JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 6:00 pm
Roger Neumann, for one, was extremely interested in the recent biopic about Ray Charles. The tenor saxophonist worked extensively for the late great musician as a composer and arranger during the 1970s.
Neumann was complimentary of Jamie Foxx's performance as Charles in "Ray."
"I spent a lot of time with Ray," Neumann said. "I was around him for many hours. During the movie, I would find myself forgetting it was an actor.
"It would hit me this isn't Ray up there."
Neumann was disappointed the movie glossed over the '70s, but was pleased to see many of the albums he worked on were used for the montage at the end of the film.
"I learned so much from Ray Charles," said Neumann, a tenor saxophonist from Santa Clarita, Calif., who performs tonight with the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra.
"It was like going to school," he added. "I learned how to write background for a singer. He taught me a lot about that, about not getting in the way of the vocal."
He said his arrangement of "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" is probably his best-known work for Charles.
When Neumann performs tonight, one of the pieces the orchestra will play is one he arranged for a Charles album, "Then I'll Be Home."
"I told (NJO music director) Ed Love this works pretty well as an instrumental," he said. "Ray originally recorded it in the 1970s."
Neumann, 64, said he was honored to be invited to play with the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra.
"Learning From the Master" will feature Neumann with the NJO and the 2005 Young Lions All-Star Band, an auditioned honor ensemble comprised of some of the area's most talented young jazz musicians.
Neumann's resume includes spending the past few years in jazz education, working in programs sponsored by the Los Angeles Jazz Society.
"Our goal is to pass this music along to young people," he said. "To educate them how to play, how to swing and to write if they want to."
Neumann remembers how much it meant for him to learn from such masters as Charles, Count Basie, Les Brown and Woody Herman.
The tenor saxophonist was born in Minot, N.D., and grew up in Spencer, Iowa.
His father was a musician, playing on the road with big bands in the late 1930s and '40s.
He was the one who fostered Neumann's interest in music. Neumann's mother would take him and his brother to his dad's performances.
Neumann decided to join the school band when he was 8 years old. His father, a trombone and sax player, brought home a clarinet for him to play.
"I wouldn't even touch it," Neumann said. "He closed it up and took it back to the music store."
His father returned with a baby soprano sax, silver in color. That was more Neumann's speed. He switched to tenor sax in junior high school.
Neumann's dream was to play with Herman's big band. He realized the dream shortly after graduating from college. He was just 25 when he began touring with Herman.
"Woody Herman's band really appealed to me because of the Four Brothers' sound," Neumann said.
Most big bands used a baritone, two alto and two tenor saxophones, but Herman in the late '40s he discovered a more airy sound, using one baritone and three tenor saxes.
Herman featured the sound through the 1950s, with the quartet of Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Herbie Steward and bari player Serge Charloff making it famous.
"I would listen (to Herman's records) over and over again," Neumann said. "I told myself I would love to get in that band and play that music. It finally happened."
A solid player, Neumann is best known as a composer and arranger. He had an interest in both at an early age, putting together his first arrangement at age 15.
Over the years he has written for Buddy Rich, Basie, Charles, The Raelettes, Ray Brown, The Beach Boys, Jerry Garcia, Ann Jillian and many more.
He has written arrangements and compositions for the TV series, "The Young and the Restless," "Moonlighting," "Hollywood Housewives" and "My Favorite Martian."
His music has been featured on the soundtracks of several movies, including "Three Men and a Little Lady" and "Mumford."
His work for Garcia, the late Grateful Dead guitarist, resulted from his association with Charles. Garcia was producing a solo album and wanted a Ray Charles-style for one of the pieces.
He looked on the back of one of Charles' albums and found Neumann's name and gave him call.
"I think he thought if I was good enough to write for Ray Charles, I would be good enough for one arrangement for him," Neumann said.
Today, he teaches young musicians about playing, writing and arranging.
"I thrive on variety," he said. "I wouldn't be any good at a 9-to-5 job. I like to do different things every day."
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.