Henry Mancini Institute Starts on Educational Theme

“I decided that I wanted to write for orchestra,” legendary film composer Henry Mancini said a few months before he passed away in 1994, “when I was a kid playing flute in an orchestra in Pittsburgh. I sat there, listening to all the sounds around me, and I just knew I had to find out how they were put together.”

It’s appropriate, given that curiosity, that the American Jazz Philharmonic has named its new summer educational program after Mancini. On Aug. 28, the Henry Mancini Institute kicks off its first year of activities with a four-week program aimed at providing hands-on experience to accomplished young musicians.

The training--which will be provided by a faculty drawn from the AJP, including such well-known artists as Billy Childs, Justo Almario, Hubert Laws, Ray Pizzi and AJP music director Jack Elliott--will orient the students in skills that cross the musical spectrum from jazz and film work to symphonic and pop music.

The 70 young musicians, ages 15 to 29, will also have the opportunity to play in a variety of ensemble formats in six public concerts. The programs, which take place Aug. 2, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center of Cal State Long Beach, are free and open to the public. Among the guest artists who will perform with the students: Bob Mintzer, Bud Shank, Dick Hyman, Ray Brown, Dave Grusin and Tom Scott.

Patrick Williams will serve as composer-in-residence. His work, like Mancini’s, is a perfect role model for the kind of broad musical genres that will be taught at the institute.

“Hank had a great sense of humor and a wonderful way with a melody,” said Williams, adding that he, too, is a “proponent of clean melodies.”

“I hope to guide the student composers to explore ways that fit in with their own styles,” he said, “something I know Hank would approve of!”

For information, call (310) 845-1903.

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On Record: Miles Davis fans--and, especially, collectors--should have a field day with a set of limited-edition Japanese imports that Columbia Legacy has released this week. Twenty-eight digitally remastered Davis recordings, with newly produced mini-LP sleeves and high-quality printing of the original album graphics, are now in the record stores. Among the titles are some classic Davis items: “Someday My Prince Will Come,” “Kind of Blue,” “Miles Ahead,” “Seven Steps to Heaven,” “ ‘Round Midnight,” “Miles Smiles,” “Bitches Brew” and “In a Silent Way.”

“These are aimed directly at the collectors,” explains Columbia Legacy’s Seth Rothstein, “the guy who has the Swatch watches in 4,000 different colors.”

As collectibles, the albums may develop secondary value fairly quickly, since only limited numbers will be available.

“We’re telling stores they will have these releases only once, and that there can be no returns,” Rothstein says.

Despite the more luxurious packaging, the audio on the albums is identical to versions currently available in American releases. But the prices are considerably different. The Japanese albums have a suggested retail price of $19.98 for single CDs and $34.98 for double CDs.

Why spend that much money when an album with identical music can be had for probably a third less?

“There are some hard-core Miles fans who simply have to have every Davis recording,” Rothstein says. “So, when we had the opportunity to bring these releases in and sell them at a price which--even though it’s high, is considerably less than they’d cost as imports--we decided it was worth the effort to make them available.”

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On the Shelf: Laurence Bergreen, who has written biographies of Irving Berlin, James Agee and Al Capone, has now taken on the story of yet another American icon, Louis Armstrong, in “Louis Armstrong, an Extravagant Life” (Broadway Books). The book was published July 4--long celebrated as Armstrong’s birth date (even by him), but disproved by a baptismal certificate discovered by author Gary Giddins that clearly indicated Aug. 4, 1901, as the correct date.

Natal dates aside, the biography is a thoroughly documented, richly detailed work that explores every aspect of Armstrong’s life, with insightful information drawn from Armstrong’s tape-recorded reminiscences and the copious scrapbooks and diaries he kept throughout his life. The figure that emerges is far more complex than the smiling, scat-singing, fun-loving “Satchmo” known to the public--an artist with the capacity to be both genius and clown, crude jokester and deeply reflective thinker. A fascinating study of an important American life.

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On the Internet: Jazz Central Station continues to be one of the most useful sites for jazz-oriented Web surfers. Among its many segments, there is a particularly helpful guide to jazz festivals around the world. A simple click of the mouse on the jazz festival icon at JCS’ home page opens a useful directory of festivals around the world. There are direct links to most events--specifically, for the West Coast, to the Monterey and San Francisco jazz festivals, but also to events in San Jose, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, Idyllwild and Concord, Calif., and Mt. Hood, Ore. (https://www.jazzcentralstation.com)

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Free Music: The Tracy Todd Quintet is at the L.A. County Museum of Art for an admission-free jazz set tonight at 5:30 p.m., (213) 857-6010. . . . Also tonight, multi-instrumentalist and educator Buddy Collette performs a free program at the UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum at 6:30 p.m., (310) 824-6365. . . . On Saturday afternoon in Alhambra, Pedrini Music’s weekly free concert features a “Multiple Birthday Bash,” with performances by Yve Evans, John Bolivar, Andrew Carney and others, 1:30 p.m., (818) 289-0241. . . . The talented saxophonist and singer Vi Redd performs a free concert at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA Thursday, (213) 621-1749. . . . Also on Thursday, the world music ensemble Huayucaltia appears in a free concert at the Market Place in Long Beach, (562) 433-4403.