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During 1922-'23, he led his own band, the Broadway Five, which recorded for the Columbia label. Subsequently, he was the pianist in an early Jack Hylton band. Then, in 1925, he worked as the musical director for a succession of West End shows. In 1925 he directed the pit orchestra for the smash-hit show 'No No Nanette', in which he used saxophones for the first time in a theatre band. In 1928, he made a short tour of Germany. Mackey eventually formed his own dance band which from time-to time included such sidemen as Bill Harty, Ben Oakley, Reg Pink, Tiny Stock, Andy Hodgkiss, Spike Hughes, Teddy Foster, Peter Yorke, Ivor Mairants, Paul Fenhoulet, Jack Jackson and Ronnie Munro. Also in 1925, he began recording for Columbia, and in the process became one of their first bands to "go electric" in October 1925. With the defection of the Savoy bands to the HMV label, Mackey's band soon became Columbia's most prominent band, until eclipsed by Debroy Somers and Jack Payne. In July 1927, he formed his Kit-Cat Club band , that first recorded for Edison Bell before moving to Piccadilly records in November 1928, and a year later to the Broadcast.label. March 1931 found him again recording for Columbia, and six months later was on their Regal label, with the Kit-Cat Club band which he had taken over from Reggie Batten (who had experienced some difficulties with the musicians)
Oh, give me something to remember you by, when you are far away from me.
The above tracks courtesy of Mr.Leonard Schwartz, and subsequently digitally re-mastered. In February 1930 he became resident at the Savoy Hotel, for almost a year, after which he was again leading pit orchestras in the West End. In 1932, he was heavily engaged in the British film studios, and no longer recorded. Over his career, he scored, conducted or arranged for 87 films (mostly 'Shorts') between 1931 and 1946 (and even appeared in some) Early in 1934 Mackey became an impresario as well as a bandleader, and his first show was 'Cat in the Bag', followed by 'Happy Weekend'. In this regard, it is interesting to note that Mackey was the first to use jazz musicians in pit orchestras and employed the best he could find. Iin October 1934, Mackey succeeded Ray Noble as director of HMV's New Mayfair Dance Orchestra . In March 1935, he left HMV, essentially marking the end of his recording career, although, In the 1940s, Mackey recorded for Decca's " Music While You Work " series. After World War II ended, he resumed working for the film studios, and also married singer and dancer Monti Ryan. His father was the principal violin at La Scala, Milan, where he served under such reknowned leaders as Richter, Toscanini; Mascagni; and Saint-Saens. Yet, it is said that it was his mother who encouraged him to play, not his father. His training began with the piano and later violin. Subsequently, the family moved to England, and in 1912, his father led the Covent Gardens Orchestra. Also in 1912, at just age 16, Mantovani made his professional debut playing Anton Bruch's "Violin Concerto No. 1". Four years later, he began a broadcasting career, when he formed an orchestra that was booked into London's Hotel Metropole. He formed his 'Typica Orchestra' in the early 1930's, for a booking into London's famous Monseigneur Restaurant in Piccadilly, from whence he began a series of lunchtime broadcasts. He also started recording for the Regal Zonophone label, and had two U. S. hits: "Red Sails In The Sunset" and "Serenade In The Night". Let's watch two completely different videos of Mantovani, The first is a Mantovani trio, Mantovani on violin, cellist, and pianist and then we follow that with a very early Mantovani orchestra. You wont believe the difference. Mantovani Trio playing the And now Mantovani's 'New Dance Orchestra' During his career, Mantovani also served as musical director for several of London's West End shows, including 'Meet Me Victoria', 'Twenty To One', Bob's Your Uncle', 'And So To Bed', 'Lady Behave', and 'La Di Da Di Da'. He was also the Pit conductor for Noel Coward's 'Pacific 1860' and 'Ace of Clubs'. While experimenting with different band styles, his arranger, Ronnie Binge, came up with an original idea called the 'Cascading Violins', 'Cascading Strings', or 'Tumbling Strings' effect, that was to become the orchestra's trademark. It was first heard on Mantovani's 1951 recording of "Charmaine", a song originally composed for the American silent film classic, 'What Price Glory?". Among Mantovani's better known own compositions are:
