TV Jazz with Marterie, Rugolo and Martin

Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn being menaced by a projected shadow 

Big band jazz had an unlikely renaissance on American television in the late 1950s. Jazz scores seemed to go well with the "private eye" detectives then in vogue, whether they were busy being crime fighters, swinging bachelors or just being cool.

Similar to the way those private eyes drew their lineage from the Raymond Chandler - Dashiell Hammett hard-boiled school of the 1930s and 40s (much watered down and more upscale), so the musicians took their cues from certain film noir scores, along with the work of such composers as Elmer Bernstein on several movies, Leith Stevens and Shorty Rogers on The Wild One, and Kenyon Hopkins on The Strange One.

The catalyst for much of the interest, though, was the work of Henry Mancini on Peter Gunn, a huge television hit in 1958. Thereafter, big band jazz and detectives became inseparable. And the music filled any number of LPs.

Today we have three of those albums, all of which involve one or both of the famed arrangers Pete Rugolo and Skip Martin.

• Music for a Private Eye by Ralph Marterie and band, scored by Rugolo and Martin

• The Music from Richard Diamond, written and arranged by Rugolo

• TV Jazz Themes performed by the so-called "Video All-Stars," led by Martin

These are well worth hearing, each featuring the finest West Coast studio musicians, several of whom appear on more than one of the LPs.

Music for a Private Eye (Ralph Marterie)

I believe that Ralph was still leading a band at the time this LP was made in 1959, but here his "Marlboro Men" (presumably named for a sponsor) were some of Hollywood's finest (Don Fagerquist, Frank Rosolino, George Roberts, Bud Shank, Paul Horn, Bob Cooper, Jimmy Rowles, Al Viola and so on), all conducted by Pete Rugolo. The arrangements are by Pete, Skip Martin (another big band vet who went Hollywood) and reportedly Heinie Beau, a noted "ghost" orchestrator. 

Pete rose to prominence with Stan Kenton's band, but had branched out into the film and television field by the time this LP came about.

Pete Rugolo

For this album, despite the "private eye" branding, much of the music is not from detective shows. The contents include Pete's Richard Diamond and The Thin Man themes; Count Basie's music from M Squad, Lee Marvin's police show; Fred Steiner's catchy Perry Mason signature music; the theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, listed as by Stanley Wilson but based on a Gounod piece; Frank Comstock's music from The D.A.'s Man; and two ringers - Melvyn Leonard's Riff Blues and Private Eyeball by Peter Hanson and Marterie.

I transferred this from the Mercury Wing stereo budget reissue of the LP, which cut costs by chopping off Jay Livingston's 77 Sunset Strip music, which was on the full-price original. I have reinstated the track from a mono version of the full-price album.

By the way, it's not clear what Marterie does on the LP. He's not listed among the trumpet players and he didn't handle the arrangements or conducting. He does look good on the cover, however, lighting a Marlboro, accompanied by two streetwalkers.

LINK to Music for a Private Eye

Music from Richard Diamond (Pete Rugolo)

Richard Diamond is not the best remembered private eye show - those would be Peter Gunn and 77 Sunset Strip - but Pete Rugolo's music did merit a complete LP, which is less well known than such specimens as the Peter Gunn and 77 Sunset Strip albums.

The Richard Diamond theme is memorable big band swagger. This version is more or less the same arrangement as appears on the album above. The one on the LP below is somewhat different.

David Janssen as Richard Diamond, with his cool car phone and giant hat ribbon

The music on the album represents both recurring themes and music that Rugolo wrote specifically for certain shows.

The musicians are quite similar to those on the album above - Frank Rosolino, Bud Shank, Paul Horn, Bob Cooper, Al Viola and Jimmy Rowles among them.

The executive producer of the Richard Diamond TV show was Dick Powell, a Hollywood musical star who morphed into a hard-boiled detective type, including playing Diamond on the radio. He contributed to the sleeve notes on this LP.

LINK to Music from Richard Diamond

TV Jazz Themes (Skip Martin)

The clumsy cover above might lead you to think this is a budget LP. You would be correct, but it is quite a good one.

Leading the band is Skip Martin, a well-known Hollywood orchestrator. The musicians once again include Paul Horn, Bob Cooper, Jimmy Rowles, Frank Rosolino and others mentioned above.

Skip Martin

Martin programmed an entire side of music from Peter Gunn, and did well by Mancini's famed score. He includes its two best known melodies - the opening theme and "Dreamsville," which also had an afterlife as a ballad with lyrics by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston.

Otherwise, Martin programmed Rugolo's themes from Richard Diamond and The Thin Man, and Livingston's 77 Sunset Strip. These are all very well done and the sound is excellent - as it is on the other LPs. (Although it doesn't say so on the cover above, this LP is in stereo.)

LINK to TV Jazz Themes

Jazz on the Big Screen

Up top I mentioned several examples of jazz on the big screen. Here are several LPs that have appeared on this blog that might be of interest. Links to the original posts are in the subheads.

Elmer Bernstein - Movie and TV Themes. Bernstein was a giant in the field. This LP provides a good overview of some of his scores. If you want a complete LP of his famed Sweet Smell of Success music, it's also available via the link above. His Themes from the General Electric Theater album is here.

Leith Stevens and Shorty Rogers - The Wild One. A complete set of Leith Stevens and Shorty Rogers' recordings of the music from The Wild One (the one being Marlon Brando). This includes the 10-inch and 12-inch Stevens LPs and the Shorty Rogers EP. There are also links to two other Leith Stevens scores.

Kenyon Hopkins - The Strange One. Here's what I wrote back in 2009: "The title music is one of the best jazz-influenced tunes of the time, with a sinister edge that suits the film's theme very well." The "strange one" is Ben Gazzara. This score, which has not be re-released, is one of my favorites.

Heinie Beau - Moviesville Jazz. I mentioned the famed "ghost" arranger Heinie Beau above, who apparently contributed to the charts for the Ralph Marterie album. Beau recorded a set of his own compositions for Coral called "Moviesville Jazz" that made light of some of the conventions of film scoring, bearing such titles as "The Man with the Golden Embouchure."