Jackson Whiteside Eskew Kenmore (June 29, 1940 – February 6, 2016[1]), known professionally asJack Eskew, was an Americanarranger andorchestrator based inLos Angeles, California. He studied music at theUniversity of Southern California before beginning his career in the early 1960s by touring theUnited States as a trumpeter with various bands, most prominently withHarry James.
Later in the 1960s, he led the band atDisneyland that appeared nightly in the famous subterranean rising stage, playingtrumpet andpiano. He subsequently became music director at Disneyland. During the 1960s and '70s, he musically supervised such television shows as the classicThe Banana Splits Adventure Hour,The Sonny and Cher Show, andThe Mac Davis Show.
From the early 1980s, Eskew worked withOscar-winning film composerBill Conti (best known for his scores of theRocky series andThe Right Stuff) and subsequently orchestratedThe Karate Kid series,Baby Boom,Betrayed,A Prayer for the Dying,Broadcast News,The Addams Family,Rookie of the Year,Huckleberry Finn,The Big Blue, thePierce Brosnan remake ofThe Thomas Crown Affair,Spy Hard,8 Seconds, andRocky Balboa, among others. Continuing his long collaboration with Conti, Eskew also orchestrated numerous telecasts of the annualAcademy Awards with Conti serving at the helm as musical director and on-air conductor.[2]
Eskew was nominated three times for anEmmy Award, sharing with Conti the 1994 winning award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction, The 64th Annual Academy Awards.[3]
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