Jack Hayes
THE SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS mourns SCL Ambassador JACK HAYES (1919 – 2011)
Services are planned for Saturday, September 3rd at St. Anastasia Catholic Church, 7390 W. Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90045 at 10:00AM, with a burial service to follow at Holy Cross Cemetary in Culver City.
FROM SCL PRESIDENT DAN FOLIART:
I was a saddened to learn of the passing of our SCL Ambassador, Jack Hayes. Without Jack, the body of work left behind by many of our luminaries, past and present, would be lacking many of the essential qualities that makes it what it is. We marvel at the magic that Jack so seamlessly brought to the scores with his unmistakable orchestrations. My personal experience with Jack’s music goes back to my work at Paramount Studios in the early eighties, where Jack was active in many of the successful series from that era. Jack’s craft became immediately apparent to me, with his masterful orchestrations and the lively spirit embodied in his original compositions that are still playing to this day.
Just a small sampling of his amazing work as an orchestrator spans the history of cinema over the last 60 years. The Natural, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Gun Fight at the OK Corral, The Comancheros, Riverboat, Donovan’s Reef, Hawaii, Casino Royale and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The list of composers that he has worked with are too numerous to mention, but just a few were Burt Bacharach, Elmer Bernstein, Marvin Hamlisch, Quincy Jones, Michael Kamen, Henry Mancini, John Morris, Alfred Newman, Randy Newman and Lalo Schifrin.
As a composer for television, Jack composed the scores for such favorites as The Virginian and Quincy. He received an Oscar nomination for his musical adaptation of The Unsinkable Molly Brown and for his work on The Color Purple.
Michael Giacchino incorporated Jack’s magic into many of his scores including the Oscar nominated Ratatouille, the Incredibles and the Oscar winner, Up. Both Michael and Tim Simonec were instrumental in keeping Jack active into the final years of his life, letting him do what he did best. I am proud that the SCL recognized Jack in 2009 and we were able to celebrate his remarkable career.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118041892?refCatId=13
FROM SCL MEMBER MICHAEL GIACCHINO:
As I am sure that many of you are aware, our beloved friend and orchestrator Jack Hayes has passed away.
Rarely in life are you given the opportunity to learn from a true master. Jack not only demonstrated a mastery of his craft, but also showed us the qualities of a true gentleman. He unknowingly and unselfishly always gave us something to aspire to not only in art, but in life as well.
I am proud to have worked with him for the past 8 years, and I know I speak for us all when I say that I will miss the generosity and the incredible spirit that followed him into the room every time he entered.
Working into his 90’s, he never lost his love of music and was a prime example of “do what you love”.
Goodbye Jack. Wherever you are now, I am sure it sounds beautiful.
If you’d like to review a bit of what Jack accomplished in his work life (he had quite an accomplished personal life as well), have a look at the link below.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369948/filmogenre#biography
FROM SCL MEMBER TIM SIMONEC:
To my friend, Jack Hayes…
Jack Hayes was a musical talent, unparalleled in his profession. He was a gracious human being, a loving husband and father. He loved a good joke, had a great giggle and always had a twinkle in his eye. To me, he was an inspiring mentor and a dear friend.
I first met Jack at one of his favorite places – the California Yacht Club. I will always be grateful to Dan and Gay Wallin for arranging that luncheon. It was the prelude to our eight year friendship, a time period in which I was allowed to observe and learn from the master.
As we chatted during lunch, I realized, at 84, Jack was still eager to work. He even joked that since he hadn’t worked for several years, he might die of the shock if he got the call! This was a dream come true for me. I was in the presence of my orchestrating hero, about to hire him for a gig!! I was so happy to be able to tell him the call would be coming to work on THE INCREDIBLES. I was anxious to tell Michael Giacchino, who’s a lover of film music and its’ history, about Jack. As the composer of THE INCREDIBLES, he was as thrilled as I was to add Jack to the team.
I learned so much from Jack about orchestrating. One of the defining moments was on the first run-through of the first cue he orchestrated for us. The music played down so naturally and effortlessly. Every orchestral part laid so naturally and beautifully on the instrument that even the first take was magnificent.
There is a moment in RATATOUILLE when Remi, the rat, ascends to a height at which he views Paris for the first time. At that moment, you hear vintage Jack Hayes. It brought tears to my eyes as I conducted the first run-through, and that beautiful cue has had the same effect on me ever since. As with Remi in that scene, Jack’s music ascended to heights that we, as orchestrators, can only aspire to.
Another fond memory of Jack was his presence in the booth at the recording sessions. Although he had done thousands of orchestrations in his storied career, he approached each new orchestration with enthusiasm and excitement. It was as if it was his first gig! And to see the seasoned musicians gather around Jack – showing him their great respect, admiration and love – was a joy to behold.
