Herb Phillips
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Herbert Daly Phillips, known professionally as Herbie Phillips (April 20, 1935 – September 13, 1995), was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He spent much of his life working in Las Vegas. He played trumpet in bands led by
Louie Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paolino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer ...
,
Buddy Morrow Buddy Morrow (born Muni Zudekoff; February 8, 1919 – September 27, 2010), also known as Moe Zudekoff, was an American trombonist and bandleader. Career On a scholarship at age 16, Morrow studied trombone with Ernest Horatio Clarke (1865–194 ...
, and
Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet (TV series), The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad (TV series), T ...
. He composed "Little Train", which was recorded by the
Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...
Big Band. He worked as trumpeter and conductor for
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
and Frank Sinatra Jr.


Early years

When he was fourteen, his mother died. She played a significant role in introducing him to music. Distraught over the loss and in conflict with his father, he moved in with his aunt and uncle. When he was nineteen, his father died.


Career

Phillips graduated from Fremont High School in Fremont, Nebraska, in 1953 and attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, during the summer of 1954. After high school, he played trumpet in the Dick Mango Orchestra and the Verne Byers Orchestra. While touring with the latter, he met Pat Thompson, a trombonist with whom he became lifelong friends. While touring with Byers, he arranged songs, including " Pennies from Heaven". In 1955, Phillips and Thompson moved to New York City and shared an apartment.
Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...
lived in the basement apartment. While waiting to get his union card, a six-month period, Phillips substituted in the bands of
Les Elgart Lester Elliott Elgart (August 3, 1917 – July 29, 1995) was an American swing jazz bandleader and trumpeter. Early years Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Elgart grew up in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey with his brother Larry. They were exposed ...
,
Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American 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 roo ...
,
Dan Terry Dan Terry (December 22, 1924 – December 27, 2011) was an American big band leader, arranger, and trumpet and flugelhorn player who appeared at the Birdland (jazz club), Birdland jazz club with Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Chris Connor, John ...
,
Leon Merian Leon Merian (17 September 1923 – 15 August 2007) was an American jazz trumpeter and teacher. Dizzy Gillespie described his playing as "one of the most beautiful sounds you'll ever hear". Merian was also a French teacher and public school admin ...
, and
Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peopl ...
. In 1960, he and his wife Carol moved to Las Vegas, joining Thompson. He spent the rest of his life in Las Vegas. He played in several show bands and worked for many years in the house band at the Flamingo Las Vegas. He belonged to the Las Vegas Hilton house band from 1970 to 1983. Although his colleagues often saw him writing arrangements during breaks, as seen in the documentary film of Elvis Presley's first appearance at the Hilton, he usually refused composer work while working there and concentrated on his house band performances. In 1973, he became close friends with James Moody while Moody worked at the Hilton. He also performed with the David Rose Orchestra. Several factors compelled Phillips to leave the Hilton. The Hilton management changed the showroom format by bringing in a production show, the type of show that, if it were a hit, would require a musician to play the same music for years. Phillips was disinclined. Around 1975, he injured his lip, which developed into a lump that wouldn't heal. He took lessons to rebuild his embouchure but worried that if he continued to play he would permanently damage his lip. Verne Byers felt that the music industry (from the perspective of musicians) fell apart in Las Vegas in 1983. According to Byers, the big band era was in decline and casinos were switching from live bands to recorded music, which resulted in a musicians' strike in 1989.


Personal life

Phillips died on September 13, 1995, from complications of an aneurysm while conducting a jazz band rehearsal at the Community College of Southern Nevada. He was married to (and divorced from) Carol Phillips. He but spent his final 20 years with his girlfriend, Barbara Camp Russo, who discovered that she had known Carol Phillips from their days as
chorus line A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. While synchronized dancing indicative of a chorus line was vogue during the first half of th ...
dancers in Las Vegas. Distribution under Phillip's estate went to Russo.Probate
''The Matter of The Estate of Herbert D. Phillips: First and Final Account, Report, for Fees and Final Distribution,'' filed September 29, 1995, closed July 26, 1996,
Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...
, Nevada. Carl Saunders, trumpeter, band leader, composer, and arranger, became one of Phillip's best friends. Phillips became a mentor to Saunders, who continued to publish and perform Phillips's music. Saunders's album ''Be Bop Big Band'' was dedicated to Phillips and includes several of his compositions.


