David Lee Frishberg (March 23, 1933 – November 17, 2021) 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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
pianist, vocalist, composer, and lyricist. His songs have been performed by
Blossom Dearie
Margrethe Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Profile at AllMusicDearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City over ...
,
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...
,
Shirley Horn
Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and othe ...
,
Anita O'Day
Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...
,
Michael Feinstein
Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for cele ...
,
Irene Kral
Irene Kral (January 18, 1932 – August 15, 1978) was an American jazz singer who was born to Czechoslovakian parents in Chicago, Illinois and settled in Los Angeles in the early 1960s. She died from breast cancer in Encino, California.
Kral's ol ...
,
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, '' Billboard'' maga ...
,
Rebecca Kilgore
Rebecca Kilgore (born September 24, 1949) is an American jazz vocalist based in Portland, Oregon. She has been called "one of the best interpreters of the Great American Songbook." She has performed with jazz pianist and composer Dave Frishberg, ...
,
Stacey Kent
Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1965) is an American jazz singer from South Orange, New Jersey.
Kent was nominated for a Grammy Award and was awarded the Chevalier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Mini ...
,
Bette Midler
Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...
,
John Pizzarelli
John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. (born April 6, 1960, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCa ...
,
Jessica Molaskey
Jessica Molaskey (born January 9, 1962) is an American professional actor and singer of torch songs and show tunes. She has appeared in a dozen Broadway shows, including '' Sunday in the Park with George'', ''Tommy'', '' Crazy for You'', ''Chess' ...
, and
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Op ...
.
Frishberg wrote the music and lyrics for "
I'm Just a Bill", the song about the forlorn legislative writ in the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
''
Schoolhouse Rock!
''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The theme ...
'' series, which was later transformed into the revue ''Schoolhouse Rock Live''. For ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' he also wrote and performed "Walkin' on Wall Street", a song describing how the stock market works, and "$7.50 Once a Week", a song about saving money and balancing a budget.
Biography
David Lee Frishberg was born on March 23, 1933,
in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...
.
Frishberg resisted learning classical piano as a boy, developing an interest in
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and
boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pian ...
by listening to recordings by
Pete Johnson and
Jay McShann
James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson (trumpeter), Bernard A ...
. As a teenager, he played in the house band at the Flame in St. Paul where
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 in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...
,
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...
, and
Johnny Hodges
Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on soprano ...
appeared. After graduating from the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
as a journalism major in 1955, Frishberg spent two years in the
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
.
In 1957, Frishberg moved to New York City, where he played solo piano at the Duplex in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
. He first became known for his work with
Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...
,
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Career Early life and career
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...
,
Gene Krupa
Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of "Sing, Sing, S ...
,
Bud Freeman
Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet.
Biography
In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high sc ...
,
Eddie Condon
Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang.
Early years
Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of J ...
,
Al Cohn
Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist Zo ...
, and
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...
. Later, he was celebrated for writing and performing his own, frequently humorous, songs, including favorites "I'm Hip" (lyrics only, in collaboration with
Bob Dorough
Robert Lrod Dorough (December 12, 1923 – April 23, 2018) was an American bebop and cool jazz vocalist, pianist, composer, songwriter, arranger, and producer. Dorough became famous as the composer and performer of songs in the TV series ''School ...
),
["Dave Frishberg Song Catalogue"]
DaveFrishberg.net. "Blizzard of Lies", "My Attorney Bernie" (his most famous—a hit for Chicago's first lady of Jazz, Judy Roberts), "Do You Miss New York", "Peel Me a Grape", "Quality Time", "Slappin' the Cakes on Me", "I Want To Be A Sideman", and "
Van Lingle Mungo
Van Lingle Mungo (June 8, 1911 – February 12, 1985) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from to for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. The five-time All-Star ...
", whose lyrics consist entirely of the names of old-time baseball players.
In 1971, Frishberg moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a studio musician, and where he also recorded his first albums. In 1986, he moved to
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
.
Frishberg cited songwriter
Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a Tony ...
as an influence, and has said that Loesser's "
Baby, It's Cold Outside
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a popular song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and popularized in the 1949 film '' Neptune's Daughter''. While the lyrics make no mention of a holiday, it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter ...
", along with
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
's "
Crazy
Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...
", are songs he wished he had written. Like Loesser before him, Frishberg has also worked strictly as a lyricist, collaborating with composers
Johnny Mandel
John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...
,
Alan Broadbent
Alan Leonard Broadbent (born 23 April 1947) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, arranger, and composer known for his work with artists such as Sue Raney, Charlie Haden, Woody Herman, Chet Baker, Irene Kral, Sheila Jordan, Natalie Cole, Warne Marsh, ...
, Al Cohn,
Blossom Dearie
Margrethe Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Profile at AllMusicDearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City over ...
,
David Shire
David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage Musical theater, musicals, film and television film score, scores. The soundtracks to the 1976 film ''The Big Bus'', ''The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 f ...
,
Julius Wechter
Julius Wechter (May 10, 1935 – February 1, 1999) was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song " Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of Th ...
,
Dan Barrett
Dan Barrett is an American musician from Connecticut, New England. He is a member of the rock duo Have a Nice Life. Outside of this, he has released solo work primarily under the names Giles Corey and Black Wing. In 2003, he founded the record labe ...
,
Bob Brookmeyer
Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Ge ...
,
Bob Dorough
Robert Lrod Dorough (December 12, 1923 – April 23, 2018) was an American bebop and cool jazz vocalist, pianist, composer, songwriter, arranger, and producer. Dorough became famous as the composer and performer of songs in the TV series ''School ...
