Cy Coleman

Biography
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Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.

Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York City to Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the Bronx. His mother, Ida (née Prizent) was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason.[1] He was a child prodigy who gave piano recitals at venues such as Steinway Hall, the Town Hall, and Carnegie Hall between the ages of six and nine.[2] Before beginning his fabled Broadway career, he led the Cy Coleman Trio, which made many recordings and was a much-in-demand club attraction.

Despite the early classical and jazz success, Coleman decided to build a career in popular music. His first collaborator was Joseph Allen McCarthy, but his most successful early partnership, albeit a turbulent one,[3] was with Carolyn Leigh. The pair wrote many pop hits, including "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come". One of his instrumentals, "Playboy's Theme," became the signature music of the regular syndicated late night TV show Playboy After Dark in the 1960s and specials presented by editor/publisher Hugh M. Hefner of Playboy magazine, and remains synonymous with the Chicago magazine and its creator, Hefner.

Coleman's career as a Broadway composer began when he and Leigh collaborated on Wildcat (1960), which marked the Broadway debut of movie/television comedianne Lucille Ball. The score included the hit tune "Hey, Look Me Over".When Ball became ill, she left the show, and it closed. Next for the two was Little Me, with a book by Neil Simon based on the novel of the same name by Patrick Dennis. The show introduced "Real Live Girl" and "I've Got Your Number," which became popular standards.

In 1964, Coleman met Dorothy Fields at a party, and when he asked if she would like to collaborate with him, she is reported to have answered, "Thank God somebody asked."[4] Fields was revitalized by working with the much younger Coleman, and by the contemporary nature of their first project, which was Sweet Charity, again with a book by Simon, starring Gwen Verdon, and introducing the songs "If My Friends Could See Me Now", "I'm a Brass Band" and "Big Spender". The show was a major success and Coleman found working with Fields much easier than with Leigh. The partnership was to work on two more shows – an aborted project about Eleanor Roosevelt, and Seesaw which reached Broadway in 1973 after a troubled out-of-town tour. Despite mixed reviews, the show enjoyed a healthy run. The partnership was cut short by Fields' death in 1974.

Coleman remained prolific in the late 1970s. He collaborated on I Love My Wife (1977) with Michael Stewart, On The Twentieth Century (1978) with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and Home Again, Home Again with Barbara Fried, although the latter never reached Broadway. Also in 1970 he produced the single "Lying Here" (Mercury 73150).[5] for the Rock Opera "Sensations", and took a full page (back cover) ad in Billboard magazine to promote his upcoming star vocalist Steve Leeds singing.

n 1980, Coleman served as producer and composer for the circus-themed Barnum, which co-starred Jim Dale and Glenn Close. Later in the decade, he collaborated on Welcome to the Club (1988) with A. E. Hotchner, and City of Angels (1989) with David Zippel. In the latter, inspired by the hard-boiled detective film noir of the 1930s and 1940s, he returned to his jazz roots, and the show was a huge critical and commercial success. The 1990s brought more new Coleman musicals to Broadway: The Will Rogers Follies (1991), again with Comden and Green, The Life (1997), a gritty look at pimps, prostitutes, and assorted other lowlife in the big city, with Ira Gasman, and a revised production of Little Me.

Coleman's film scores include Father Goose, The Art of Love, Garbo Talks, Power, and Family Business.[6] In addition, he wrote memorable television specials for Shirley MacLaine, If My Friends Could See Me Now and Gypsy in My Soul.[7] Coleman has been the only composer to win consecutive Tony awards for Best Score at the same time that the corresponding musicals won for Best Musical: City of Angels and Will Rogers' Follies. Coleman was on the ASCAP Board of Directors for many years and also served as their Vice Chairman Writer.[8]

One final musical with a Coleman score played in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum Dec. 2003-Jan. 2004 under the title Like Jazz, as a Broadway tryout. Investor Transamerica Capital went forward with plans to mount a Broadway production renamed In the Pocket.[9] Dirk Decloedt and Maurice Hines were announced as director and choreographer with an anticipated opening in Spring 2006 but it never opened.
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Coleman Hawkins Meets the Big Sax Section

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 16, 2024

An interesting Coleman Hawkins album that's unavailable and virtually unknown today is Coleman Hawkins Meets the Big Sax Section. Originally entitled The Saxophone Section, Featuring Coleman Hawkins, it was recorded in April 1958 for the World Wide label. When Savoy re-issued the album, the label changed the title. The LP featured 4/5 of Count Basie's sax section plus pianist Nat Pierce (one of the best Basie imitators), Basie's guitarist Freddie Green, Basie's bassist Eddy Jones, and drummer Bobby Donaldson. who ...
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Performance / Tour

John S. Hall Of King Missile Strikes Sky Vault + Mike Visceglia, Gene Pritsker, Wayne Dumaine, Charles Coleman, Robert C. Ford & Carlinius M On March 29, 2024

