Matt Johnson & The New Jet Set will perform their jazz versions of many classic Disney songs at the Sierra Madre Playhouse beginning Friday, March 22nd and continuing through Sunday, March 24th. Johnson has created a multi-media show that includes stories, anecdotes from his many years as being a Cast Member at Disneyland and many of the classic songs we all know and love.

Last week I spoke with Johnson (who drums for multiple artists including Jane Lynch) about his lengthy relationship with all things Disney and the songwriters and songs that make us all light up when we hear them. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview with Johnson, please go to our YouTube channel (where you can also see an interview with Alan Menken).

Q: Duke Ellington famously sings in one of his compositions, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” What does the Disney songbook mean with and without swing? [The lyrics were by Irving Mills]

Listen, the Disney songbook doesn’t need my interpretation to stand alone in the annals of memorable music. We just happen to interpret it in our chosen vehicle. We take those memorable melodies and just put them in the jazz machine and crank them up and what comes out is usually very swinging. A lot of the music lends itself to swing. There’s lots of lullabies and happy children’s songs and some marches and some of them naturally lend themselves to swing. Then others we choose to have a little more fun with them. In one instance the beautiful ballad A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes from Cinderella. We’ll do it as a samba and play almost a double time rhythm underneath it. So sometimes the swing just happens. And other times we consciously choose to put it in a style that makes us even more happy.

Some of those films had great opportunities for swing. They did have Louis Prima as a voice in The Jungle Book, and they had Peggy Lee write songs and perform them for Lady and the Tramp. But those were exceptions. Do you think that there was a conscious decision in the history of Disney songs not to go into a swing mode? Or do you think that the films didn’t necessarily lend themselves to that style?

I know from being a long time Disney cast member that story is the most important thing. So whoever was in charge whenever a production was in the making, they thought about what would be the best way to convey the story. So conscious decision – definitely. But just crowbar in swing music? No.

By the time you get to Toy Story with someone like Randy Newman, you have a composer who has jazz in his bloodstream.

He does. You’ve Got a Friend in Me has very much a swingy bounce to it. I think it’s definitely a conscious decision to play jazz and or any other style. I’m thinking now Ratatouille – all Parisian. Michael Giacchino’s orchestration with lots of accordion and clarinet. Very Parisian, almost a gypsy jazz appropriate for the setting in the story it tells.

How do you see the Disney songbook having evolved over the years? What do you like most about the way it was, and what do you like most about the way it is today? 

I have had the wonderful experience of seeing it in the audience’s faces as we’ve performed the show a few times now. You can’t separate the music from the time when you experienced it in the movie theater. For those of us of a certain age, that means a really grand occasion. Back before you could stream a movie on your watch, it was a really big deal to go to a theater. We always looked forward to the Disney movies. Growing up in Southern California we had the opportunity to go to Disneyland. So we saw all the the tie-ins with the attractions and all the visuals. And, of course, we saw the characters. We also had the Wonderful World of Color and the Wonderful World of Disney. The music is just one of many, many emotional touchstones that are layered in us.

If there was any one team of composers or songwriters for whom the Disney catalog is best represented, it’s going to be the Sherman Brothers: Richard and Robert Sherman. What do you think makes their songs more beloved, or given them the ability to stand the test of time above perhaps any other songwriter’s songs who have appeared in Disney movies? 

First of all, we have to agree to the premise of your question are they, in fact, the greatest? And I think the reason both of us initially say yes, without a doubt, is because of the volume of work that they did when the studio was young or in their heyday. There was a period of time when Disney wasn’t making great movies, but everything before 1975 rocked. Maybe even earlier than that. Aristocats came out in 1970 and certainly everything that preceded it was just fantastic.

Walt referred to them as the boys. He’d storyboard with some of his artists and he said, let me get the boys in here, and then we’ll figure out where we’re going from here. The stories that I know, and even the documentary footage that I’ve seen, there was such a collaboration [with] the brothers. To see one at the piano and the other one scratching down something and changing and getting stuck on a word and seeing that collaboration was personally very inspiring. 

Doesn’t it feel like Alan Menken is the heir to what the Sherman Brothers were able to accomplish?

In and through the collaboration with his lyricists…Yes. All of those contemporary things from Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. I’m no different than most. I’m really affected emotionally performing this music and having the responsibility of giving a little insight through my narration. Instead of saying, “Now we’re going to play I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” I give a little background on the music and the production or something that I’ve read that’s interesting that maybe we don’t know. I have to be careful that I don’t trigger an emotional little thing in me that becomes distracting or, even worse, makes me emotional. 

