Paul Jennings may refer to:

• Paul Jennings (Australian author) (born 1943), Australian children's author
• Paul Jennings (British author) (1918–1989), UK humorist
• Paul Jennings (union worker), president, International Union Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers, Washington, D.C.; a Nixon political opponent
• Paul Jennings (voice over artist), Melbourne mimic who performed the voices in Rubbery Figures, a political satire
• Paul Jennings (musician) (born 1981), Scottish percussionist for the Old Blind Dogs
• Paul Jennings (slave) (1799–1874), African-American slave of James Madison
• Paul Jennings (darts player) (born 1976), English darts player

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Ross Montgomery (born 16 October 1962) is a Scottish darts player who plays for the British Darts Organisation. His nickname is The Boss.

Darts career[link]

Montgomery plays for the Calderwood Inn in the Rutherglen / East Kilbride Darts League and the Roadhouse in the Glasgow Premier League. He is a multiple time Rutherglen / East Kilbride singles champion, although he lost the 2008 final to Chris Loudon. He regained the title in 2009 with a 4-0 victory over David McLean in the final and successfully defended his crown in 2010 by beating Derek Paterson 4-3 in the final.

Montgomery qualified for the 2006 BDO World Championships along with players like Brian Woods and eventual champion Jelle Klaasen of The Netherlands. Montgomery was drawn in the first round with another Dutchman Vincent van der Voort, losing 3-1 in sets.

He followed this, however, by reaching the final of the Scottish Open, beating Gary Robson and Michael van Gerwen before losing in the final to Sweden's Goran Klemme, runner-up in the 2005 World Masters. He played in the 2007 International Darts League, beating PDC player Chris Mason, Belgium's Dirk Hespeels and avenged his Lakeside defeat by van der Voort to win Group 4 with a 100% record. He wasn't able to repeat his performances in the Last 32 Group Stage, losing all 3 of his games in Group D to Martin Atkins, Scott Waites and group winner Raymond van Barneveld. Montgomery produced a good run in the Winmau World Masters, reaching the last 16 of the tournament, losing to Atkins.

In 2008, Montgomery won the newly created EDO England Open, which was run by the newly formed English Darts Organisation. He scored wins over Johnny Nijs, Ted Hankey, Gary Robson and Edwin Max before beating another Scotsman Gary Anderson in the final. He then reached the final of the inaugural BDO International Open, an event formerly known as the BDO England Open, losing to Davy Richardson. On 26 July 2008 Montgomery won his second event of the year, winning the British Classic, again beating Anderson in the final. Montgomery regained the British Classic crown in 2010, defeating Stuart Kellett in the final.

These performances helped Montgomery earn automatic qualification for the 2009 BDO World Championships as the number 10 seed. He defeated Welshman Martin Phillips in the first round but lost in round two to eventual champion Ted Hankey. He entered the tournament the following year as the Number 6 seed, but wasted six darts to win his first round match and lost to Garry Thompson.

Montgomery won the 2010 British Classic as well as the 2010 Zuiderduin Masters where he came from 4-0 down in sets to win 5-4 against Robbie Green. At the 2011 BDO World Darts Championship, Montgomery was beaten 3-1 in sets by Alan Norris.

Montgomery reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Winmau World Masters where he was beaten in a deciding leg by Dean Winstanley. In the 2012 BDO World Championship, Montgomery reached the second round for only the second time courtesy of a 3-1 win over Fabian Roosenbrand in the first round, but was subsequently defeated 4-1 by eventual runner-up Tony O'Shea.

American Football[link]

Montgomery played American Football for the Glasgow Diamonds for 11 years and met his wife Dorothy while she was a cheerleader for the team. He was forced to retire through injury and took up darts instead.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ross Montgomery's profile and stats on Darts Database

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (July 2010)

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Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (born June 12, 1941)^[2] is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.

Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever.^[2] Along with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett, he has been described as one of the major jazz piano voices to emerge in the post-John Coltrane era.^[3]

His career has been driven by his will to operate as a free agent and compulsively explore different avenues of music making. This hunger has positioned him as an important catalyst in the world of serious, mainstream acoustic jazz, and he is one of the most influential and widely studied figures in the last 40 years.^[4]

Corea continued to pursue other collaborations and to explore various musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He is also known for promoting and fundraising for a number of social issues, such as eradicating social illiteracy,^[5] and is a Scientologist.^[6]

Life and career[link]

Youth[link]

Armando Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He is of Sicilian and Spanish descent.^[7] His father, a jazz trumpet player who had led a Dixieland band in the Boston area in the 1930s and 1940s, introduced him to the piano at the age of four. Growing up surrounded by jazz music, he was influenced at an early age by bebop and stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lester Young. At eight Corea also took up drums, which would later influence his use of the piano as a percussion instrument.

Corea developed his piano skills by exploring music on his own. A notable influence was concert pianist Salvatore Sullo from whom Corea started taking lessons at age eight and who introduced him to classical music, helping spark his interest in musical composition. He also spent several years as a performer and soloist for the Knights of St. Rose, a drum and bugle corps based in Chelsea.

Given a black tuxedo by his father, he started doing gigs when in high school. He enjoyed listening to Herb Pomeroy's band at the time, and had a trio which would play Horace Silver's music at a local jazz club.

He eventually decided to move to New York where he studied musical education for one month at Columbia University and six months at The Juilliard School. He quit after finding both disappointing, but liked the atmosphere of New York where the musical scene became the starting point for his professional career.

Early career[link]

Corea's first major professional gig was with Cab Calloway. Corea started his professional career in the 1960s playing with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and Latin greats such as Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría. One of the earliest recordings of his playing is with Blue Mitchell's quintet on The Thing To Do. This album features his composition "Chick's Tune", a clever retooling of "You Stepped Out of a Dream" that demonstrates the angular melodies and Latin-and-swing rhythms that characterize, in part, Corea's personal style. (Incidentally, the same tune features a drum solo by a very young Al Foster.)

His first album as a leader was Tones for Joan's Bones in 1966, two years before the release of his album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with Roy Haynes on drums and Miroslav Vitouš on bass.^[2]

He made another sideman appearance with Stan Getz on 1967's Sweet Rain (Verve Records).^[2]

Avant garde period[link]

Chick Corea, 2007

From 1968 to 1971 Corea had associations with avant garde players and his solo style revealed a dissonant, avant garde orientation. His avant garde playing can be heard on his solo works of the period, his solos in live recordings under the leadership of Miles Davis, his recordings with Circle, and his playing on Joe Farrell's Song of the Wind album on CTI Records.

In September 1968 Corea replaced Herbie Hancock in the piano chair in Davis' band and appeared on landmark albums such as Filles de Kilimanjaro, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew. In concert, Davis' rhythm section of Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette combined elements of free jazz improvisation and rock music.^{[citation needed]} Corea experimented using electric instruments with the Davis band, mainly the Fender Rhodes electric piano.

In live performance he frequently processed the output of his electric piano with a device called a ring modulator, producing sounds reminiscent of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Using this style, he appeared on multiple Davis albums, including Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. His live performances with the Miles Davis band continued into 1970, with a great touring band of Steven Grossman, tenor sax, Keith Jarrett, additional electric piano and organ, Jack DeJohnette, drums, Dave Holland, bass, Airto Moreira, percussion, and Miles on trumpet.^[2]

Holland and Corea left to form their own group, Circle, active in 1970 and 1971. This free jazz group featured multi-reed player Anthony Braxton and drummer Barry Altschul. This band was documented on Blue Note and ECM. Aside from soloing in an atonal style, Corea sometimes reached in the body of the piano and plucked the strings. In 1971 or 1972 Corea struck out on his own.

