Russell Garcia / Frank Comstock

West Coast jazz arranger and composer Russell Garcia was born April 12, 1916, in Oakland, CA. A product of San Francisco State University, he later studied composition under Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco before mounting a professional career as an arranger, collaborating with bandleaders Horace Heidt and Al Donahue. After settling in Los Angeles, Garcia worked as a composer and conductor on the Ronald Reagan-hosted radio show This Is America. After the program ended, he tenured for two years as a staff arranger with NBC Radio, followed by a stint teaching at Hollywood's Westlake School of Music, where his students included jazzmen Bill Holman, Bob Graettinger, and Gene Puerling. (Garcia later transformed his curriculum into a book, The Professional Arranger.) With 1946's My Dog Shep, Garcia began composing and arranging for feature films. Henry Mancini later tapped him to work on The...

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Russell Garcia / Frank Comstock Albums

1 record