GORDON JENKINS
By Mahnuel Muñoz
On May 12, 1910, Gordon Jenkins, the Master of Orchestral Exuberance, was born. His arrangements may seem anachronistic to many modern ears, but they were an essential part of the popular musical sound of the 1950s.
In the 1930s, Gordon works for conductors Benny Goodman, Woody Herman and Vincent Lopez. His composition “Goodbye” becomes the closing theme at Benny Goodman’s concerts (and will be recorded by Frank in 1958).
Gordon moved to Hollywood and worked at Paramount Pictures since 1938. He signed with Capitol Records in 1942 and managed to place “He Wears A Pair Of Silver Wings” in the top 20. In 1948 he moved to the Decca label and began publishing his own albums. His first album, “Maybe You’ll Be There“, reached number three on the charts in the summer of 1948 and was followed by several big hits over the next four years, including some with the folk group The Weavers.
In 1957, Jenkins worked with Nat King Cole on the album “Love Is The Thing”, released by Capitol Records. The album included one of Cole’s biggest hits, “When I Fall In Love“. On April 10 of that year, Gordon begins to work with Frank Sinatra on the songs from the album “Where Are You?“.
In 1959 he once again put his style at the service of Frank on the album “No One Cares“, and already in the sixties, “All Alone” and “September Of My Years“.
Gordon Jenkins works very little from the 1970s onwards. He makes an album of standards with Harry Nilsson, “A Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night“, composed of twelve songs, half of which had been popularized by Sinatra. He later recorded with Frank the album “Trilogy” in 1979 and “She Shot Me Down” in 1981.
He dies on May 1, 1984 in Los Angeles.
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