Spud Murphy

Jimmy Mundy (28 June 1907–24 April 1983) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer, best known for his arrangements for Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Earl Hines.

Born James Mundy in Cincinnati, Ohio, and gained his arranging skills in the 1920s while playing with local bands led by Erskine Tate, Tommy Miles, and Carroll Dickerson. In 1932 he joined Earl Hines for four years, originally as a saxophonist, but swiftly developing a reputation as an arranger. After selling one of his arrangements to Benny Goodman in 1935, Goodman hired him away from Hines, and Mundy became Goodman's staff arranger. (Mundy also did a couple of arrangements for Claude Hopkins in 1932.)

Mundy was also a significant supplier of arrangements to Count Basie (from about 1940 to 1947), as well as writing for Gene Krupa, Paul Whiteman, Dizzy Gillespie (in 1949), Charlie Spivak, Harry James, and many others. He briefly led his own band in 1939, but after World War II he returned to arranging for Basie, James, and others. He wrote the score to the 1955 musical The Vamp which starred Carol Channing. The 1957 musical Livin' The Life and the 2010 dance revue Come Fly Away also had some of his music.

In 1959, Mundy moved to Paris, where he was musical director for Barclay Records, returning to the U.S. in the 1960s. He continued an active career as a writer into the 1970s.

Discography

 * 1937–1947: Jimmy Mundy 1947–1947 (Classics)
 * 1958: On a Mundy Flight (Epic)
 * 2002: Fiesta in Brass (Golden Era)

As arranger
With Illinois Jacquet With Sonny Stitt
 * The Soul Explosion (Prestige, 1969)
 * Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass (Atlantic, 1962)

Sources and external links

 * Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. Jazz: The Rough Guide. ISBN 1-85828-528-3
 * Richard Cook & Brian Morton. The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6
 * Scott Yanow, Swing Miller Freeman Books, 2000
 * [ Jimmy Mundy] &mdash; brief biography by Scott Yanow, for AllMusic
 * [ Jimmy Mundy] &mdash; brief biography by Scott Yanow, for AllMusic