This brings me to the most important lessons he taught me – to be humble, to have a gracious spirit and to have a true love of the craft and all those who work with you.
My friend, you will be sorely missed. And as you sail through the celestials, sipping your Rob Roy and enjoying beautiful music, we say to you, as you would say to us… TA DAH!!!!!! Tim Simonec
http://www.ascap.com/playback/2011/08/action/Jack-Hayes.aspx
Pictured right, Jack Hayes. The following are introductory remarks made by Arthur Hamilton at the 2009 SCL Holiday Dinner:
In what many think of as the great days of music in films, if you were a film composer, you made three prayers: one was for a producer who knew something about music, two was for a big enough orchestra, and the third prayer you made was that Jack Hayes would be available to orchestrate for you.
For more than 50 years, Jack Hayes made the chases more thrilling – the jokes funnier – the sex sexier. From a sketch, he was somehow able to articulate what the composer had in mind. He found – and corrected – mistakes. And, he always got it done on time.
He and his partner, Leo Shuken, were the first call for every composer, every studio music department head, and every enlightened film producer. Shuken and Hayes owned this town, and we’ve spent a whole lot of our lives listening to their inspired work.
Tonight, we can see Jack Hayes, and shake his hand, and tell him how much he has meant–and still means–to us, and to welcome him as an Ambassador of the Society of Composers & Lyricists.
The following are remarks by SCL President Dan Foliart:
Among the many missions of the SCL, none is more important than celebrating and raising the awareness of those who have contributed significantly to our profession. Without Jack Hayes, the body of work left behind by many of our luminaries past and present would be lacking many of the essential qualities that makes it what it is. We marvel at the magic that Jack so seamlessly brought and continues to bring to the scores with his unmistakeable orchestrations. My personal experience with Jack’s music goes back to the days when I first met Charlie Fox. Howard Pearl and I were asked to rerecord many of the cues written by Jack and Charlie, as well as to compose any new material that might be needed for the last three years of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. What an education. Jack’s craft became immediately apparent with his masterful orchestrations and the lively spirit embodied in his original compositions that are still playing to this day. In a word, he was a hard act to follow.
I remember studying with the great teacher and orchestrator, Albert Harris. There was a unique combination of trumpets and woodwinds that I brought into a lesson. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what the texture was. Dr. Harris, as I addressed him, told me to bring in the album from Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s Lost Horizon so he could see who did the orchestrations. Of course it was Jack Hayes who, along with Burt, had created this wonderful passage. From that point on I wanted to learn more about Jack and his amazing talent. I spent a summer in the Paramount stacks perusing the scores, thanks to Bob Bornstein. Much of Jack’s work was found in this music. Just a small sampling of his amazing work as an orchestrator spans the history of cinema over the last 60 years. The Natural, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Gun Fight at the OK Corral, The Comancheros, Riverboat, Donovan’s Reef, The Joker is Wild, Hawaii, Casino Royale, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Kings Go Forth, Experiment In Terror, Camelot, In Cold Blood, The Swimmer, Marathon Man, High Anxiety, Comes A Horseman, Meteor, Brubaker, Ordinary People, The Elephant Man, Ragtime, Star Trek Ii: The Wrath Of Khan, Parenthood, Pretty Woman, Avalon, Awakenings, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, Son Of The Pink Panther, Maverick, and Mission: Impossible 3.
As an arranger and orchestrator he has worked with Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross and Louie Belson among many others.
As a composer for television, Jack scored Fade-In and Fast Forward and also composed the scores for such favorites as The Virginian and Quincy. He received an Oscar nomination for his musical adaptation of The Unsinkable Molly Brown and for his work on the Color Purple.
The list of composers that he has worked with are too numerous to mention, but just a few are Burt Bacharach, Elmer Bernstein, Marvin Hamlisch,Quincy Jones, Michael Kamen, Henry Mancini, John Morris, Alfred Newman, Randy Newman and, of course, Lalo Schifrin.
He was requested by Bernard Hermann to conduct and assist him on the score for Taxi Driver when the maestro’s health began to falter. We are fortunate to have the latest admirer of Jack Hayes talent with us this evening, Michael Giacchino. Michael has incorporated Jack’s magic into many of his scores including the Oscar nominated Ratatouille, the Incredibles, and this year’s incredible score that the SCL was fortunate to screen recently, Up. As a testimonial to what Michael feels about Jack, Cheryl and I were recently at his house and the showcase piece of his living room is a glass table framing an orchestration by Jack Hayes. Would you help me welcome this year’s Golden Globe and 4 time Emmy nominee Michael Giacchino.