Source: Robert C. Ford
March 20, 2024

On Friday March 29, 2024, at 7:30pm EST an intimate salon concert will be held at Sky Vault in the Financial District of New York City. Featured performers include poets Robert C. Ford, John S. Hall (King Missile) and Carli Munoz aka Carlinius M (Beach Boys, Eddie Gomez), accompanied by baritone Charles Coleman (Paavo Järvi, London Symphony Orchestra) and musicians Mike Visceglia (bass—Suzanne Vega, John Cale), Gene Pritsker (guitar—Matrix Resurrections, Joe Zawinul) and Wayne Dumaine (trumpet—New York Philharmonic, Prince). John ...
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Recording

Backgrounder: Coleman Hawkins 'Desafinado' 1962

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 11, 2023

Over two days In September 1962, Impulse producer Bob Thiele brought Coleman Hawkins into Rudy Van Gelder's recording studio in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., for a bossa nova session. By then, Paul Winter, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Herbie Mann, among others, had recorded albums using the new Brazilian rhythm. The key question was whether the old-school Hawkins would grasp how to play the light, hip new sound. Thiele was convinced he would, and he was right. Hawkins had set the ...
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Recording

Pianist/Composer Marcus Persiani 'The Proper Time' Features George Coleman, Wayne Escoffrey And More!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations
October 6, 2023

Marcus Persiani is a pianist, composer and arranger who has performed and toured with many luminary musicians throughout his career. First influenced by the sound of Debussy's melodies echoing from the piano through his home, he was drawn to jazz greats like Herbie Hancock, Ahmad Jamal, and McCoy Tyner. His journey has taken him from Chicago's vibrant musical scene to New York's artistic hub. While sharing the stage with such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach and Tito Puente, and ...
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Performance / Tour

Smoke Jazz Club Announces June Line-Up With NEA Jazz Master George Coleman, Vocal Great Mary Stallings, A New Project From Vincent Herring, An Album Release By Orrin Evans All-Star Quintet, And More

Source: AMT Public Relations
May 4, 2023

George Coleman Quintet (Jun 1-4); Orrin Evans All-Star Quintet record release (Jun 8-11); Vincent Herring and Something Else! (Jun 15-18); Mary Stallings (Jun 22-25); and more… Rated the #1 Jazz Club in New York City (Secret NYC), Smoke Jazz Club kicks off the start of summer with some of today’s living legends. NEA Jazz Master George Coleman returns with his special quintet (Jun 1-4), soulful saxophonist Vincent Herring gets inspired by the classic Blue Note album Something Else! (Jun 15-18), ...
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Performance / Tour

Manhattan's Smoke Jazz Club Announces May Line-Up Including Wayne Shorter Tribute Concert, George Coleman Jr, Album Release, And More

Source: AMT Public Relations
March 31, 2023

Rated the #1 Jazz Club in New York City (Secret NYC), Smoke Jazz Club begins the month of May with a heartfelt homage to the great, intrepid saxophonist Wayne Shorter. For one-night only May 3, today’s top artists celebrate the music and legacy of Shorter “who shaped the color and contour of modern jazz as one of its most intensely admired composers (The New York Times). The month continues with two leading female vocalists leading their respective quintets: Paula West ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Ornette Coleman

Source: Michael Ricci
March 9, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Ornette Coleman's birthday today!

Early on in his career, alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman, recorded an album entitled, The Shape of Jazz To Come. It might have seemed like an expression of youthful arrogance- Coleman was 29 at the time- but actually, the title was prophetic. Coleman is the creator of a concept of music called “harmolodic," a musical form which is equally applicable as a life philosophy. The richness of harmolodics derives from the unique ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: George Coleman

Source: Michael Ricci
March 8, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating George Coleman's birthday today!

No tenor saxophonist better epitomizes the robust muscularity of that heavyweight instrument of jazz expression than George Coleman. With brilliant technique and a deeply soulful tone firmly rooted in his hometown of Memphis, George has performed with many of jazz’ most legendary figures and influenced countless saxophonists during his half century in music. Growing up in Memphis’ rich musical environment of the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, alongside such notables as ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Coleman Hawkins

Source: Michael Ricci
November 21, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Coleman Hawkins' birthday today!

Coleman Hawkins single-handedly brought the saxophone to the prominence in jazz that the instrument enjoys. Before he hit the scene, jazz groups had little use for the instrument. One player (forgot who) said, “with all due respect to Adolph Sax, Coleman Hawkins invented the saxophone." Hawkins, or “Bean", as he was known as, started playing cello at a young age before switching to the saxophone. He was a lifelong listener of ...
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Recording

Recent Listening: Cy Coleman

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
August 12, 2018

Cy Coleman, A Jazzman’s Broadway (Harbinger Records) Cy Coleman’s success as a popular songwriter and a composer for musical theater overshadowed his effectiveness and influence as a jazz pianist. Nonetheless, as this album reminds us, he could be a spirited improviser whose background as a classical prodigy equipped him with impressive technique and a feeling for the harmonies inspired by classical music that underlay much jazz improvisation in the late 1950s. The album has no music written by Coleman. It ...
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