Death of triple-Grammy British composer
mainWe have notified of the death, aged 89, of the prodigiously successful Jeremy Lubbock, an arranger and songwriter, who won three Grammys in a long career working with David Foster.
Among the stars he kept in tune were Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, and the late Ray Charles and Michael Jackson.
Classically trained, he never strayed far from his roots.
We send condlences to Jeremy’s brother, the conductor John Lubbock.
Here’s a tribute in London Jazz News.
A great legend has passed. RIP Jeremy Lubbock. If you have a favorite pop song recording, chances are Jeremy Lubbock is part of its creation. His brother is the fabulous conductor, John. Jeremy was a dear friend, who would always say, ‘Dear boy’ just before the thought intended. Here’s how our classical worlds collided:
In 2003, David Foster invited me to attend a string session for one of his upcoming recordings. Some of the great arrangers were there, conducting the string recording session for their arrangement of charts. Jeremy Lubbock was one of these legendary arrangers. I knew his name from many recordings, especially the Barbra Streisand recordings. I felt like I was in the room with royalty. Well, I was. David said, ‘If you can get Jeremy to write something for you, you’ll have something very special’. That was but a dream. When David introduced us, the first thing Jeremy said was, ