Axel Stordahl

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Axel Stordahl (actually Odd Stordahl ; born August 8, 1913 on Staten Island , New York , † August 30, 1963 in Encino , California ) was an American trumpeter , arranger and band leader , who was mainly due to his many years of collaboration with the boy Frank Sinatra became known.

Life

Stordahl, the son of Norwegian immigrants, began his career in the 1930s as a trumpeter and arranger in various smaller orchestras before he was hired by Tommy Dorsey in 1935 , who soon made him his main arranger. His charts went particularly well with the voice of Frank Sinatra , who joined Dorsey as a singer in January 1940 and had his first number 1 hit a few months later with Stordahl's I'll Never Smile Again .

In January 1942, Stordahl arranged Sinatra's first solo recordings (four pieces that came out on the RCA sub-label Bluebird), and when Sinatra left the Dorsey band seven months later to start his solo career, Stordahl went with him. Of the nearly 300 recordings that Sinatra made for Columbia in 1943–1952 , about three quarters were arranged by Stordahl; this also includes Sinatra's first concept album, The Voice Of Frank Sinatra (1946). He also worked in the 1940s as an arranger and orchestra conductor on hundreds of Sinatra radio shows, in some of Sinatra's first music films and in Sinatra's first own television show (1950-1952).

Stordahl was one of the first arrangers who tailored their arrangements entirely to a specific vocalist, and his string-saturated orchestrations, characterized by restrained rhythm, were the basis for the romantic sound with which Sinatra caused a sensation in the forties and became a world star. Sinatra's later companion, Don Costa , summarized it with the words that Stordahl brought "the pop song into modern music history".

Stordahl also composed a number of songs himself, of which Day By Day is probably the best known.

When Sinatra moved to Capitol in 1953 , Stordahl again took over the orchestral accompaniment for the first session in early April, before Sinatra then got together with Nelson Riddle in late April . Stordahl, who married the singer June Hutton in 1951 , worked for Bing Crosby , Dean Martin , Dinah Shore , Peggy Lee and Doris Day, among others, in addition to his wife . In addition, he also released some instrumental albums under his own name.

When Sinatra hired him again as the arranger for his last Capitol album Point Of No Return in the fall of 1961 , Stordahl was already terminally ill with cancer. Almost two years later, at the age of 50, he succumbed to his illness.

Discography

Albums under your own name

  • The Lure Of The Blue Mediterranean (Decca, 1959)
  • Jasmin And Jade (Dot, 1960)
  • The Magic Islands Revisited (Decca, 1961)
  • Guitars Around The World (Decca, 1963)

Albums with Frank Sinatra

  • The Voice Of Frank Sinatra (Columbia, released 1946)
  • Songs By Sinatra (Columbia, 1947)
  • Christmas Songs By Sinatra (Columbia, 1948)
  • Frankly Sentimental (Columbia, 1949)
  • Dedicated To You (Columbia, 1950)
  • Point Of No Return (Capitol, 1962)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Stordahl, Axel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stordahl, Odd (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American trumpeter, arranger and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Staten Island , New York , USA
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 1963
Place of death Encino , California , USA