Gordon Jenkins

Gordon Jenkins commanded considerable recognition across four decades as an arranger, conductor, composer, and bandleader spanning the 1930s to the 1960s. His career opened with radio work as a multi-instrumentalist before he turned into a busy arranger whose contributions appeared on recordings by Isham Jones, Benny Goodman, Lennie Hayton, and additional artists. In 1935 he led the pit for the Broadway production The Show Is On. Following a period at Paramount he joined NBC in Hollywood, remaining there from 1938 through 1944, and subsequently served four years as Dick Haymes’ arranger. At Decca he rose to managing director and oversaw several successful releases for the company in the closing years of the 1940s and throughout the 1950s. He is remembered for discovering the Weavers folk group at the Village Vanguard in the early 1950s, securing them studio time, and later providing their instrumental support. Throughout that decade he also lent his talents to Louis Armstrong, the Andrews Sisters, and Haymes. In later years he conducted Judy Garland during a concert engagement in England and served for a period as arranger and conductor for Nat King Cole. In 1967 Jenkins received a Grammy for his work on Frank Sinatra’s album September of My Years.