jazz Orchestra, leader and supreme hepcat Vaughn Wiester--a Bill Holman fanatic--not only credits all who arrange the charts but also names the cherished recordings.
Ray Eubanks, musical director of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra--whose concerts are a bit more formal--punctuates his introductions with careful nods to the arrangers.
"Sinatra always credited arrangers from the stage," said Eubanks whose big band favors locals Vaughn Wiester, Hank Marr and Gary Carney.
Just the mention of such names as Johnny Mandel or Marty Paich, electrifies knowledgeable audiences.
"They actually have name value," Eubanks said.

Two hold special reverence: Al Waslohn--who appeared on Columbus television and wrote music for the Bob Braun show--and Dave Wheeler.

"(The arranger) has to see the whole items in terms of its many parts," said Wheeler, whom Wiester calls the "godfather of arranging in Columbus."

"Its a pretty valuable gift to be able to conceive of a finished product that hangs together when you piece it together one small part at a time."

Saxophonist-pianist Wheeler--who has played with Vic Damone, Stan Kenton, Nancy Wilson and Si Zentner--has the gift, the vision, and fruits to bring it to fruition without an instrument or a band.
"It all takes place in my head," he said. "I can have the television on and the radio playing, the kids screamin' and the dogs barkin', and I can write you just about anything you want."

Some of the tools of the arranger are obvious, some not.
The Nelson Riddle arrangement of Cole Porter's I've Got You Under My Skin, for instance, is hard to mistake: The trombones blaze from nowhere to introduce a roaring finale.
"One of the outstanding moments in big-band arranging is Count Basie's April in Paris," Wiester said. That voice goes 'One more time,' the drummer hits a roll, and--bam--they're off playing that thing that's called a shout chorus."

The subtle twists--techniques such as counterpoint, often on familiar compositions--identify an arrangement, too.
"Bill Holman's feeling for counterpoint is fantastic." Wheeler said. "A local person who is also very good at this is Gary Carney (who writes for the Columbus Jazz Orchestra). I've written some articles on the art of counterpoint in jazz, and I'd have to cite Gary Carney as one of the finest contrapuntal writers."

Eubanks talked about another distinctive style:
"Gerald Wilson (a highly regarded big-band leader)...was the first arranger to utilize woodwinds extensively in the big-band setting."
Wilson influenced Ladd McIntosh, who hailed from Akron and worked closely with the Jazz Arts Group.
McIntosh has had credits on The Lion King as well as roles in the scores of the films Crimson Tide and Twister.
Although Hollywood traditionally draws arrangers wishing to "make it," it doesn't appeal to some of them.

"It has never interested me" Wheeler said. "It's really a very restricting form of composition. The person who gets credit for the score probably sat in his office and directed a lot of other orchestrators and arrangers: "Give me 37 seconds of pastoral music here. Give me 53-1/2 seconds of chase music following that."

Arrangers Jim Swearingen and Lou Fischer have carved successful careers as publishers for educational institutions.
Fischer, who teaches at Capital University, has been a "major publisher in the educational field," Eubanks said.
"Swearingen is writing for school bands, seventh-and eighth-grade swing bands. he is the No.1 educational composer in he world."
Gene D'Angelo, who is no longer active as an arranger, founded the Jazz Forum Band, the forerunner of the Ohio State University jazz program.
Vaughn Wiester, a Bill Holman devotee, writes his scores by hand.
Of the Columbus arrangers who moved on, businessman D'Angelo--former president of WBNS stations--has perhaps had the greatest financial success.

As for artistic rewards, though, few can hope for the opportunities afforded Eubanks, Wheeler, and Wiester.
Many arrangers show great promise while in school, only to give up their craft.

"There're some opportunities (in school), " Wiester lamented. There're ensembles there...You get out of school; no opportunities exist."
"We're probably the only organization in the United States, outside of Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, that actually pays arrangers to write things," Eubanks said.

Wiester, who has his own big-band to perform his arrangements, hasn't lost sight of his position.
"I'm a very lucky man. Somehow I got hooked up with (Doc) Eberhardt (a big-band leader who hires arrangers); I was in favor with Eubanks for a good while."

Other possibilities for arrangers include working with pop musicians.

"Quincy Jones, for example," Wiester said. "The next thing you know, he's producing Michael Jackson."
Influences: Count Basie
Record Label: Music Unlimited
Type of Label: Indie