Wishing Mancini a brassy birthday
You and all your huckleberry friends are invited to celebrate the 100th birthday of legendary American composer Henry Mancini at the Lincoln City Cultural Center this Friday, May 10. Dmitry Matheny and his band will be playing new arrangements of Mancini’s classic hits like “Moon River,” “Charade,” “Pink Panther,” “Days of Wine and Roses” and “Romeo & Juliet (A Time For Us).”
The concert will feature Matheny on flugelhorn along with Adam Harris on saxophones, Joe Bagg on piano, Eric Gruber on bass and Michael Raynor on drums.
“Mancini is my hero,” Matheny said. “Not just for his award-winning scores and orchestrations, but because of his unparalleled gift for songcraft. There’s nothing like a Mancini melody! Wistful, whimsical, romantic, or sinister, his songs always deliver.”
Described by All About Jazz magazine as “An all-star jazz band featuring some of the most accomplished musicians in the western United States,” the Dmitri Matheny Group is beloved for its crowd-pleasing performances of lyrical originals and timeless classics. This season’s Mancini showcase promises to be one of the band’s most popular programs yet.
During his lifetime, Mancini was nominated for a whopping 72 Grammy Awards and won 20. He was nominated for 18 Academy Awards, winning four, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.
Mancini created many iconic film scores including “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “The Pink Panther,” and “10.” He also wrote for several television films including “The Thorn Birds” and “Shadow Box” and TV shows like “Newhart,” “Remington Steele” and “Hotel.” He recorded more than 90 albums with styles varying from Big Band and jazz to classical and pop. Eight of them were certified gold by The Recording Industry Association of America.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1924, Mancini studied at New York’s Juilliard School of Music before he was drafted in 1943, leading to overseas service in the air force and the infantry. Upon his discharge he joined The Glenn Miller-Tex Beneke Orchestra and began his long career as a performer and arranger. He died in 1994.
The concert will begin at 7 pm at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, located at 540 NE Highway 101. For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.