Johnny Mandel Interview
Posted: 20 Oct 2009, 08:51It's about the Streisand album, but plenty of Diana coverage. Here are some excerpts. Full thing at
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=44187 and
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=44237
W: Did Barbra call you?
JM: Actually, in this case, Diana [Krall] did. She was the album's producer and principal pianist. There's nobody I'd rather work for than Diana. She's my favorite singer. And my favorite pianist. She's superb.
JW: Why?
JM: She has the best taste of anyone I know as a singer and as a pianist. I've always liked working for singers. I've worked with Barbra before, a little here and there. Barbra's great and, bless her, she records my songs. Tony Bennett does, too. On the other hand, Diana's never recorded a song of mine. But that doesn't matter. She's still one of my favorite musicians.
JW: How did you, Krall and Streisand work together on the new album?
JM: Barbra first got together with Diana and went over the songs she wanted to do and the keys in which she wanted to sing them. Then Diana and I spoke about the approach. Diana is always on the road, and she works 28 hours a day. So we did a lot of talking on the phone. Then I had a month to finish five songs.
JW: Five arrangements in a month? That sounds impossible.
JM: [Laughs] I wasn't writing full orchestrations at that point. Just the arrangements for Diana's quartet. Once those were completed, Barbra recorded her vocal tracks with just Diana's quartet. Then those tracks came back to me for the orchestral arrangements. After those were added, Barbra listened to the results and in many cases re-recorded her vocal tracks. As I said, it's a process. For me, the goal initially when writing for Diana's quartet was to avoid writing any little traps for myself that I'd have to deal with later with the orchestration.
JW: When arranging the album's songs, how did you work?
JM: At the piano. And then with Diana. Her quartet is at the heart of this album. The trick for me on the orchestration side was to elegantly surround the arrangements I wrote for Diana's quartet. You don't want to hear the quartet accompanied by the orchestra, or first the quartet and then the orchestra. I hate that sound--hearing one and then the other. Barbra has never recorded an album like this before, with a jazz quartet plus orchestration. She had mixed feelings about it, mostly over concern that just the sound of a quartet might be too spare for her sound. Which was perfect for me, since I like when a quartet and orchestra overlay are completely integrated as one.
JW: For those who know little about what a producer does, what was Krall's role?
JM: Holding the whole thing together. Diana never lost her focus, regardless of the many creative places Barbra wanted to go. When Barbra is on and does it, there's no one who can compare. Diana has always admired her tremendously. Which is why they worked beautifully together.
JW: I think your arrangement for Gentle Rain may well be the album's orchestral high point. It's suspenseful, innocent and softly evocative of rain without ever being obvious.
JM: It's my favorite arrangement as well. It sounds great because Diana is playing piano on it. I built the orchestration around her solo. While she's playing, I added four alto flutes at the bottom. I didn't want to get in the way of what Diana was playing upstairs on the piano. So I put those lines down in the lower register. It just felt right. Then I added high strings for harmonics.
JW: Was Krall supposed to play piano on this album from the start?
JM: Diana didn't want to play piano on this track or the others. But everyone felt she had to. Her sound is too special. She wanted to keep her head on the producing, not having to play. She's really a marvelous producer. I've never seen her just produce. But she produces all her own stuff with Tommy LiPuma [pictured], who's indispensable. He was the co-producer on this album. There's an old expression when you're talking about someone with a marvelous ear: “He can hear a rat pissing on cotton" [laughs]. That's the kind of ear Tommy has. If something is out of tune, he hears it in a second and makes the adjustment. He's a producer who really earns his money.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=44187 and
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=44237
W: Did Barbra call you?
JM: Actually, in this case, Diana [Krall] did. She was the album's producer and principal pianist. There's nobody I'd rather work for than Diana. She's my favorite singer. And my favorite pianist. She's superb.
JW: Why?
JM: She has the best taste of anyone I know as a singer and as a pianist. I've always liked working for singers. I've worked with Barbra before, a little here and there. Barbra's great and, bless her, she records my songs. Tony Bennett does, too. On the other hand, Diana's never recorded a song of mine. But that doesn't matter. She's still one of my favorite musicians.
JW: How did you, Krall and Streisand work together on the new album?
JM: Barbra first got together with Diana and went over the songs she wanted to do and the keys in which she wanted to sing them. Then Diana and I spoke about the approach. Diana is always on the road, and she works 28 hours a day. So we did a lot of talking on the phone. Then I had a month to finish five songs.
JW: Five arrangements in a month? That sounds impossible.
JM: [Laughs] I wasn't writing full orchestrations at that point. Just the arrangements for Diana's quartet. Once those were completed, Barbra recorded her vocal tracks with just Diana's quartet. Then those tracks came back to me for the orchestral arrangements. After those were added, Barbra listened to the results and in many cases re-recorded her vocal tracks. As I said, it's a process. For me, the goal initially when writing for Diana's quartet was to avoid writing any little traps for myself that I'd have to deal with later with the orchestration.
JW: When arranging the album's songs, how did you work?
JM: At the piano. And then with Diana. Her quartet is at the heart of this album. The trick for me on the orchestration side was to elegantly surround the arrangements I wrote for Diana's quartet. You don't want to hear the quartet accompanied by the orchestra, or first the quartet and then the orchestra. I hate that sound--hearing one and then the other. Barbra has never recorded an album like this before, with a jazz quartet plus orchestration. She had mixed feelings about it, mostly over concern that just the sound of a quartet might be too spare for her sound. Which was perfect for me, since I like when a quartet and orchestra overlay are completely integrated as one.
JW: For those who know little about what a producer does, what was Krall's role?
JM: Holding the whole thing together. Diana never lost her focus, regardless of the many creative places Barbra wanted to go. When Barbra is on and does it, there's no one who can compare. Diana has always admired her tremendously. Which is why they worked beautifully together.
JW: I think your arrangement for Gentle Rain may well be the album's orchestral high point. It's suspenseful, innocent and softly evocative of rain without ever being obvious.
JM: It's my favorite arrangement as well. It sounds great because Diana is playing piano on it. I built the orchestration around her solo. While she's playing, I added four alto flutes at the bottom. I didn't want to get in the way of what Diana was playing upstairs on the piano. So I put those lines down in the lower register. It just felt right. Then I added high strings for harmonics.
JW: Was Krall supposed to play piano on this album from the start?
JM: Diana didn't want to play piano on this track or the others. But everyone felt she had to. Her sound is too special. She wanted to keep her head on the producing, not having to play. She's really a marvelous producer. I've never seen her just produce. But she produces all her own stuff with Tommy LiPuma [pictured], who's indispensable. He was the co-producer on this album. There's an old expression when you're talking about someone with a marvelous ear: “He can hear a rat pissing on cotton" [laughs]. That's the kind of ear Tommy has. If something is out of tune, he hears it in a second and makes the adjustment. He's a producer who really earns his money.