The concept of communication with an audience became a big thing for me at the time. The reason I was using that concept so much at that point in my life – in 1968, 1969 or so – was because it was a discovery for me. I grew up kind of only thinking how much fun it was to tinkle on the piano and not noticing that what I did had an effect on others. I did not even think about a relationship to an audience, really, until way later.^[8]

Jazz fusion[link]

Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2008

In the early 1970s Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant garde playing to a crossover jazz fusion style that incorporated Latin jazz elements. He founded Return to Forever in 1971. This band had a fusion sound and even though it relied on electronic instrumentation it drew more on Brazilian and Spanish-American musical styles than on rock music. On its first two records, Return to Forever featured Flora Purim's vocals, the Fender Rhodes electric piano, and Joe Farrell's flute and soprano saxophone. Airto Moreira played drums. Corea's compositions for this group often had a Brazilian tinge. In 1972 Corea played many of the early Return to Forever songs in a group he put together for Stan Getz. This group, with Stanley Clarke on bass and Tony Williams on drums, recorded the Columbia label album Captain Marvel under Getz's name.

Only Clarke remained from the group's first lineup; Bill Connors played electric guitar and Lenny White played drums. No one replaced vocalist Purim. (Briefly, in 1977, Corea's wife, Gayle Moran, served as vocalist in the band.) In 1974 Al Di Meola joined the band, replacing Connors. In this second version of Return to Forever, Corea extended the use of synthesizers, particularly Moogs. The group released its final studio record in 1977 named "Romantic Warrior". Thereafter, Corea focused on solo projects.^[2]

Corea's composition "Spain" first appeared on the 1972 Return to Forever album Light as a Feather. This is probably his most popular piece, and it has been recorded by a variety of artists. There are also a variety of subsequent recordings by Corea himself in various contexts, including an arrangement for piano and symphony orchestra that appeared in 1999, and a collaborative piano and voice-as-instrument arrangement with Bobby McFerrin on the 1992 album Play. Corea usually performs "Spain" with a prelude based on Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1940), which earlier received a jazz orchestration on Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' "Sketches of Spain".

In 1976 he issued My Spanish Heart, influenced by Latin American music and featuring vocalist Moran and electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.The record was somewhat misunderstood at the time but it is considered nowadays as a true example of Corea's ability to write fussion material. The album combined jazz, flamenco, supported by plenty of mini- moog backup and a powerful horn section.

The late Ana Mazzotti, a Brazilian jazz pianist and vocalist, dedicated what is perhaps her last ever recorded track, "Grand Chick", to Corea. The song may be found on her "Ao Vivo Guaruja 1982" album. As Ana Mazzotti worked with Brazilian jazz fusion masters Azymuth in her first album, it was further testament to Corea's influence in the genre.

Duet projects[link]

In the 1970s Corea started working occasionally with vibraphonist Gary Burton, with whom he recorded several duet albums on ECM, including 1972's Crystal Silence. They reunited in 2006 for a concert tour. A new record called The New Crystal Silence (which has received 3 nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards) was issued shortly into 2008. The package includes a disc of duets and another disc featuring the Sydney Symphony.

Later, toward the end of the 1970s, Corea embarked on a series of concerts and two albums with Herbie Hancock. These concerts were presented in elegant settings with both pianists formally dressed, and performing on Yamaha concert grand pianos. The two jazz greats traded playing each other's compositions, as well as pieces by other composers such as Béla Bartók.

In December 2007 Corea recorded a duet album, The Enchantment, with banjoist Bela Fleck.^[9] Fleck and Corea toured extensively behind the album in 2007. Fleck was nominated in the Best Instrumental Composition category at the 49th Grammy Awards for the track "Spectacle."^[10]

In 2008 Corea collaborated with Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara on the live album Duet (Chick Corea and Hiromi). The duo played a concert at Tokyo's Budokan arena on April 30.^[11]

Later work[link]

Corea performs with Béla Fleck, March 1, 2008

Corea's other bands include the Elektric Band, the Akoustic Band, and Origin.

The Akoustic Band released a self-titled album in 1989, and featured John Patitucci on bass and Dave Weckl on drums. It marked a turn back toward traditional jazz in Corea's career, and the bulk of his subsequent recordings have been acoustic ones. The Akoustic Band also provided the music for the 1986 Pixar short Luxo Jr. with their song The Game Maker.

In 1992 Corea started his own label, Stretch Records.^[2]

In 2001 the Chick Corea New Trio, with Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard on bass and drums, respectively, released the album Past, Present & Futures. The 11-song album includes only one standard composition (Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz"). The rest of the tunes are Corea originals.

He also participated in 1998's Like Minds, which features Gary Burton on vibes, Pat Metheny on guitar, Dave Holland on bass and Roy Haynes on drums.

Recent years have also seen Corea's rising interest in contemporary classical music. He composed his first piano concerto – and an adaptation of his signature piece, Spain, for a full symphony orchestra – and performed it in 1999 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Five years later he composed his first work not to feature any keyboards: His String Quartet No. 1 was specifically written for the Orion String Quartet and performed by them on 2004's Summerfest.

Corea has continued releasing jazz fusion concept albums such as To the Stars (2004) and Ultimate Adventure (2006). The latter album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.

In 2008 the second version of Return to Forever (Corea, keyboards; Stanley Clarke, bass; Lenny White, drums; Al Di Meola, guitar) reunited for a worldwide tour. The reunion received positive reviews from most jazz and mainstream publications.^[12] Most of the group's studio recordings were re-released on the compilation Return to Forever: The Anthology to coincide with the tour. A concert DVD recorded during their performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival was released in May 2009. He is recently working on a collaboration CD with the Grammy Award winning jazz vocal group The Manhattan Transfer, due to be released in August 2009.

A new group, the 5 Peace Band, which features Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin, began a world tour in October 2008. Corea had previously worked with McLaughlin in Miles Davis' late 1960s bands, including the group that recorded Davis' album Bitches Brew. Joining Corea and McLaughlin in the 5 Peace Band are saxophonist Kenny Garrett and bassist Christian McBride. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta played with the band in Europe and on select North American dates; Brian Blade played all dates in Asia and Australia, and most dates in North America.

Scientology[link]

Corea says that Scientology has helped deepen his relationships with others, and helped him find a renewed path.^[3] Under the "special thanks" notes, found in all of his later albums, Corea mentions that L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, has been a continual source of inspiration. In 1968 Corea discovered Dianetics, Hubbard's principal work, and in the early 1970s developed an interest in Hubbard's science fiction novels. The two exchanged letters until Hubbard's death in 1986, and Corea had three guest appearances on Hubbard's 1982 album Space Jazz: The Soundtrack of the Book Battlefield Earth, noting, "[Hubbard] was a great composer and keyboard player as well. He did many, many things. He was a true Renaissance Man."^[6]

Corea said that Scientology became a profound influence on his musical direction in the early 1970s:

I no longer wanted to satisfy myself. I really want to connect with the world and make my music mean something to people.^[13]

Due to Corea's religious affiliation, he was banned from performing in a concert to be held in Stuttgart, Germany, on August 15, 1993.^[14] Members of the U.S. Congress sent letters to the German government concerning a violation of basic human rights that are upheld by the German Constitution. The ban was not upheld, and in later years Corea performed in festivals in Germany, including several times at the government-supported International Jazz Festival in Burghausen where he was awarded a plaque in Burghausen's "Street of Fame" in 2011.^[15]

In 1998, Corea and fellow entertainers Anne Archer, Isaac Hayes, and Haywood Nelson attended the 30th anniversary of Freedom Magazine, the Church of Scientology's investigative news journal, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to honor 11 human rights activists.^[16]

Discography[link]

Awards[link]

Over the years, he has been nominated for 51 Grammy Awards out of which he has won 18:

Corea has also won two Latin Grammy Awards.

His 1968 album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 2010, he was named doctor honoris causa at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).^[17]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Jazz portal
	Scientology portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chick Corea

• Analog synthesizer

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Official discography
• Jazzreview.com biography
• Verve Records Archived October 13, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• An Interview with Chick Corea by Bob Rosenbaum, July 1974 (PDF file) "You put these notes together and you come out with that sound, and isn't it beautiful. So what? What does it do to another person? What does it do to your neighborhood?"
• Chick Corea talks to Michael J Stewart about his Piano Concerto

Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Oliver Nelson's family was musical: his brother was also a saxophonist who played with Cootie Williams in the 1940s, and his sister sang and played piano. Nelson began learning to play the piano when he was six, and started on the saxophone at eleven. From 1947 he played in "territory" bands around Saint Louis, before joining the Louis Jordan big band from 1950 to 1951, playing alto saxophone and arranging.

