I was probably only a toddler when I first heard Nelson Riddle. My Grandfather would have Sinatra/Fitzgerald records playing all the time, but it wasn’t until my late teens that I knew him by name. My housemate at music college (a big band enthused trombonist, rather like Riddle) brought his biography. Despite me being too busy making a hash of Bill Evans solos and trying to play in 7/4 to take too much notice, I did do some reading, followed by some listening, and began to piece it all together. This naturally led to following the righteous passage of any young jazzer by playing a slightly suspect transcription of “I Got You Under My Skin” in a grimy working men’s club in Walsall with a local crooner. Good days.
Riddle (1921-1985) was THE arranger of the 1950’s and 60’s and is, to many people, what jazz sounds like. While some of the readers of UK Jazz News might understandably disagree, it is hard to dispute that his artistic voice as an arranger of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Linda Ronstadt and so many more had a profound impact on how the world perceives America’s music. Originally from New Jersey, Riddle started out as a trombonist in the Tommy Dorsey band in the early 1940’s. He began working as an arranger/orchestrator and it was in the early 1950’s, after writing an arrangement of “Mona Lisa” for Nat King Cole, that his career took off, leading to work with the biggest names of the era; most notably Frank Sinatra – working on 19 albums in 12 years.
Riddle’s ability to accompany the vocalist with an orchestra, as if he were sitting at the piano himself, always astounded me. His arrangements are gushing with classical music influences, Debussy especially, but they also swing – in a different way to how the Count Basie band would swing, but swinging and exciting nonetheless. It was during COVID that I really wanted to get inside his music. Having some time on my hands, I took down a ton of his arrangements – no doubt driving the neighbours to insanity by listening to the same 4 second passage 34 times at 70% speed to confirm if it was indeed one or two French horns doubling a distant celli countermelody. I stopped getting Christmas cards from them after that.
- LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE – FRANK SINATRA
I listened to this a lot as a teenager while trying to learn this Van Heusen jazz standard for an audition so it has always stuck with me. From the album “Songs For Young Lovers” this was Riddle and Sinatra’s first project together. Riddle conducted the sessions but only arranged this song, the rest being arranged by George Siravo. Gorgeously simple, for a comparatively small chamber orchestra, it demonstrates how little is needed. The lush strings and woodwind protagonists never even come close to getting in Sinatra’s way, like a masterfully crafted film score.
2. I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU – ELLA FITZGERALD
By 1962, Riddle was household name to the point that Ella Fitzgerald co-released 2 albums with him – the latter of which, “Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson”, won Fitzgerald a Grammy. I love how punchy the big band are, and the strings, though subtle, are the perfect contrast when they come in during the bridge. Riddle wrote in his book that Fitzgerald “was one of the purest natural talents that ever lived”
3. A FELICIDADE – ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM
From the album “The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim”. I’ve always liked this album, it’s interesting to hear Riddle operating in a Bossanova context but more so his arrangements of Jobim’s amazing songs. The warm bath that the strings plunge us into after the first 30 seconds is delightful and it slowly cooks away from there. The string counter lines are understated but effective and the trombone/flute soloistic flourishes at the end feel like Riddle’s stamp on the arrangement.
4. MY FOOLISH HEART – OSCAR PETERSON AND NELSON RIDDLE
Choosing a single song from this album is hard because they are all simply stunning it’s hard to look past the first track. Riddle himself said that no project he ever did “gave him more pleasure and satisfaction” than this. The orchestration is stunning, and I love the way he supports Oscar’s solo with the muted strings and French horn, building towards the tutti.
5. UNFORGETTABLE – NAT KING COLE
When I ever hear a new version of a jazz ballad with a string section, I almost always hear a reference to the chromatic string lines from this arrangement – and I include myself in that! It has become almost the ‘standard’ way to write for strings over a jazz standard.
6. I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU – FRANK SINATRA
It would be a crime not to include a song from “Songs For Swinging Lovers”, arguably Riddle’s most successful album with Sinatra. This is one of my favourite standards and a masterclass of how to combine the big band and the string section. This was something that Riddle and Sinatra pioneered (or at least took further from their individual relationships with Tommy Dorsey in 1940’s) – the long sustained strings, often quite high in register so as not get crushed in the same sonic space by the brass, add to the pace and tension while the brass provide the punch and excitement. I also love Harry Edison’s Harmon-muted trumpet fills which again have become such a trademark of this style.
7. ELLA FITZGERALD – SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME
Once I’d learnt who Nelson Riddle was and who he worked with, “Ella Sings The George Gershwin Songbook” was the first album I really got my teeth into and I fell in love with this arrangement, the strings almost have a mind of their own gliding in and around Ella’s masterful vocal. This particular arrangement was played at my grandmother’s funeral and holds a special place in my heart. Stunning.
8. CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS – LINDA RONSTADT
In the early 80’s recorded a trio of albums with Linda Ronstadt, nearly all of the tracks (except this one) are ballads – one of which (Lush Life) he won a Grammy for. It turned out to be one of his last collaborations as he died not long after these albums were released. I am a sucker for anything that swings, and this arrangement of this (underplayed) jazz standard does that in a way that is so recognisably Riddle.
9. MAKIN’ WHOOPEE – NELSON RIDDLE
During his years at Capitol as their in-house musical director of sorts, he recorded a number of orchestral albums under his own name, without a vocalist. I always think you get an insight into the personality of the arranger when you hear their instrumental work and that is demonstrated here with this cheeky arrangement of the old show tune Makin Whoopee – he loved writing for Bass Trombonist George Roberts and it shows here.
10. SPRING IS HERE – FRANK SINATRA
This was one of the tracks I spent a lot of time with over lockdown and is, in my opinion, Riddle’s best work. This track is my highlight but the whole album is unparalleled. Recorded with a very small brass section (mostly just 3 French horns), a fairly sized but not enormous string section and double woodwinds. Despite this, the textures he creates are phenomenal and you can hear his neo-classical influences as clear as day.
The new album by Helena Debono and Charlie Bates, ‘A Thousand Nights’, is released on 11 October 2024 on Deep Chat Records.
Born in Bishops Stortford, and a graduate of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, “impressive and inventive” (John Fordham/Guardian) Charlie Bates won the Dankworth Award for Jazz Composition, the Eddie Harvey Arranger of The Year Award, and an Ivor Novello Award. He has been composer-in-residence of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and is a frequent guest conductor, composer and arranger with the ensembles all over Europe, notably with the NDR Big Band. He also writes music for television and media, and works as a pianist.