Discography


As sideman

With
Buddy Childers Marion "Buddy" Childers (February 12, 1926 – May 24, 2007) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and ensemble leader. Childers became famous in 1942 at the age of 16, when Stan Kenton hired him to be the lead trumpet in his band. Biograph ...
* ''Back to Balboa, Vol. 6'' (MAMA, 1991) * ''Space Race'' (
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
, 1992) With
Buddy Morrow Buddy Morrow (born Muni Zudekoff; February 8, 1919 – September 27, 2010), also known as Moe Zudekoff, was an American trombonist and bandleader. Career On a scholarship at age 16, Morrow studied trombone with Ernest Horatio Clarke (1865–194 ...
* ''Dancing Tonight to Morrow'' (
RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
, 1959) (Canada release) * ''Big Band Guitar'' (RCA, 1964) * ''Time After Time'' (Hindsight, 1992) With
Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...
* ''Swingin' New Big Band'', (
Pacific Jazz Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles–based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founde ...
, 1966) * ''The New One!'' (Pacific Jazz, 1967) * ''Time Being'' (
Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous passerine birds in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds lay an ...
, 1971) * ''Rich in London'' (
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
, 1971) * ''A Different Drummer'' (RCA Victor, 1971) * ''Very Alive at Ronnie Scott's'' (1972)


Posthumous releases

* '' Burning for Buddy, Volume 1'',
Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart ( ; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian and American musician, known as the drummer, percussionist, and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush (band), Rush. He was known to fans by the nickname "the Profe ...
and the Buddy Rich Big Band (
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
, 1994) (DVD) * ''Wham! Live'', Buddy Rich ( Label M/Hyena, 2001) * ''Live in '78'', Buddy Rich (Jazz Icons, 2005) (DVD)


Compositions and arrangements

* " Pennies from Heaven," Johnston &
Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, Norman-Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...
; arr. Phillips * "Strike out the Band" – Phillips & Saunders * "Some Bones of Contention" – Phillips & Saunders * "Compilation" (brisk "
I Got Rhythm "I Got Rhythm" is a piece composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the " rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes su ...
"
contrafact A contrafact is a musical work based on a prior work. The term comes from classical music and has only since the 1940s been applied to jazz, where it is still not standard. In classical music, contrafacts have been used as early as the parody m ...
) – Phillips & Saunders * "Perceptive Hindsight" – Phillips & Saunders * "Dearly Befuddled" – Phillips & Saunders * "An Apple for Christa" – Phillips & Saunders * "Little Train" – Phillips * "Milestones" – Davis; arr. Phillips * " My Foolish Heart" –
Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Young was posthumously awarded the ...
&
Ned Washington Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Life and career Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Be ...
; arr. Phillips * "Waltz On" – Herbie Phillips * " My Romance" –
Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...
&
Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon"; " The Lady Is a Tramp"; "Manhattan"; " Bewitched, Bo ...
; arr. Phillips * "
The Girl From Ipanema "Garota de Ipanema" (), or "The Girl from Ipanema", is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim a ...
" –
Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...
,
Vinicius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed "O Poetinha" ("The Little Poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwrig ...
,
Norman Gimbel Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist and songwriter of popular songs and themes to television shows and films. He wrote the lyrics for songs including " Ready to Take a Chance Again" (with composer Cha ...
; arr. Phillips * " Night and Day" –
Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...
; arr. Phillips * "I'm All for You" (a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
version of " Body and Soul") –
Edward Heyman Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul", " When I Fall in Love", and " For Sentimental Reasons". He also contributed to a number of songs for films. Bi ...
,
Robert Sour Robert Sour (1905 – 1985)
''The New York Times'', March 8, 1985.
was a
,
Frank Eyton Frank Eyton (30 August 1894 – 11 November 1962) was an English popular music lyricist best known for co-writing the lyrics of Johnny Green's " Body and Soul" (1930) with Edward Heyman and Robert Sour. Frank Eyton biographyat Allmusic - retrieve ...
.
Johnny Green John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his ear ...
; arr. Phillips * "Cayucus" – Phillips * "Chet" – Phillips * "Fridays" – Phillips * " Round Midnight" –
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...
; arr. Phillips


Copyrighted works

*''The Herb Phillips Songbook'', 1990


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Herbie 1935 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American trumpeters American jazz bandleaders American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American music arrangers Hard bop trumpeters Jazz arrangers American male jazz composers Musicians from Las Vegas Post-bop trumpeters Swing trumpeters Jazz musicians from Nebraska 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American jazz composers