jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger,
music director
A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
Jazz Masters fellow in 2017.
As a pianist, Hyman has been praised for his versatility. ''
DownBeat
''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...
'' magazine characterized him as "a pianist of longstanding grace and bountiful talent, with an ability to adapt to nearly any historical style, from stride to bop to modernist sound-painting."
His daughter Judy Hyman is a founding member of The Horse Flies, an American alternative rock/folk band based in Ithaca, NY.
His grandson is designer and artist Adam Charlap Hyman.
Early life
Hyman was born in New York City on March 8, 1927 to Joseph C. Hyman and Lee Roven ( Rovinsky), and grew up in suburban
Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Moun ...
. His older brother, Arthur, owned a jazz record collection and introduced him to the music of
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke ( ; March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical a ...
and
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever. From early in his career, fellow musicians acclaimed Tatum's technical ability as extraordinary. Tatum a ...
.
Hyman was trained classically by his mother's brother, the concert pianist Anton Rovinsky, who premiered ''The Celestial Railroad'' by
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
in 1928. Hyman said of Rovinsky: "He was my most important teacher. I learned touch from him and a certain amount of repertoire, especially
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
. On my own I pursued Chopin. I loved his ability to take a melody and embellish it in different arbitrary ways, which is exactly what we do in jazz. Chopin would have been a terrific jazz pianist! His waltzes are in my improvising to this day."
Hyman enlisted in the U.S. Army in June 1945, and was transferred to the U.S. Navy band department. "Once I got into the band department, I was working with much more experienced musicians than I was used to," Hyman once stated. "I’d played in a couple of kid bands in New York, playing dances, but the Navy meant business — I had to show up, read music, and be with a bunch of better players than I had run into." After leaving the Navy he attended
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. While there, Hyman won a piano competition, for which the prize was 12 free lessons with swing-era pianist Teddy Wilson. Hyman has said that he "fell in love with jazz" during this period.
After graduating from Columbia, Hyman married his wife, Julia, in 1948.
Career
Relax Records released Hyman's solo piano versions of "
All the Things You Are
"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.
The song was written for the musical '' Very Warm for May'' (1939)You Couldn't Be Cuter" around 1950. He recorded two honky-tonk piano albums under the pseudonym "Knuckles O'Toole" (including two original compositions), and recorded more as "Willie the Rock Knox" and "Slugger Ryan".
As a studio musician in the 1950s and early 1960s, Hyman performed with
Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
,
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
,
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. His best-kno ...
,
Joni James
Giovanna Carmella Babbo (September 22, 1930 – February 20, 2022), known professionally as Joni James, was an American singer of traditional pop.
Biography
Giovanna Carmella Babbo was born to an Italian-American family in Chicago, Illinois, on ...
Ivory Joe Hunter
Ivory Joe Hunter (October 10, 1914 – November 8, 1974) was an American rhythm-and-blues singer, songwriter, and pianist. After a series of hits on the US R&B chart starting in the mid-1940s, he became more widely known for his hit recordi ...
,
LaVern Baker
Delores LaVern Baker (born Delores Evans; November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American rhythm and blues singer who had several hit records on the pop charts in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were " Tweedle Dee" ...
,
Ruth Brown
Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a popular music, pop music ...
The Four Freshmen
The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends close and open harmony, open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the Barbershop music, ...
, The Four Sophomores,
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...
, and many more. He played with
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...
for Parker's only film appearance. His extensive television studio work in New York in the 1950s and early 1960s included a stint as music director for
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days ...
's television show from 1959 to 1961.
Hyman has worked as composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist for the Woody Allen films '' Stardust Memories'', ''
Zelig
''Zelig'' is a 1983 American satirical mockumentary comedy film written, directed by and starring Woody Allen as Leonard Zelig, a nondescript enigma, who, apparently out of his desire to fit in and be liked, unwittingly takes on the characteris ...
'', ''
The Purple Rose of Cairo
''The Purple Rose of Cairo'' is a 1985 American period fantasy romantic comedy film, written and directed by Woody Allen. Set in Depression-era New Jersey, it stars Mia Farrow as a film lover who flees her abusive husband (Danny Aiello) after ...
