[Dixielandjazz] R.I.P. - Skitch Henderson

[Stan Brager]

> Bandleader Skitch Henderson dies at 87
> New York Pops founder was first 'Tonight Show' bandleader
> The Associated Press
> Updated: 12:40 a.m. ET Nov. 2, 2005
>
>
> NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Skitch Henderson, the Grammy-winning conductor who lent
> his musical expertise to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby before founding the
> New York Pops and becoming the first "Tonight Show" bandleader, died
Monday.
> He was 87.
>
> Henderson died at his home in New Milford of natural causes, said Barbara
> Burnside, director of marketing and public relations at New Milford
> Hospital.
>
> Born in England, Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson moved to the United States
in
> the 1930s, eking out a living as a pianist, playing vaudeville and movie
> music in Minnesota and Montana roadhouses.
>
> He got his big break in 1937, when he filled in for a sick pianist touring
> with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. When the tour wrapped up in Chicago,
he
> used the original pianist's ticket and went to Hollywood.
>
> There he joined the music department at MGM and played piano for Bob
Hope's
> "The Pepsodent Show." His friendship with Hope put him in touch with other
> stars of the day, including Crosby, who became a mentor to Henderson.
>
> He studied with the noted composer Arnold Schoenberg, and Henderson's
> talented ear brought him renown from some of the era's most successful
> musicians.
>
> "I could sketch out a score in different keys, a new way each time,"
> Henderson said earlier this year.
>
> That quicksilver ability earned him the nickname "the sketch kid," which
> Crosby urged him to adapt to "Skitch." It stuck.
>
> Wartime pilot
> During World War II, Henderson flew for both the Royal Air Force and the
> United States Army Air Corps. At his estate in New Milford, which he
shared
> with his wife, Ruth, Henderson kept a collection of aviation memorabilia.
> Even at 87, he had said he hoped to fly the Atlantic once more.
>
> After the war, Henderson toured as Sinatra's musical director and lived
what
> he called a "gypsy lifestyle," touring the country with various bands. It
> was Sinatra's phone call that lured Henderson to New York.
>
> "Frank said, 'I'm moving the "Lucky Strike Show" to New York. Get rid of
> those gypsies and get back here where you belong,"' Henderson recalled in
> 1985.
>
> He served as musical director for the "Lucky Strike" radio show and "The
> Philco Hour" with Crosby. And when NBC moved to television, the studio
> brought Henderson along as musical director.
>
> In 1954, NBC pegged him as the bandleader for Steve Allen's "Tonight
Show,"
> which brought Henderson into the nation's living rooms every night. Even
as
> the hosts changed from Allen to Jack Paar to Johnny Carson, Henderson was
a
> constant.
>
> 'Music that's accessible'
> He founded the New York Pops in 1983, using popular tunes to make
orchestral
> music exciting.
>
> "People come to hear music that's accessible to them - old songs that are
> powerful and don't go away," he said.
>
> Even in his late 80s, Henderson maintained a tireless work schedule as
music
> director for the Pops, where he regularly served as conductor. He also was
a
> frequent guest conductor at a number of orchestras around the world.
>
> "I watch the public like a hawk. If I see boredom, I worry," Henderson
said.
> "You can tell by the applause: There's perfunctory applause, there's light
> applause, and then there's real applause. When it's right, applause sounds
> like vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce."
>
>
>
>