After military service in the Marines, Nelson returned to Missouri to study music composition and theory at Washington and Lincoln Universities, graduating in 1958. While back in his hometown of St. Louis, he met and married Eileen Mitchell; the couple had a son, Oliver Nelson Jr., but soon divorced. After graduation, Nelson married Audrey McEwen, a union which lasted until his death; they had a son, Nyles. Audrey was a native of St. Louis, Missouri.

Nelson moved to New York, playing with Erskine Hawkins and Wild Bill Davis, and working as the house arranger for the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He also played on the West Coast briefly with the Louie Bellson big band in 1959, and in the same year began recording as leader with small groups. From 1960 to 1961 he played tenor saxophone with Quincy Jones, both in the U.S. and on tour in Europe.

Breakthrough and afterwards[link]

After six albums as leader between 1959 and 1961 for the Prestige label (with such musicians as Kenny Dorham, Johnny Hammond Smith, Eric Dolphy, Roy Haynes, King Curtis and Jimmy Forrest), Nelson's big breakthrough came with The Blues and the Abstract Truth, on Impulse!, featuring the tune "Stolen Moments," now considered a standard. This made his name as a composer and arranger, and he went on to record a number of big-band albums, as well as working as an arranger for Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Johnny Hodges, Wes Montgomery, Buddy Rich, Jimmy Smith, Billy Taylor, Stanley Turrentine, Irene Reid, Gene Ammons and many others. He also led all-star big bands in various live performances between 1966 and 1975. Nelson continued to perform as a soloist during this period, though increasingly on soprano saxophone.

In 1967, Nelson moved to Los Angeles. Apart from his big-band appearances (in Berlin, Montreux, New York, and Los Angeles), he toured West Africa with a small group. He also spent a great deal of time composing music for television (Ironside, Night Gallery, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man and Longstreet) and films (Death of a Gunfighter and he arranged Gato Barbieri's music for Last Tango in Paris). He produced and arranged for pop stars such as Nancy Wilson, James Brown, the Temptations, and Diana Ross. Less well-known is the fact that Nelson composed several symphonic works, and was also deeply involved in jazz education, returning to his alma mater, Washington University, in the summer of 1969 to lead a five-week long clinic that also featured such guest performers as Phil Woods, Mel Lewis, Thad Jones, Sir Roland Hanna, and Ron Carter. Nelson died of a heart attack on 28 October 1975, aged 43.

Discography[link]

Prestige Records

• 1959: Meet Oliver Nelson
• 1960: Taking Care of Business
• 1960: Images
• 1960: Screamin' the Blues
• 1960: Soul Battle
• 1960: Nocturne
• 1961: Straight Ahead
• 1961: Main Stem
• 1962: Afro/American Sketches

Impulse! Records

• 1961: The Blues and the Abstract Truth
• 1964: More Blues and the Abstract Truth
• 1966: Oliver Nelson Plays Michelle
• 1966: Sound Pieces
• 1966: Happenings with Hank Jones
• 1967: The Spirit of '67 with Pee Wee Russell
• 1967: The Kennedy Dream
• 1967: Live from Los Angeles
• 1968: Soulful Brass with Steve Allen
• 197_: Three Dimensions (a compilation album)

Flying Dutchman Records

• 1968: Soulful Brass #2
• 1969: Black Brown and Beautiful
• 1970: The Mayor and the People
• 1970: Berlin Dialogue for Orchestra
• 1970: Leon Thomas In Berlin with Oliver Nelson
• 1971: Swiss Suite
• 1974: In London with Oily Rags
• 1975: Skull Session
• 1976: A Dream Deferred