Don’t you feel like this music allows us to revisit our childhood in some way, shape or form?

Every single time. My friend Charles Phoenix put it so perfectly, “Every time I go there, I feel all the ages I’ve ever been.” Because he remembers encountering the Disney magic at all these different points in his life. And also remembering the people in your life that are no longer with us. When you think about going there with your grandparents, I mean, that’s a powerful memory, you know? It’s just part of who I am. 

You can’t walk through the park without hearing music everywhere. A lot of it’s piped in now, but walk Main Street. You know better than anyone, that’s where you often hear live music.

Right. Straw Hatters are still out there. From season to season, sometimes they bring back a couple of what we call the break down groups: The Firehouse Hook and Ladder Gang. It’s been a while. The sax quintet who dressed in that Keystone Cops? We say Keystone Cops, but, the police uniforms from the previous century. The pre-recorded music there is all early, sort of parlor music. It’s not exactly ragtime yet. It predates ragtime. It’s happy family music from the turn of the century.

A lot of the music that that you and I know and that people probably have at least half a generation below us embrace as well, is stuff that kids today don’t necessarily have any relationship to unless their parents held on to old DVDs or they would catch the films on Disney Plus. What do you see in in terms of young people who come to these concerts and their response to these songs that they didn’t grow up with the same way you and I did?

There’s one thing that happens in general. I’m reminded of my friend Tony Guerrero, who says, “Even if you don’t think you’re familiar with jazz, if you witness a live performance, you can’t help but like it.” There’s just something about live musical performance that’s very powerful. Something you and I would take for granted because we sat through innumerable concerts, but young people wouldn’t necessarily. We try to have a couple of the contemporary Disney songs in there.

My indoctrination into the world of Disney took place when my aunt took me at three years old to go see Mary Poppins. That was the first time I became aware of movies. It was the first time I became aware of musicals in any way, shape or form. Obviously, the first time that I became aware of Disney in any in any measurable way. It is my understanding that you have worked with Dame Julie Andrews.

I was performing with a group called the Palm Springs Yacht Club in the early 90s. It was a musical comedy group, but we worked for maybe 3 or 4 years as a warm-up act for a handful of touring celebrities at the time, including Julie Andrews, but also the Smothers Brothers and comedian Rich Little.

We traveled one whole summer with Julie Andrews. It was my personal experience that she was wonderful and had a wonderful sense of humor. She was appreciative of the small supporting role that we played in her show. She traveled with an ensemble as well. We were traveling separately. Her band was on a standard tour bus at the time. She drove in a limousine and had a driver. This was the caravan. It wasn’t uncommon that the band, while on the road, their wives would come out sometimes and join the tour for the weekend and fly home. I overheard a conversation where she offered one of the guys the limo so he and his wife could travel from one venue to the next together to have some time together. She road on the bus. That said a lot about who she was. She was always very, very good humored and always made us feel as though our role was valued.

In Richard Sherman’s book, Pursuing Happiness, he tells a story about giving a lecture at USC. As he described it, some smartalec shouted out, “How much money did you make from Winnie the Pooh?” He goes on to tell this story about a girl in Texas who had fallen down a well. As they were trying to rescue her the girl apparently told her mother that she wanted her to sing Winnie the Pooh, because “Winnie the Pooh was in great tightness and he got out and I’m going to get out.” Richard Sherman said, “That moment made me the richest man in the world.” How does music in general, and these Disney songs in particular, make you the richest man in the world?

We just performed our show a couple nights ago. After the show a gentleman came up to me and said, “My dad has Alzheimer’s.” Out of the blue. I never met this guy before. I said I’m very sorry, not knowing where he was going with this. And he said, “He’s been living with us. When I was leaving the house, I said, I’m going to see a Disney show tonight. They’re playing Disney music.” His father, with Alzheimer’s, brightened up and said, “Do you remember when we took you to see The Aristocats?” Now, The Aristocats is not one of the most memorable movies, but it’s a fabulous movie released in 1970, and it happened to be the very last animated feature that Walt Disney would be able to approve for production in 1965. 

He went on to say that his little brother was born and stayed in the ICU for six weeks. [He continued] “When my little brother was able to finally come home my dad took my sister and I out to see The Aristocats.” This person who was suffering from Alzheimer’s was able to tap into that because of his connection to the Disney music. You can’t put a price on that; that I was part of a performance that reminded both those individuals of that story and that he chose to relate it to me.

