Biography
Emmanuel Albam, 24 June 1922, Samana, Dominican Republic, d. 2 October 2001, Croton-On-Hudson, New York, USA. Raised in New York, Albam became interested in jazz as a child and occasionally sat in at a club in the Village, playing alto saxophone. At the age of 16 he graduated from high school and joined Muggsy Spanier’s band, then worked with Bob Chester before playing baritone saxophone with Georgie Auld. Albam also played with the bands of Sam Donahue, Charlie Barnet and Charlie Spivak but, encouraged by Budd Johnson, began to make his mark as an arranger. In 1957, he wrote a jazz arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s music from West Side Story, which met with the composer’s approval. That same year he began to experiment with long works, which resulted in a succession of fine albums including The Blues Is Everybody’s Business, The Drum Suite, and Soul Of The City. Rooted in late-swing era big band style, Albam’s work exemplified the best of...
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