Other labels

• 1962: Full Nelson (Verve)
• 1962: Impressions of Phaedra (United Artists)
• 1964: Fantabulous (Argo)
• 1966: Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz (Verve)
• 1966: Leonard Feather Presents the Sound of Feeling and the Sound of Oliver Nelson (Verve)
• 1967: Jazzhattan Suite (Verve)
• 1973: Fugue and Bossa
• 1975: Stolen Moments (East Wind Records/Inner City Records)

As arranger[link]

With Air Pocket

• Fly On (1975, East Wind Records)

With Mel Brown

• Chicken Fat (Impulse!, 1967)

With Ray Brown and Milt Jackson

• Ray Brown / Milt Jackson (Verve, 1965)

With Carmen McRae

• Portrait of Carmen (Atlantic, 1967)

With Shirley Scott

• For Members Only (Impulse!, 1963)
• Great Scott!! (Impulse!, 1964)
• Roll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands (Impulse!, 1966)

With Jimmy Smith

• Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith (Verve, 1962)
• Hobo Flats (Verve, 1963)
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Verve, 1964)
• Monster (Verve, 1965)
• Peter and the Wolf (Verve, 1966)

With Wes Montgomery

• Goin' Out of My Head (Verve, 1965)

With Count Basie

• Afrique (Flying Dutchman, 1970)

As sideman[link]

This section requires expansion.

With Quincy Jones

• The Quintessence (Impulse!, 1961)

With Manny Albam

• Jazz Goes to the Movies (Impulse!, 1962)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Oliver Nelson — AllMusic biography by Scott Yanow
• Oliver Nelson — brief introduction from the Jazz Files
• Oliver Nelson — introduction from Impulse! Records
• Oliver Nelson: A Discography — Douglas Payne's site, including discographies of Nelson's work in different genres, reviews, etc.

Alan Menken (born July 22, 1949) is a pianist and composer of American musical theatre and film.

Menken is best known for his scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Home on the Range, The Shaggy Dog, Enchanted, and most recently, Tangled. Menken has collaborated on several occasions with lyricists including Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Glenn Slater, and Stephen Schwartz. With nineteen nominations and eight wins, Menken has won the third most Oscars of any person, after Walt Disney (twenty-two wins) and Alfred Newman (nine wins).

Life and career[link]

Menken was born in New York, NY to a Jewish family, the son of Judith and Norman Menken, a dentist.^[2] He developed an interest in music at an early age, studying piano and violin. He went to New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York. He attended college as a pre-med student, but later changed his focus to music at NYU Steinhardt. After college, he attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He performed frequently in local clubs and worked as a composer of jingles and songs and as an accompanist.

In the late 1970s, Menken wrote several shows that were successfully showcased, but were not produced. Menken's first major professional work was with Ashman for the Off-Broadway 1979 WPA Theatre production of the play God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, an adaptation of a Kurt Vonnegut novel. This was well received, but three years later, he achieved greater success with the 1982 Off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors, again with Ashman, for which he earned a Drama Desk Award nomination. Little Shop was adapted for a successful motion picture and later received a Broadway run.

In 1983, Menken received the BMI Career Achievement Award for his body of work for musical theater, including Little Shop of Horrors, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Real Life Funnies, Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy (produced in workshop as Battle of the Giants), Patch, Patch, Patch, and contributions to numerous revues including Personals and Diamonds. In 1987, a musical adaptation of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, with lyrics by David Spencer, was produced in Philadelphia. In 1992, the WPA Theatre produced Menken's Weird Romance, also with lyrics also by Spencer. Menken's 1994 musical based on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Mike Ockrent, debuted at Madison Square Garden's Paramount Theater. The show proved successful and is becoming an annual New York holiday event. Menken received both Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations for the music to the stage musical version of Beauty and the Beast which opened on Broadway in 1994.