Knowing how it affects people, how deeply connected people are to this music, it’s a great responsibility. Whether I’m playing at the park or whether I’m playing on the outside with my own band and present this music at the highest level, because I know how people relate to it. It is a gift that I cherish and I don’t take it for granted.

To watch the full interview with Matt Johnson, please go here.

Main Photo: Matt Johnson (Courtesy Matt Johnson)

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No film would be the same without its scores. One could argue that animated films in particular are greatly enhanced by virtue of the music written for them. Pixar, whose films set a high standard for animation, always set a high stand for music. Celebrating these scores seems like a no-brainer idea that it is surprising a concert like this hasn’t happened before. (Perhaps it has, I just don’t recall one.)

Randy Newman’s films for Pixar include Toy Story (all four of them), A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., Cars, Cars 3 and Monsters University

Giacchino’s films for Pixar include The Incredibles 2, Coco, Inside Out, Ratatouille, Cars 2 and Up.

Thomas Newman’s scores for Pixar films include Finding Nemo, WALL-E and Finding Dory.

Patrick Doyle scored Brave.

Performing this music will be a combination of the Chapman Orchestra and professional musicians.

Ticketholders (and Chapman University students with a valid ID) will be able to attend a pre-performance talk with Giacchino, filmmaker Mark Andrews (Brave) and Chapman’s Professor William Kroyer.

For tickets go here. (At press time there were less than 50 tickets still available.)

Art courtesy of MUSCO.

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If you go to Randy Newman’s website and look under events for his concert schedule you will find exactly one concert on that schedule. So rarely does he perform that this Sunday’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl is a must-see for even the slightest fans of Newman’s work.

The evening is billed as an evening of songs from all of Newman’s studio albums. From his first album in 1968 (appropriately titled Randy Newman) through his most recent recording, Dark Matter (2017), Newman has written songs that will stand the test of time. His wit and emotion combine to comment on the subjects of the day, but they never seem like relics of a different era. Rather, he so smartly crafted his songs that they remain topical today and will continue to do so for generations to come.

To get an overview of his repertoire, check out my dream setlist I posted here yesterday. There are videos or audio clips of each of the songs I’ve selected.  And the ones I didn’t choose are very familiar to most people:

“Mama Told Me Not To Come”

“Short People”

“It’s Money that I Love”

And of course, “I Love L.A.”

This concert will feature Newman with his band and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conducted by his cousin, film composer David Newman.

From my point of view, this is the concert of this summer’s schedule at the Hollywood Bowl not to be missed. That makes it Your Best Bet This Weekend in LA.

Photo of Randy Newman by Pamela Springsteen

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Since his cousin, David Newman, is conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, let’s first get his thoughts on the concert. I had asked him about this when we spoke about his conducting Jaws earlier this season.

“It’s not the first time we’ve done this, it’s the second,” he said. “We did a concert in Vienna a couple of years ago. I have no idea what’s going on. I know that it will be songs from his albums – all of which I’m intimately familiar with. I’m so looking forward. I’m a huge fan of Randy’s from when I was 15-years-old. I’m honored and can’t wait to do that. That’s going to be fun. He’ll have his band there, a big orchestra. We’ll have a blast with that.”

Now my setlist.

Randy Newman (1968) From this introductory album I’ll have to take one of the songs he’s written that has been covered by a lot of artists, “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today.”

12 Songs (1970) No doubt he’ll be doing “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” but I’d love to hear “Uncle Bob’s Midnight Blues.”

Sail Away (1972) In our current political climate, there’s only one song that must be played and it is from this album:  “Political Science.”

Good Old Boys (1974) Easily one of his songs that gets misunderstood – because he writes in character for the people in his stories – is “Rednecks.” No, he’s not a racist, the character in the song is. (Talking of misunderstood, have you seen the video for “I Love L.A.?”)

Little Criminals (1977) Since he had a hit with “Short People,” (another misunderstood song), he’ll feel obligated to play that song. And however much I like the idea of his playing “You Can’t Fool the Fat Man” for the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I love his song “Baltimore” from this album and that would be my choice.

Born Again (1979) My choice here is “The Story of a Rock and Roll Band” (Which is a tribute to one of my favorite bands.) But you can probably count “It’s Money That I Love” to be played from Born Again.