'', ''
Broadway Danny Rose
''Broadway Danny Rose'' is a 1984 American black-and-white comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. It follows a hapless theatrical agent who, by helping a client, gets dragged into a love triangle involving the mob. The film stars Allen ...
'', ''
Hannah and Her Sisters
''Hannah and Her Sisters'' is a 1986 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It tells the intertwined stories of an extended family over two years that begins and ends with a family Thanksgiving#Thanksgiving dinner, Than ...
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...
'', ''
Moonstruck
''Moonstruck'' is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison and written by John Patrick Shanley. It stars Cher as a widowed Italian-American woman who falls in love with her fiancé's hot-tempered, estranged younger broth ...
'', ''
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...
Mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...
'', '' Billy Bathgate'', '' Two Weeks Notice'', and other films. He was music director of ''The Movie Music of Woody Allen'', which premiered at the
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1965 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance, which merged with American Ballet Theatre in 1988. She regrouped the compa ...
's ''The Bum's Rush'' for the
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...
. He was the pianist/conductor/arranger in Tharp's ''Eight Jelly Rolls'', ''Baker's Dozen'', and ''The Bix Pieces'' and similarly arranged and performed for ''Miles Davis: Porgy and Bess'', a choreographed production of the Dance Theater of Dallas. In 2007, his ''Adventures of Tom Sawyer'', commissioned by the John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts and produced for the stage by Toni Pimble of the
Eugene Ballet
Eugene Ballet is an American ballet company based in Eugene, Oregon. A resident company of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, it performs a repertoire of full-length classical ballets, contemporary pieces, and operates a ballet academy. F ...
, premiered in
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...
.
In the 1960s, Hyman recorded several pop albums on
Enoch Light
Enoch Henry Light (August 18, 1907 – July 31, 1978) was an American classically trained violinist, danceband leader, and recording engineer. As the leader of various dance bands that recorded as early as March 1927 and continuing through a ...
's
Command Records
Command Records was a record label founded by Enoch Light in 1959 and, in October that year, was acquired by ABC-Paramount Records. Light produced a majority of the releases in the label's catalog.
Origin and history
After Grand Award Record ...
. At first, he used the Lowrey organ, on the albums ''Electrodynamics'' (US No. 117), ''Fabulous'' (US No. 132), ''Keyboard Kaleidoscope'' and ''The Man from O.R.G.A.N.'' He later recorded several albums on the
Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...
which mixed original compositions and cover versions, including ''Moog: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman'' (Can No. 35), and '' The Age of Electronicus'' (US No. 110).
The track "The Minotaur" from ''The Electric Eclectics'' (1969) charted in the US top 40 (US R&B Singles No. 27; Hot 100 No. 38) (No. 20 Canada), becoming the first Moog single hit (although, as originally released on 45, it was labeled as the B-side to the shorter "Topless Dancers of Corfu"). Some elements from the track "The Moog and Me" (most notably the whistle that serves as the song's lead-in) on the same album were sampled by
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
Odelay
''Odelay'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including " Where It's At", " Devils Haircut", and " The New Pollution", and peaked at num ...
''. Hyman has been a guest performer at jazz festivals and concert venues. Around 1995, Hyman and his wife, Julia, moved permanently to Venice, Florida.Feinman, M. (Spring 2012). A Conversation with Dick Hyman. ''Saw Palm, 6,'' 97-99. Retrieved from http://www.sawpalm.org/uploads/6/6/2/8/6628902/saw_palm_-_volume_6_-_2012.pdf on 2 February 2022.
Discography
As leader
As sideman
With
Ruby Braff
Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong".
Bra ...
* ''Bugle Call Rag'' (Jazz Vogue, 1976)
* ''Fireworks'' (Inner City, 1985)
* ''Music from South Pacific'' (Concord Jazz, 1991)
* ''Very Sinatra'' (Red Baron, 1993)
* ''A Pipe Organ Recital Plus One'' (Bellaphon, 1996)
* ''Watch What Happens'' (Arbors, 2002)
* ''You Brought a New Kind of Love'' (Arbors, 2004)
With Jim Cullum Jr.