,
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...
, and Johnny Hodges.
[
Frishberg was nominated 4 times for Grammy awards for Best Jazz Vocals. '']Rolling Stone India
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cove ...
'' included two of his recordings for their series of jazz playlists in the category of "lyrics worth paying attention to": "My Attorney Bernie" (sung by Blossom Dearie
Margrethe Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Profile at AllMusicDearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City over ...
) and "I Want To Be a Sideman" (performed by Frishberg). He was the co-recipient of the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song
The Razzie Award for Worst Original Song was an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst song written for a film in the previous year. The following is a list of recipients and nominees of that award, along with the film ...
in 1981, having written the lyric to "Baby Talk" from the Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture.
Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...
comedy film ''Paternity
Paternity may refer to:
*Father, the male parent of a (human) child
*Paternity (law), fatherhood as a matter of law
* ''Paternity'' (film), a 1981 comedy film starring Burt Reynolds
* "Paternity" (''House''), a 2004 episode of the television seri ...
''.
Personal
Frishberg was a longtime baseball fan, and had been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...
(SABR) since 1984. In addition to "Van Lingle Mungo", he also wrote "Matty", a tribute to an early 20th century pitching great, which was included along with "Play Ball" and several other songs with baseball references, on the 1994 CD ''Quality Time''.
Frishberg died on November 17, 2021, in Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, at the age of 88.
Discography
* ''Oklahoma Toad'' (CTI, 1970)
* ''Solo And Trio'' (Seeds, 1974)
* ''Getting Some Fun Out of Life'' (Concord Jazz, 1977)
* ''You're a Lucky Guy'' (Concord Jazz, 1978)
* ''The Dave Frishberg Songbook Volume No. 1'' (Omni Sound, 1981)
* ''The Dave Frishberg Songbook Volume No. 2'' (Omni Sound, 1983)
* ''Live at Vine Street'' (Fantasy, 1985)
* ''Can't Take You Nowhere'' (Fantasy, 1987)
* ''Let's Eat Home'' (Concord Jazz, 1990)
* ''Dave Frishberg Classics'' (Concord Jazz, 1981)
* ''Where You At?'' (Sterling, 1991)
* ''Double Play'' with Jim Goodwin (Arbors, 1993)
* ''Quality Time'' (Sterling, 1994)
* ''Looking at You'' with Rebecca Kilgore (PHD Music, 1994)
* ''Not a Care in the World'' with Rebecca Kilgore (Arbors, 1997)
* ''By Himself'' (Arbors, 1998)
* ''Who's On First?
"Who's on First?" is a comedy routine made famous by American comedy duo Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team for Costello. However, the players' names can simultaneously ...
'' with Bob Dorough (Blue Note, 2000)
* ''The Starlit Hour'' with Rebecca Kilgore (Arbors, 2001)
* ''Do You Miss New York? Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center'' (Arbors, 2003)
* ''Dave Frishberg at The Jazz Bakery: Retromania'' (Arbors, 2005)
* ''Why Fight the Feeling'' with Rebecca Kilgore (Arbors, 2008)
* ''House Concert'' with Karen Krog (Arbors, 2010)
* ''Jessica Molasky and Dave Frishberg at the Algonquin'' (Arbors, 2012)
As sideman
* Ray Linn
:''Not related to actor-singeRay Linn Jr.(1914–1994)''.
Ray Linn (October 20, 1920 in Chicago, Illinois – 4 November 1996 in Columbus, Ohio) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Linn's first major engagements came in the late 1930s, playing ...
, ''Empty Suit Blues'' (Discovery, 1981)
* Jimmy Rushing
James Andrew Rushing (August 26, 1901 – June 8, 1972) was an American singer and pianist from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.
Rushing was known as " Mr. Five by ...
, '' Livin' the Blues'' (BluesWay, 1968)
* Pee Wee Russell
Charles Ellsworth "Pee Wee" Russell (March 27, 1906 – February 15, 1969), was an American jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but he eventually focused solely on clarinet.
With a highly individualistic and sp ...
, ''Over the Rainbow'' (Xanadu, 1982)
* Dick Sudhalter
Richard Merrill Sudhalter (28 December 1938 – 19 September 2008)Biography ''AllMusic'' was an American jazz trumpeter and writer.
Biography
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Sudhalter was inspired to pursue a musical career by his ...
, ''Friends with Pleasure'' (Audiophile, 1981)
* Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Career Early life and career
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...
, ''Valentine's Day 1964 Live'' (Dot Time, 2018)
Further reading
* Balliett, Whitney (1988). ''American Singers: 27 Portraits in Song''. New York, Oxford University Press. .
* Frishberg, Dave (2017). ''My Dear Departed Past''. Milwaukee, Backbeat Books.
References
External links
Official website
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frishberg, Dave
1933 births
2021 deaths
Jewish American jazz composers
American jazz pianists
American male pianists
American jazz singers
American lyricists
Bebop pianists
Blue Note Records artists
Jewish American musicians
Jewish American songwriters
Musicians from Portland, Oregon
Musicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota
Swing pianists
University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni
Jewish jazz musicians
Songwriters from Oregon
Songwriters from Minnesota
Singers from Oregon
Singers from Minnesota
20th-century American pianists
Jazz musicians from Minnesota
21st-century American pianists
American male jazz composers
American jazz composers
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
Arbors Records artists
Fantasy Records artists
Concord Records artists
21st-century American Jews
American male songwriters