Mr. Mandel attained the big 9-0 yesterday! May he have further happy returns.
Apologies for the one-day-late belated birthday wishes, as I somehow thought he was born on November 25. Actually, Johnny M. was born 11/23 ... but no other FSMer created a thread on him, anyway, for his 90th B-day.
Whether JM reads this message board or not, let us extend our appreciations of him here.
Happy Birthday Johnny Mandel. I loved your scores to "The Americanization Of Emily" and "The Sandpiper". It's a shame you're not scoring films anymore.
I enjoyed his score for "Being There" last night when it aired on TCM. It seemed to capture the spirit of Peter Sellers' portrayal of "Chauncy Gardener": small, simple, yet enigmatic -- always challenging the listener/viewer to find more in it than may actually . . . be there.
A very happy birthday Johnny! Such a wonderful career you've had composing and arranging. I have to single out the album you did with Shirley Horn, that arrangement of the song "Here's To Life" is truly one of my all time favourite recordings of any song. Celebrate, and enjoy many more birthdays to come!