Mantovani was awarded a special Ivor Novello Award in 1956 for his services to popular music. The British born son of a black American dancer, Geoff Love developed his liking for music at a very early age. By the late 1950's and the early 1960's, his 'Manuel' appellation had already become very well known to the English public. Love used the 'Manuel' appellation pseudonymously, and this gave him the artistic freedom to imbue much of his music with South American overtones. His early recordings did not reveal his real name, which only became widely known during a cameo guest appearance on the BBC TV's 'Juke Box Jury'. Love was 75 years of age when he died in 1975. Bram became fascinated with the 'cello at a very early age and studied for years until at the age of sixteen he was recording with George Byng's Queen's Hall Light Orchestra backing stars of the calibre of Sir Harry Lauder. He played in a trio at the Queen's Hotel in Leicester Square until the First World War ended and then he did some touring and played in cinema orchestras in London. At the Oxford Theatre he assumed leadership of the orchestra accompanying silent films. He was in the orchestra at Covent Garden Opera House for two seasons between 1921 and 1923, playing under Bruno Walter. Thereafter he played in more cinema orchestras, including the legendary Regal Cinema Orchestra directed by Emmanual Starkey. He also took up the banjo and guitar while playing in dance combinations and claimed to have been the first guitarist in a British dance band. In 1932 he became a member of the English Trio playing at the Holborn Restaurant in London which soon commenced broadcasting. During this time a friend asked him to form a dance band for a charity concert at the London Hippodrome and as a result Bram decided to try and keep the band together. He got permission to use a room at the Holborn Restaurant to rehearse in. The manager of the restaurant heard the band and soon afterwards they were engaged to play in the restaurant. This was probably in 1934. Bram Martin and his Band from the Holborn Restaurant, London cut its first recording in February 1935 (LET'S HAVE A JUBILEE-Hudson WH-1393) but didn't commence regular recordings until November 1936 when they were under contract to Regal Zonophone. One of their first recordings YOU'VE GOT DUST ON YOUR COAT (RZ MR. 2258) was arranged in the Hal Kemp manner, but their other recordings owe nothing to Kemp. Martin had his own style. They recorded regularly until February 1938 and most sides featured the excellent singer Gene Crowley. Bram engaged Sam Costa and Al Bowlly for his first broadcast. Sam Costa made a few recordings with the band on Regal Zonophone and Al Bowlly recorded one title with the band - THE WAVES OF THE OCEAN ARE WHISP'RING GOODNIGHT - on their last recording session in June 1939 for Rex. Gene Crowley was a smooth singer of romantic songs of the day such as HARBOUR LIGHTS (RZ MR.2353) and WHERE THE CAFE LIGHTS ARE GLEAMING (RZ MR.2392), but he was equally good at adopting comic accents on numbers like WITH MY LITTLE HORSE AND WAGON (RZ MR 2466). On early BBC broadcasts by the band, Bram featured vocalists Ann Trevor, Fred Douglas, Ivor Davis amongst others, but later in 1936 Gene Crowley and the Heron Sisters were present on all the regular broadcasts with the occasional vocal contribution by Bram himself. The Heron Sisters (Kay, Wendy and Joan) broadcast songs such as SMOKE RINGS and ORGAN GRINDER'S SWING and made some attractive recordings with the band including THE WEDDING OF THE ROSE (RZ MR.2316) and WHEN MY DREAM BOAT COMES HOME (RZ MR.2299/RZ MR 2453). Bram's own playing is well-to-the-fore following the vocal chorus in this latter title which is a lovely performance throughout. In the spring of 1937, Teresa Dale joined the vocal team. The band was two, later three trumpets, one trombone, three saxes, violin, piano, guitar, string bass, drummer, with Bram leading on violincello. Some of the boys made a hot session for Columbia under the name Bram Martin's Borderliners while later the full Orchestra recorded TIGER RAG (RZ MR.2556) showing the versatility of the players. Bram Martin and his "Orchestra", as they were announced over the BBC, broadcast regularly live from the Holborn Restaurant in late night relays and made commercial radio programs for the continental stations. In a relatively short period of time they had become popular favorites. Bram continued to broadcast 'cello recitals under his father's name, John Martinez, for a while, but he felt that he couldn't pursue a professional career in both straight music and dance bands. The band went on tour in the summer of 1938 for one year until Bram was appointed Musical Director for music publisher Lawrence Wright's annual production of "On With The Show" on Blackpool's North Pier. Bram spent five summer seasons directed the music for "On With The Show", filling in the remainder of the year doing one night stands. In 1943,he took his band to the Plaza Ballroom in Derby for a two-year residency. This was apparently his last engagement as a dance band leader. He continued to do theatre work and later concentrated on recording session work where he was in great demand as the top cellist in the field. He recorded for Geoff Love, Mantovani, Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle, and the Beatles to name but a few. He also formed a company to supply orchestras for functions. He continued working until he reached the ripe old age of 79.
