Marty Paich

Martin Louis Paich (born January 23, 1925 in Oakland, California, died August 12, 1995 in Santa Ynez, California) was a pianist, composer, arranger, producer, music director and conductor.

In a career which spanned half a century, he worked in these capacities for such artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Kenton, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt, Stan Getz, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Jackson, Art Pepper, and a hundred others.

However, his name is essentially unknown outside professional circles. He took little interest in self-promotion, never acquired a personal agent, happily saw his business affairs managed by his capable first wife, Huddy, and as soon as finances permitted decamped Los Angeles for a ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley north of Santa Barbara. There, he engaged his twin fantasies of riding horses and operating a private museum devoted to the saddles, books, rifles and guns of the American west. For a boy raised in urban Oakland California, this was a charmed leap.
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