Galt MacDermot | |
|---|---|
 MacDermot circa 1972 | |
| Born | Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (1928-12-18)December 18, 1928 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | December 17, 2018(2018-12-17) (aged 89) Staten Island, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Bishop's University Cape Town University |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | Terence MacDermot (father) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres |
|
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1954–2018 |
Musical artist | |
Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won aGrammy Award for the song "African Waltz" in 1961. His most successful musicals wereHair (1967; its Broadway cast album also won a Grammy) andTwo Gentlemen of Verona (1971). MacDermot also composed film soundtracks, jazz and funk albums, and Western classical music. His music has been sampled in numerous hip-hop songs and albums. He is best known for his work onHair, which produced threenumber-one singles in 1969: "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "Good Morning Starshine", and the title song "Hair".
MacDermot was born inMontreal, the son of Canadian diplomatTerence MacDermot and Elizabeth Savage.[1] He was educated atUpper Canada College andBishop's University (Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada). He received a bachelor's degree in music fromCape Town University,South Africa, and made a study ofAfrican music his specialty. He studied the piano privately withNeil Chotem.[2] During his time in Cape Town, he met his future wife, Marlene Bruynzeel, a clarinetist of Dutch descent. They married in 1956 and had five children (Vincent, Molly, Yolanda, and twins Sarah and Jolanthe, who died one day apart in 2020).[3][4][1] In 1960, he won his firstGrammy Award forCannonball Adderley's recording of his song "African Waltz" (from thealbum of the same name).[5]
In 1964, MacDermot moved toNew York City, where, three years later, he wrote the music for the hit musicalHair, which he later adapted forthe 1979 film of the same name.[6] ItsBroadway cast album won aGrammy Award in 1969, and the musical generated threenumber-one singles that year: "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "Good Morning Starshine", and the title song "Hair". His next musicals wereIsabel's a Jezebel (1970) andWho the Murderer Was (1970), which featured British progressive rock bandCurved Air.[7]
MacDermot had another hit with the musicalTwo Gentlemen of Verona (1971), which won theTony Award for Best Musical. For that show, MacDermot was nominated for a Tony for best music and won theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Music. His later musicals, includingDude andVia Galactica (both 1972) andThe Human Comedy (1984), were not successful on Broadway, running 16 performances, 7 performances, and 13 performances respectively.[8]
MacDermot'sfilm soundtracks includeCotton Comes to Harlem, a 1970blaxploitation film starringGodfrey Cambridge,Raymond St. Jacques, andRedd Foxx, based on Chester Himes's novel of the same name;Rhinoceros (1974) starringZero Mostel andGene Wilder, and directed by original BroadwayHair directorTom O'Horgan; andMistress (1992). He wrote his own orchestrations and arrangements for his theater and film scores.[5]
In 1979, MacDermot formed the New Pulse Jazz Band, which performed and recorded his original music and was one of the first jazz bands to featuresynthesizer.[9] The band played as part of the onstage band in the 2009 Broadway revival ofHair. MacDermot's oeuvre also includes ballet scores, chamber music, the Anglican liturgy, orchestral music, poetry,incidental music for plays, band repertory, and opera.[5] In 2009, MacDermot was inducted into theSongwriter's Hall of Fame.
On November 22, 2010, MacDermot was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award bySOCAN at the 2010 SOCAN Awards in Toronto.[10]
MacDermot died at his home inStaten Island, New York on December 17, 2018, one day shy of his 90th birthday.[1][11]
MacDermot's music is popular with collectors ofjazz andfunk. Working with jazz musicians such asBernard Purdie,Jimmy Lewis andIdris Muhammad, he created pieces that prefigured the funk material ofJames Brown. In more recent decades, his work became popular withhip hop musicians includingBusta Rhymes, who sampled "Space" from MacDermot's 1969 recordWoman Is Sweeter for the smash-hit "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check", andRun DMC, which sampled theHair song "Where Do I Go?" in its Grammy Award-winning "Down with the King".[5]Handsome Boy Modeling School ("The Truth"),DJ Vadim,DJ Premier, andOh No have all sampled the same segment from "Coffee Cold", fromShapes of Rhythm (1966).[12]
Scottish electronica duoBoards of Canada used a loop in their track "Aquarius" (Music Has the Right to Children) which was sampled from MacDermot's song of the same name from the 1979 soundtrack of the filmHair.[13]
As part of his Special Herbs series, rapperMF DOOM sampled three MacDermot songs fromWoman Is Sweeter: "Cathedral" for his song "Pennyroyal", "Space" for "Cinquefoil", and "Princess Gika" for "Styrax Gum".[14] "Cathedral" is also sampled inWestside Gunn's "Dear Winter Bloody Fiegs" for his 2015 mixtapeHitler Wears Hermes 3. In 2006, rapper and producer Oh No released an album produced completely with MacDermot samples, titledExodus into Unheard Rhythms.[15]
 |
(excluding cast albums and soundtracks)
