Lloyd Vernon "Skip" Martin (May 14, 1916, in Robinson, Illinois – February 12, 1976, in Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and music arranger.

Background

Martin was active principally as an arranger for some of the most popular swing jazz bands of the 1930s and 1940s. He worked with Count Basie, Charlie Barnet (1939–40),

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

(1941), and

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

(1941–42); doubling as a reedist with the last three. In the Goodman orchestra he played alto sax alongside

Gus Bivona Gus Bivona (November 25, 1915 – January 5, 1996) was an American reed player — covering a range of clarinets, saxophones and flute — at the height of the big band era. Following World War II, he was a staff musician for the MGM Studio Orche ...

and recorded with the legendary trumpeter

Cootie Williams Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 – September 15, 1985) was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter. Biography Born in Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career at the age of 14 with the Yo ...

in the early 1940s as well. Later in the 1940s he worked with Les Brown (memorably the big-band chart for '' I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm''), then moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s, where he did extensive work as a staff and freelance orchestrator, studio conductor (e.g. Astaire's '' Royal Wedding'', 1951) and popular song arranger (often for Tony Martin, The Pied Pipers, the

Andrews Andrews may refer to: Places Australia *Andrews, Queensland *Andrews, South Australia United States *Andrews, Florida (disambiguation), various places *Andrews, Indiana * Andrews, Nebraska *Andrews, North Carolina * Andrews, Oregon * Andrews, Sou ...

and De Castro sister groups, or Barbara Ruick). Martin also recorded three albums as a leader and produced material for West Coast jazz and swing concept albums (e.g. 1959's ''Scheherajazz'' with

) for

Somerset Records David Leonard Miller (July 4, 1925May 24, 1985) was an American record producer and the founder of many budget album record companies. Miller is more familiar to some record buyers and collectors as the notorious Leo Muller who produced many Ex ...

. In 1963 he joined

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

on a dream team of arrangers working on the Sinatra- Burke compilation albums for the ambitious Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre project, featuring the singing members of the

Rat Pack The Rat Pack was an informal group of entertainers, the second iteration of which ultimately made films and appeared together in Las Vegas casino venues. They originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a group of A-list show business frie ...

, plus

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

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", ...

and Jo Stafford. In Hollywood, Martin was one of the team of orchestrators contributing to ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charis ...

'' (1952) and '' Guys and Dolls'' (1955). He frequently shared arrangement credits with Conrad Salinger, such as on '' Summer Stock'' (1950), '' Kiss Me Kate'' (1953) and '' Funny Face'' (1957). He was the sole credited orchestrator for Judy Garland's comeback vehicle '' A Star Is Born'' (1954), which contains many arrangements by him of

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

ballads, principally " The Man that Got Away" and "It's a New World".

References

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...

, "Skip Martin". '' Grove Jazz'' online.
The Internet Movie Database
*'' Billboard (magazine)'' *Grudens, Richard, ''Chattanooga Choo Choo: The Life and Times of the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra'', Celebrity Profiles Publishing, 2004, pp. 126–127.

External links

* *
Scheherajazz Live World Premiere Fall/Winter 2016Scheherajazz Features Music Ensembles - Eastern Washington University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Skip 1916 births 1976 deaths American jazz clarinetists American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American music arrangers People from Robinson, Illinois RCA Victor artists 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Glenn Miller Orchestra members Shortridge High School alumni