Jack of the trumpeting trade

Paul Saitowitz

If a guy refers to Henry Mancini as “Hank,” he either thinks he’s

being funny or he’s just plain cool. Jack Sheldon played trumpet in

the original recording of Mancini’s “Pink Panther;” his gruff but

velvety speaking voice sounds like an old-school DJ who’s just taken

a shot of whiskey; he used to hang with Dizzy Gillespie; and he does

indeed call Mancini “Hank.”

It’s pretty safe to say he’s cool.

Sheldon grew up on the East Coast and was playing clubs by the

time he was 15. He won a scholarship to study at a prestigious music

school in Bloomfield, Mich., in high school and then ended up in the

Air Force, where he honed his chops playing in the United States Air

Force Band.

A huge fan of Gillespie, he would hang around at venues the

trumpeter was scheduled to play at hours before the show began and

ask him to get him in. Pretty brazen for a young trumpeter, but

Gillespie was a driving force in Sheldon’s passion to play.

“I used to just try to hang around him, and he wound up getting me

into a lot of shows,” Sheldon said. “Dizzy was just amazing, the best

trumpet player I ever saw. He could make sounds come out that just

didn’t seem possible ... no one else could make those sounds. He

created a style that’s been copied by everyone.”

Sheldon would eventually grow to become a peer of Gillespie’s and

also play with the likes of jazz greats Benny Goodman, Dexter Gordon

and Stan Kenton. Playing alongside people he idolized was obviously

surreal, but he belonged in their company.

“I just let my playing speak for itself, and if you play good,

they love you ... and if you don’t, they hate you,” he said.

His off-the-cuff monologues between numbers, combined with his

jolly, fat-guy appearance and virtuosic musical abilities, landed him

a spot as music director/sidekick on “The Merv Griffin Show” for two

decades. Being funny, talented and cool made him a natural for the

small screen.

“That was just a great time,” he said. “We’d start at 4 [p.m.] and

be done by 8. I worked with and met so many great people during that

time.”

He’s maintained a TV presence over the years, mainly doing

voice-over work on shows like “The Simpsons” and “The Family Guy.” He

also handled the vocals on cultish Schoolhouse Rock favorites

“Conjunction Junction” and “Just a Bill.”

In his younger days, Sheldon -- who has been named Playboy

International Artist of the Year five times -- vigorously toured the

world, but at 72 he prefers to stay closer to home. He plays a

regular gig once a week at a club in Glendale, does a few dates

throughout California, but often turns down opportunities to play

elsewhere.

“I love playing live, the spontaneity of it all, and the instant

gratification that it delivers is why I play,” he said. “It really is

a thrill.”

Catch Sheldon on Nov. 12 and 13 at Founders Hall at the Orange

County Performing Arts Center.