Menken is best known, however, for his work over the past two decades with Walt Disney Pictures scoring numerous films, including Disney animated classics The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules and Home on the Range, and most recently, Disney's 2010 animated film Tangled. He also wrote music for the Disney live-action films Newsies (1992) and Enchanted (2007). Menken has received dual Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song on four of these projects. With eight Academy Award wins (four each for Best Original Score and Best Original Song), only composer Alfred Newman (nine wins) and Walt Disney (twenty two wins) have received more Oscars than Menken. He is tied in third place with late costume designer Edith Head. He currently holds the record for the most wins for a living person. He was named a Disney Legend in 2001.

A musical version of The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway in January 2008. Menken's Sister Act the Musical was produced in London, 2009, and opened on Broadway in Spring 2011. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Score for his work.^[3]

Menken received the 2,422nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 10, 2010.^[4]

He is working on stage adaptations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Newsies and Aladdin.^[5]

In December 2010, he was a guest on NPR's new quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.

Filmography[link]

Feature[link]

Score and songs[link]

• The Little Mermaid 1989 (double Oscar winner)
• Beauty and the Beast 1991 (double Oscar winner)
• Newsies 1992
• Aladdin 1992 (double Oscar winner)
• Life with Mikey 1993
• Pocahontas 1995 (double Oscar winner)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1996 (Oscar nominee)
• Hercules 1997 (Oscar nominee)
• Home on the Range 2004
• Noel 2004
• The Shaggy Dog 2006
• Enchanted 2007 (Oscar nominee)
• Tangled 2010 (Oscar nominee) (Grammy winner)
• Mirror Mirror 2012

Songs only[link]

• Little Shop of Horrors (complete soundtrack, score by Miles Goodman) 1986 (Oscar nominee)
• Who Discovered Roger Rabbit (the song "This Only Happens in the Movies", score by Alan Silvestri) 1988 (unproduced prequel)
• Polly (the song "By your side", score by Joel McNeely) 1989
• Rocky V (the song "The Measure of a Man", score by Bill Conti) 1990
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (the song "My Christmas Tree", score by John Williams) 1992
• Captain America: The First Avenger (the song "Star Spangled Man", score by Alan Silvestri) 2011
• Jock of the Bushveld (two versions of the song "Howling at the Moon", score by Klaus Badelt and Ian Honeyman) 2012

Television[link]

• Sesame Street (the songs "Grouchelot", "It's Gonna Get Dirty Again," "Snuffle Friends," "Martian Family (Yip Yip Song)," and "Todos un Pueblo") 1989-1990
• Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (supervising composer, the song "Wonderful Ways to Say No") 1990
• A Christmas Carol 2004

Musicals[link]

• God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater WPA Theatre May 1979 and Entermedia Theater October 1979
• Little Shop of Horrors Off Broadway 1982 and Broadway revival 2003
• Weird Romance 1992 Off Broadway and 2007 revival of two 1-act musicals Girl who was Plugged in and Her Pilgrim Soul
• Aladdin, Jr. 1992 a one-act, seven-scene theatre musical adapted from the animated Disney film Aladdin.
• Beauty and the Beast Broadway 1994 (Tony nominee)
• A Christmas Carol Perennial holiday run (10 years) The Theatre at Madison Square Garden 1994-2003
• King David 1997
• Der Glöckner von Notre Dame German musical 1999
• The Little Mermaid Broadway 2008 (Tony nominee)
• Sister Act the Musical West End 2009, Broadway 2011 (Tony nominee)
• Leap of Faith 2010 Los Angeles, Broadway 2012
• Newsies stage musical Papermill Playhouse 2011, Broadway 2012

Other[link]

• Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage - Theatrical show at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World
• Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular - Theatrical show at Disney California Adventure Park
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Theatrical show at Disney's MGM Studios, Walt Disney World
• The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure - Attraction at Disney California Adventure Park
• Sindbad's Storybook Voyage - Attraction at Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo Disney Resort

Upcoming projects[link]

• Disney has announced that Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame, the Berlin stage musical adaptation of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame will be coming to the Broadway stage in the next couple of years. Although the extended music and new songs with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz were completed for the 1999 premiere in Germany, the show is being fine tuned for American audiences, with a 2012 premiere anticipated.

