FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2018
Frank Mantooth
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Jazz Studies Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music recently received the gift of the Frank Mantooth Jazz Library. Mantooth (1947-2004), a pianist, arranger, composer, author and educator who received 12 Grammy Award nominations, worked closely with Jacobs jazz and percussion professor Steve Houghton during his renowned career.
“Frank Mantooth was an icon in jazz education and a hero among young jazz musicians. His charts could be found in every high school and college band room in the country,” said Houghton. “I was fortunate to work with ‘Tooth’ in countless jazz festivals, and every time, I learned something about music, life and working with young musicians. He truly had a gift. He was a master educator who could explain his music, make the students laugh and get immediate results.”
The collection includes over 200 pieces for jazz ensemble plus music for jazz combos, brass choir and piano. “We are honored to receive this generous gift and be the home of the complete collection of Frank Mantooth’s jazz ensemble compositions and arrangements,” said Tom Walsh, chair of the Jazz Studies Department and professor of saxophone.
The collection came to the Jacobs School of Music through Carrie Mantooth, Frank’s widow. “My deep and heartfelt gratitude goes to Indiana University for accepting and preserving the Frank Mantooth Jazz Library,” she said. “Never to be forgotten, these arrangements and compositions will continue to be heard, played and studied by future musicians.”
To celebrate the gift, the IU Jazz Ensemble led by professor John Raymond will present “A Tribute to Frank Mantooth” concert at the Musical Arts Center at 8 p.m. March 26.
“The music is equally as challenging as it is enjoyable,” Raymond said. “The songs almost play themselves because they’re written so well. As a result, the band has loved learning and interpreting this music, and they’ve begun to find their own voice while staying true to what Mantooth originally had in mind.”
The concert will feature jazz faculty members Pat Harbison on trumpet and Houghton on drums. “I love playing his music, as it’s well crafted, inventive and contemporary, while still being accessible to the students,” Houghton said.
Mantooth attended the University of North Texas, graduating in 1969. After performing and arranging with the Air Force Falconires, he studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. He returned to the United States in 1980 and worked extensively as a pianist, composer, arranger, author and educator. He recorded five albums: “Suite Tooth,” “Persevere,” “Dangerous Precedent,” “Sophisticated Lady” and “A Miracle.” An additional CD, “Ladies Sing for Lovers,” his last project, was released posthumously.
As an author, he published five volumes of “The Best Chord Changes for the World’s Greatest Standards” for the Hal Leonard Corporation. His landmark book, “Voicings for Jazz Keyboard,” has sold over 20,000 copies since it was introduced in 1987.
In 1999, Mantooth received the Florence Crittendon Foundation’s Citizen of the Year award and the Wichita Jazz Festival’s Homer Osborne award for outstanding contributions to jazz education. He also received the 14th Annual DownBeat Achievement Award for Jazz Education–Hall of Fame and the International Association for Jazz Education Hall of Fame Award. He was inducted posthumously into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and the Illinois Jazz Education Hall of Fame.
MEDIA CONTACT
Linda Cajigas
Assistant Director of Communications
IU Jacobs School of Music
812-856-3882 | lcajigas@indiana.edu