Trouble in Paradise (1983) Do you really think he’ll not play “I Love L.A.” at this concert? You can bet on that one. However, I’d be happy if he played this entire album with my particular favorites being “Real Emotional Girl,” “Christmas in Cape Town” and “I’m Different.” But if push comes to shove, I think he should follow up “The Story of a Rock and Roll Band” with “My Life Is Good” from this album.

Land of Dreams (1988) Easily my favorite song here, and one of his many songs that can cut you to the quick with its pathos is “I Want You to Hurt Like I Do.” I’d love him to play that cheerful little ditty. My guess is he’ll play “Dixie Flyer.”

Faust (1994) He’s probably not including this concept album for an ill-fated musical (that was performed in La Jolla in 1995.) I saw the production and I love this album, but it is’t technically a “studio album.” My pick here is “Feels Like Home.” Bonnie Raitt sang this song so beautifully on the album, but Newman has performed it in concert and added it to one of his studio albums a few years later.

Bad Love (1999) I’ll go for “The Great Nations of Europe,” for two reasons. One, it is timely. Secondly, it utilizes an orchestra and will serve the concept of this show well.

Harps and Angels (2008) It’s amazing how many of his songs comment not just on what was going on at the time they were written and recorded, but still serve as commentary today. For that reason and also because this, too, can take advantage of the orchestra, I’ll choose “Laugh and Be Happy.” (This is the album where Newman released his version of “Feels Like Home.”)

Dark Matter  (2017) Newman should collude with current events and play “Putin.”

Now, given that we have the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra for this concert, it would be great to hear from some of his film scores, too.  While I’m sure Toy Story would be included if they are and perhaps The Natural, I’d love to hear some of his music from Avalon and Pleasantville. Those are two scores from little films that got away, but they showcase Newman at his best.

Speaking of Toy Story, you can probably count on hearing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” even though it wasn’t part of his studio albums. The song is too beloved not to be somehow be included – perhaps as an encore.

Whatever Randy Newman chooses to do on Sunday night, I can’t wait to see what’s on his official setlist. What would you want to hear him perform?

Photos by Pamela Springsteen

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Newman, part of the Newman family of film composers that includes father Alfred, brother Thomas, and cousin Randy, began his career as a professional violinist. “I played in a lot of movies,” he says. “Even before composing, conducting was my passion. I approach it completely different from composing, even when I conduct my own music. You have to look at it as a conductor, not as a composer.”

In a typical scoring session the orchestra has the ability to go back and re-do pieces, and they never play the entire score live. “There’s a certain kind of tightrope circus atmosphere to this,” Newman reveals. “For this live music stuff there’s the challenge of synchronizing. You need to sync music with film in real time, you can’t go back and fix stuff, but you need to make music. There are challenges with balance because film music is meant to be recorded. You’d think with being live, music is more important. But I look at it as the conductor is responsible for things of equal importance.”

“Back to the Future has a lot of picture cuts with music hits in a lot of places in different ways,” Newman says. “It’s like a ticking clock. The music perfectly fits the metaphor and double entendre of the title: clockwork and precision and chasing a lightning bolt to get Marty back to the future.”

When the creative team behind the event revisited the film, they realized something was missing for a live event. “There was very little music in the first three reels,” Newman acknowledges. “There’s no cue at the beginning of the movie as the clock is ticking. We all agreed that to start a live music event with nobody playing music for 30 minutes wasn’t a good idea. Alan [Silvestri] talked to [director] Robert Zemeckis, and they went back to spot the movie. There’s an overture before the movie and there’s an entre’act before act 2 starts. The movie needs to be broken up into act 1 and act 2 due to union rules. I think Alan mostly used music from the series.”

Later in the Bowl season, Newman will be back to conduct a performance of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial with a live orchestra. “I played violin on the E.T. score. I was there at the beginning. I had the privilege of playing and watching [composer] John Williams put that together. It was an amazing experience. From the first note there is something about the convergence of the John Williams’ style and Spielberg’s movie-making that’s so skillful. John Williams’ melody and orchestration, there’s nothing like it.”

Newman has scored such films as Anastasia, Honeymoon in Vegas, and The War of the Roses. If he could select one of his own scores to be presented this way at the Bowl, which would he choose? “I might choose Ice Age, or I might choose Matilda, which I did with Danny DeVito, because I love that movie. Or Galaxy Quest might be a good live film. But there’s a lot that goes into it. These are expensive to produce. You have to make sure that orchestras would want to play them. There are certain titles like Back to the Future and E.T., which are obvious choices. Others you have to choose carefully. All things being equal, I’d choose those. I think they would work well live.”

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