* ''New Year's All Star Jam'' (Pacific Vista, 1993)
* ''Honky Tonk Train'' (Riverwalk, 1994)
* ''Hot Jazz for a Cool Yule'' (Riverwalk, 1995)
* ''Fireworks! Red Hot & Blues'' (Riverwalk, 1996)
* ''American Love Songs'' (Riverwalk, 1997)
With
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially.
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...
* ''Date with the King'' (Columbia, 1956)
* ''Benny Goodman'' (Capitol, 1956)
* ''Benny Goodman Plays Selections from the Benny Goodman Story'' (Capitol, 1956)
With
Urbie Green
Urban Clifford "Urbie" Green (August 8, 1926 – December 31, 2018) was an American jazz trombonist who toured with Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Jan Savitt, and Frankie Carle. He played on over 250 recordings and released more than twenty albums a ...
Enoch Light
Enoch Henry Light (August 18, 1907 – July 31, 1978) was an American classically trained violinist, danceband leader, and recording engineer. As the leader of various dance bands that recorded as early as March 1927 and continuing through a ...
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...
* '' Fusion!'' (Riverside, 1963)
* ''Pretty Blue'' (Milestone, 1975)
* '' The Alternative Wes Montgomery'' (Milestone, 1982)
* ''Born to Be Blue'' (Riverside, 1983)
With Tony Mottola
* ''Romantic Guitar'' (Command, 1963)
* ''Heart & Soul'' (Project 3, 1966)
* ''Guitar U.S.A.'' (Command, 1967)
* ''Lush, Latin & Lovely'' (Project 3, 1967)
* ''Roma Oggi - Rome Today'' (Project 3, 1968)
* ''Warm, Wild and Wonderful'' (Project 3, 1968)
* ''Tony Mottola's Guitar Factory'' (Project 3, 1970)
* ''Tony Mottola and the Quad Guitars'' (Project 3, 1973)
With Flip Phillips
* ''Flip Phillips Collates'' (Clef, 1952)
* ''A Real Swinger'' (Concord Jazz, 1988)
* ''Try a Little Tenderness'' (Chiaroscuro, 1993)
* ''Flip Philllips Celebrates His 80th Birthday at the March of Jazz 1995'' (Arbors, 2003)
With
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.
Early life
Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) ...
* ''Fever'' (Command, 1966)
* ''Live!'' (Command, 1966)
* ''The New Sound of Today's Big Band'' (Command, 1967)
With Bob Wilber
* ''Soprano Summit'' (World Jazz, 1974)
* ''Summit Reunion'' (Chiaroscuro, 1990)
* ''Bufadora Blow-up'' (Arbors, 1997)
* ''A Perfect Match'' (Arbors, 1998)
* ''Everywhere You Go There's Jazz'' (Arbors, 1999)
* ''A Tribute to Kenny Davern and 80th Birthday Salute to Bob Wilber'' (2009)
With others
*
Howard Alden
Howard Vincent Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps.
Early life
Ho ...
, ''Howard Alden Plays the Music of Harry Reser'' ( Stomp Off, 1989)
* Louis Bellson and
Gene Krupa
Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...
, ''
The Mighty Two
Track listing
#"Rent Man / Resident Area" - Black Uhuru / Jah Grundy – 7:18
#"Heavy Manners" - Prince Far-I – 3:16
#"Rockers" - Glen Washington – 2:34
#"Rockers Dub" - Joe Gibbs and The Professionals – 2:45
#"Navel String" - Dennis W ...
'' (Roulette, 1963)
*
Ruth Brown
Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a popular music, pop music ...
Bette Midler
Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...
, '' Songs for the New Depression'' (Atlantic, 1976) – recorded in 1972-76
* Sandy Stewart, ''Sandy Stewart Sings the Songs of Jerome Kern with Dick Hyman at the Piano'' (Audiophile, 1995) – recorded in 1994
*
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...
, ''The Whistler and His Guitar'' (Metronome, 1962)
As arranger
With
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
The Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed The Four Mills Brothers and originally known as Four Boys and a Guitar, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and g ...