Biography
Locating any of Johnny Keating’s Phase 4 releases in their original stereo pressings within the United Kingdom would demand prolonged rummaging through charity-shop castoffs. From farther afield the same discs draw together enthusiasts of exotica, lounge music, and the shimmering bachelor-pad sound that has nothing to do with ambient music. A Scotsman who first played trombone in big bands and dance bands during the early 1950s, Keating moved among performance, recording, and publishing with the unhurried drift of a river journey—an image reinforced by the Phase 4 sleeves, whose glossy heft was sturdy enough to serve as an emergency flotation device.
His initial brass instruction took place in Edinburgh and prepared him for Tommy Sampson’s dance band. In 1952 he joined bandleader Ted Heath, who soon recognized the arranging and composing ability beneath the trombone playing and promoted him to staff arranger and composer. That role opened doors into publishing; by 1958 Keating declared he was finished with the music business aside from “occasional gigs.” The phrase proved apt for his 1960s activities, which proved far less taxing than steady performing: under the name Johnny he delivered a string of easy-listening and orchestral-pop albums for Warner Bros. aimed at stereo enthusiasts and anyone not preoccupied with psychedelic rock. He also supplied arrangements for Shirley Horn and Caterina Valente, challenging both singers and players with unconventional instrumentation while exploring the era’s newly promoted recording and mixing techniques. His Space Experience albums were routinely used by record-store clerks to demonstrate stereo equipment to customers.
Film work followed, returning Keating to more terrestrial assignments that included scores heard in Hotel, Ed Wood, and Robbery. Two extended concert pieces, “Overture 100 Pipers” and “Hebridean Impressions,” received their premieres; one extant recording of the latter features Bernard Herrmann conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Petula Clark, Percy Faith, Carmen McRae, Stan Kenton, and Nancy Wilson are among the artists who have interpreted Keating’s material. Shirley Horn received a 1999 Grammy Award for the Keating-arranged album I Remember Miles. Keating established the Johnny Keating School of Music in Edinburgh and, since 1980, has devoted considerable effort to a projected four-volume scholarly treatise on professional songwriting.
His initial brass instruction took place in Edinburgh and prepared him for Tommy Sampson’s dance band. In 1952 he joined bandleader Ted Heath, who soon recognized the arranging and composing ability beneath the trombone playing and promoted him to staff arranger and composer. That role opened doors into publishing; by 1958 Keating declared he was finished with the music business aside from “occasional gigs.” The phrase proved apt for his 1960s activities, which proved far less taxing than steady performing: under the name Johnny he delivered a string of easy-listening and orchestral-pop albums for Warner Bros. aimed at stereo enthusiasts and anyone not preoccupied with psychedelic rock. He also supplied arrangements for Shirley Horn and Caterina Valente, challenging both singers and players with unconventional instrumentation while exploring the era’s newly promoted recording and mixing techniques. His Space Experience albums were routinely used by record-store clerks to demonstrate stereo equipment to customers.
Film work followed, returning Keating to more terrestrial assignments that included scores heard in Hotel, Ed Wood, and Robbery. Two extended concert pieces, “Overture 100 Pipers” and “Hebridean Impressions,” received their premieres; one extant recording of the latter features Bernard Herrmann conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Petula Clark, Percy Faith, Carmen McRae, Stan Kenton, and Nancy Wilson are among the artists who have interpreted Keating’s material. Shirley Horn received a 1999 Grammy Award for the Keating-arranged album I Remember Miles. Keating established the Johnny Keating School of Music in Edinburgh and, since 1980, has devoted considerable effort to a projected four-volume scholarly treatise on professional songwriting.
Albums
