Jimmy Dale (23 October 1935 – 20 May 2017) was a British-born Canadian
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
,
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
,
conductor,
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
, and
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
. He was active as a music director for both Canadian and United States television during the 1970s and 1980s. He has also composed several
film and television scores and written a number of
TV theme songs and
jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...
s. He has also worked as an arranger and pianist for both performances and recordings with several notable artists.
Life
Born James Edwin Dale in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, Dale immigrated to Canada with his family in 1947 at the age of 11. He attended
The Royal Conservatory of Music
The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...
for two years where he was a pupil of pianist Alma Allen. He also studied
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
and
music composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...
privately in Toronto with
Gordon Delamont
Gordon Arthur Delamont (27 October 1918 – 16 January 1981) was a Canadian music educator, author, composer, and trumpeter. He is best remembered for his work as an educator, having helped shape the talents of dozens of notable musicians in Toro ...
.
Dale began his career playing in
dance bands
(; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish term for a band that plays ("dance band music"). ' is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by ...
and
pit orchestra
A pit orchestra is a type of orchestra that accompanies performers in musicals, operas, ballets, and other shows involving music. The terms was also used for orchestras accompanying silent movies when more than a piano was used. In performances ...
s in Toronto during the 1950s. In 1957 he joined
Peter Appleyard
Peter Appleyard, (26 August 1928 – 17 July 2013) was a British–Canadian jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer.
He spent most of his life in the city of Toronto, where for many years he was a popular performer in nightclubs and ho ...
's newly formed jazz ensemble with whom he played and toured for two years. In the early 1960s he began working for the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
as a rehearsal pianist. He eventually was promoted to music director, notably serving in that capacity for the programs ''À la carte'' and ''In Person''.
In 1969 Dale relocated to
Hollywood where he worked as a music director for both
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. Among the shows that he worked in this capacity for were ''
The Smothers Brothers Show
''The Smothers Brothers Show'' is
an American fantasy sitcom featuring the Smothers Brothers that aired on CBS on Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET from September 17, 1965, to April 22, 1966, co-sponsored by Alberto-Culver's VO5 hairdressing ...
'' (1969, CBS), ''
The Andy Williams Show
''The Andy Williams Show'' was an American television variety show that ran from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'')Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time N ...
'' (1969-1971, NBC), and ''
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' was an American variety show that starred American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was ...
'' (1971-1973, CBS). For the latter show he was nominated for a
Creative Arts Emmy Award
The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as production designers, set ...
for "outstanding achievement in the musical direction of a variety, musical or dramatic program" in 1972. He returned to Toronto, commuting to Los Angeles in 1973 to continue his work with CBS. He returned to Hollywood for a short time in 1975 to serve as music director of ''
The Cher Show
''Cher'' was an American variety show that premiered on CBS in 1975, hosted by singer-actress Cher. The show had many famous musical guests. It followed a TV special featuring Elton John, Bette Midler, and Flip Wilson as guests. ''Cher'' pre ...
''.
Dale continued to work actively for the CBC in Toronto as a music director during the 1970s and 1980s. He was music director for the television programs ''
Juliette and Friends
''Juliette and Friends'' is a Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connection ...
'' (1973-5) and ''
The Bob McLean Show
''The Bob McLean Show'' was a Canadian talk show television series which aired on CBC Television from 1975 to 1981.
Premise
CBC Television created this series in 1975 to replace '' Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date'' whose host had left the network ...
'' (1975-81). He also worked in the same capacity for the
CTV Television Network
The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a divis ...
program ''
The Bobby Vinton Show
''The Bobby Vinton Show'' was a Canadian musical variety television series produced for the CTV Television Network between 1975 and 1978, with a total of 52 episodes broadcast. Featuring Bobby Vinton, a best-selling popular music singer since the ...
'' (1976-8), and for two privately syndicated series, ''
Bizarre'' (1980–86) and ''
Super Dave'' (beginning in 1987).
From 1974-1987 Dale was the pianist for
Boss Brass
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, ...
with whom he made several recordings. He also was a regular performer in Toronto nightclubs from the 1960s through the 1980s, notably accompanying such artists as
George Coleman
George Edward Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. In 2015, he was named an NEA Jazz Master.
Early life
Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He was ...
,
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...
, and
Peggy Lee
Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...
among others. He also performed gigs with his own band, the Jimmy Dale Swingers. In 1968 he released the album ''Soft and Groovy'' and also appeared as a pianist on the album ''Juliette's Christmas World'' with the Jimmy Dale Swingers. His album ''Profiles'' was released in 1980 on the Intercan label. He also worked as a pianist on recordings by Appleyard and Basso.
Personal life
Dale is the father of film producer
J. Miles Dale and former professional racing car driver and racing team owner
Jeremy Dale.
Death
Dale died on 20 May 2017 in
Naples, Florida
Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...
, at the age was of 81.
Work as a composer and arranger
As a composer, Dale has written several film and television score, including the music for ''
B.S. I Love You
''B.S. I Love You'' is a 1971 American comedy-drama, comedy-drama film directed and written by Steven Hilliard Stern and starring Peter Kastner. The style of the film is like many others of its era, taking its cues from ''The Graduate'' and the ...
'', ''
Crunch'', ''
The Execution of Raymond Graham'', and ''
Breakfast with Les and Bess
''Breakfast with Les and Bess'' was an off-Broadway play written by Lee Kalcheim that originally premiered at Hudson Guild Theatre in October 1982 before transferring to Lamb's Theatre in May 1983.
Plot synopsis
It follows a radio celebrity c ...
''. He has also written music for the theatre, including writing the
orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...
s for the musicals ''
Aimee!'' and ''
Durante Durante is both an Italian surname and a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname:
* Adriano Durante (1940-2009), Italian professional road bicycle racer
*Andrew Durante (born 1982), Australian football (soccer) p ...
''. As an arranger, Dale has put together works for albums by such notable artists as
Eugene Amaro,
Tommy Ambrose
Thomas Ambrose (born 19 October 1939) is a Canadian singer-songwriter.
Tommy Ambrose was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At age four he began gospel singing at "Youth for Christ" rallies at Massey Hall, Maple Leaf Gardens, and elsewhere under ...
,
Denyse Angé,
Keath Barrie,
Guido Basso
Guido Basso, (born 27 September 1937) is a Canadian jazz musician who was a member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass big band. He is a trumpeter, flugelhornist, arranger, composer and conductor.
Life and career
Basso was born in Montreal, Quebec ...
, Mary Lou Collins,
Cecile Frenette, and
Bobby Vinton
Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...
.
See also
*
List of jazz arrangers
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or develo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dale, Jimmy
1935 births
2017 deaths
Canadian composers
Canadian male composers
Canadian conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
Canadian organists
Male organists
Canadian jazz pianists
The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni
Musicians from London
Musicians from Toronto
British emigrants to Canada
Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States
Canadian male pianists