[Dixielandjazz] The Not-So-Quiet American

[Robert Ringwald]

Russ Garcia interviewed

The Not-So-Quiet American
by Bridget Jones
Sunday Star Times (Auckland, New Zealand), April 10, 2011
He has worked with all the greats, from Walt Disney and Judy Garland to Clint Eastwood,
yet he is almost unknown. As the man behind the music, Russ Garcia might not be a
household name, but he has had a fantastic career.
"It's been, I think, the longest career of anyone on earth," says the musician, composer
and arranger. "I've been writing music since I was about eight years old, so it's
been quite a while."
Garcia is 94, so a "while" means more than 85 years.
And local audiences will have a chance to hear more than a few of the stories he
has collected along the way when Garcia hits the road late this month to celebrate
his astounding body of work.
Born in California, Garcia has lived in Kerikeri since the 1970s after meeting some
Kiwi musicians in Fiji, who convinced him to come to New Zealand.
Before leaving Hollywood for the laidback lifestyle of Northland, Garcia worked with
some of the biggest names in movies and music, as a composer, arranger and conductor
in both the jazz and movie worlds.
"I'd done everything in Hollywood -- films, television, radio, recording. I had worked
with everybody."
He is full of tales about famous faces, like the time his "workmate" Clint Eastwood
ran for mayor just so he could change the rules that would let him build a retaining
wall, or watching Ella Fitzgerald overcome stage-fright.
"Ella, would you believe she was very shy? She would be in a panic just before she
got on stage, but the minute she got that mike in her hand and got into that song
and the meanings of the lyrics, she would forget herself and sing like an angel.
"And Louis [Armstrong], oh, what a beautiful man. He was just wonderful."
Garcia, who was awarded a Queen's Service Medal for services to music, says he has
never regretted leaving Hollywood and he still has fans.
"I did a score, a film score on The Time Machine that is still popular. I get emails
every week from people who love that score and write about it."
Garcia is taking the show on the road one more time, touring New Zealand with a 10-piece
band, New York vocalists Shaynee Rainbolt and Terese Genecco and Kiwi singer Tim
Beveridge.
"I'll be on stage the whole time, conducting and telling stories and trading jokes.
"It's going to be a joy for me as well as the audience."

--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
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