• A Broadway musical version of Disney's Aladdin, with a book by Chad Beguelin. The songs will be the ones featured in the movie, along with cut songs written by both Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and the song that Menken wrote by himself for the theatrical adaption at Disney California Adventure Park (To Be Free).^[5]Casey Nicholaw is expected to direct and choreograph the stage musical Aladdin which is expected to run at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington, July 7–31, 2011."^[6]

• Menken along with Weird Romance collaborator David Spencer wrote the musical The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, which is currently in Canada.^[5]

Awards[link]

Academy Award nominations and wins[link]

• 1987
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space", from Little Shop of Horrors
• 1990
  • Won, Best Original Score - The Little Mermaid
  • Won, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Under the Sea", from The Little Mermaid
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Kiss the Girl", from The Little Mermaid
• 1992
  • Won, Best Original Score - Beauty and the Beast
  • Won, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - Beauty and the Beast, from Beauty and the Beast
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Belle", from Beauty and the Beast
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Be Our Guest", from Beauty and the Beast
• 1993
  • Won, Best Original Score - Aladdin
  • Won, Best Original Song (with Tim Rice) - "A Whole New World", from Aladdin
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Friend Like Me", from Aladdin
• 1996
  • Won, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - "Colors of the Wind", from Pocahontas
  • Won, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (with Stephen Schwartz) - Pocahontas
• 1997
  • Nominated, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (with Stephen Schwartz) - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• 1998
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with David Zippel) - "Go the Distance", from Hercules
• 2008
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - "Happy Working Song", from Enchanted
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - "So Close", from Enchanted
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - "That's How You Know", from Enchanted
• 2011
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Glenn Slater) - I See the Light from Tangled

Golden Globe nominations and wins[link]

• 1990
  • Won, Best Original Score for The Little Mermaid
  • Won, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - Motion Picture from - "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - Motion Picture - "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid

• 1992
  • Won, Best Original Score for Beauty and the Beast
  • Won, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) for Beauty and the Beast, from Beauty and the Beast
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) for Be Our Guest, from Beauty and the Beast

• 1993
  • Won, Best Original Score for Aladdin
  • Won, Best Original Song (with Tim Rice) - "A Whole New World", from Aladdin
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) for Friend Like Me, from Aladdin
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) for Prince Ali from Aladdin

• 1996
  • Won, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) for "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas
  • Nominated, Best Original Score for Pocahontas

• 1997
  • Nominated, Best Original Score for The Hunchback of Notre Dame

• 1998
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with David Zippel) - Go the Distance from Hercules

• 2008
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - That's How You Know from Enchanted

• 2011
  • Nominated, Best Original Song (with Glenn Slater) - I See the Light from Tangled

Grammy Awards[link]

Menken has eleven Grammy awards, including Song of the Year for 1993. ^[7]

Tony Awards[link]

• 1994 Tony Award for Best Original Score - Beauty and the Beast [nominee]
• 2008 Tony Award for Best Original Score - The Little Mermaid [nominee]
• 2011 Tony Award for Best Original Score - Sister Act [nominee]
• 2012 Tony Award for Best Original Score - Newsies [pending]

Drama Desk Awards[link]

• 1983 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music - Little Shop of Horrors [nominee]
• 1994 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music - Beauty and the Beast [nominee]
• 2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music - Sister Act [nominee]
• 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music - Newsies [pending]
• 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music- Leap of Faith [pending]

Other awards[link]

• 2001 Disney Legends

Further reading[link]

• Disney Biography of Menken
• Menken, Alan. Britannica Book of the Year, 1997. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
• Interview with Alan Menken, theartsdesk.com. Posted May 16, 2010.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Internet Broadway database Listing
• Internet Off-Broadway database Listing
• MusicalTalk interview with Alan Menken
• Alan Menken at the Internet Movie Database
• SoundtrackNet entry for Alan Menken
• The Whole New World of Alan Menken
• Alan Menken: "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST captures the magic of Disney animations and brings it to the stage" Alan Menken in Barcelona's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
• Comprehensive Q&A with Alan Menken on theartsdesk.com (May 16, 2010)