Martin did get a few appearances on BBC radio shows, but with WW2 looming, he enlisted in the British Army. Due to his fluency in French, German, and English, Martin was recruited for Army Intelligence service. Even so, his musical talents were recognized he soon found a position, as a composer and arranger, with the Royal Air Force Central Band. After the war ended, Martin formed an orchestra culled from musicians who had served with the Hamburg Philharmonic, and began broadcasting a show called 'Melody from the Sky', over the British Forces Network in Hamburg, Germany. Remarkably, the show, a success, was then added to the BBC's schedule and ran for over 500 broadcasts. In 1949, he began working for the U.K. division of Columbia Records. He recorded under his own name and also backed some well known English vocalists, including Julie Andrews. By the mid-1950s, he was writing profusely and had over 1200 compositions to his credit - often under such pseudonyms as Tony Simmonds and Lester Powell. By the mid-1950s, Martin was writing music for British films including 'It's Great to Be Young' and 'Blonde Sinner', starring Diana Dors, -Britain's answer to Jayne Mansfield. In addition to recording several albums for Capitol Records, with a band called The Piccadilly Strings, he was also providing arrangements for such British orchestra leaders as Mantovani, Geraldo, and Stanley Black. In 1957, Martin emigrated to the U.S., where he soon found work with a small label called Imperial Records, conducting and arranging/composisng. He then moved over to RCA Victor Records where he did some of his best work. (His album 'Dynamica' is a highlight of RCA's Stereo Action series). His contributions to the RCA 'Living Series' included some swinging "Living Brass" sides, while his Mancini tribute album featured a really wild version of the "Peter Gunn Theme" --and it was a vocal! Martin's 'The Sound of Sight' album, bearing the subtitle 'Music for an Experiment in Imgaination', blended music and stereotypical sound effects to create some interesting soundscapes with titles such as "Westorama" and "Egyptian Epic". In the late 1960s, he came full-cycle to his roots with an album of Viennese music for Monument Records. In 1972, He returned to the U.K., remaining there until moving to South Africa in 1980. When he was just age 17, he formed his own orchestra and, for several years, toured concert halls and theaters in Europe. He got his big break when he became Paul Aznavour's music arranger. From 1960 onwards, his own albums, with their distinctive, melodic arrangements, won him a substantial following. In 1962, he co-wrote the song "Chariot"; using the pseudonym of Del Roma. It became a big continental hit when British star Petula Clark sang the tune in French. In 1963, it became a big American hit when, with an alternate lyric by Norman Gimbel and Arthur Altman, and retitled "I Will Follow Him", it reached number one on the charts with 'Little Peggy March' vocalizing. Mauriat's success continued. In 1968, his recording of "Love Is Blue", composed by Andre Popp, was number 1 on the charts for six weeks. All of this led to major TV appearances and world tours which took him throughout the USA, Mexica, Latin America, Japan and elsewhere. Two of his other US singles were "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", the theme for a Sean Connery picture, and, "Love is In Every Room". In the 1960's and 1970's, his albums continued to sell well including "Memories of Russia", "Rhythm and Blues", and "A Touch of Paul Mauriat". It was reported that Paul has ceased touring Japan, and has officially retired (in 1998). However, we have received word that the "Paul Mauriat Orchestra" is continuing under the leadership of Gilles Gambus, and while Paul will probably not tour, he will contribute his arranging and composing skills. The band will be touring Japan in Nov. 2000.
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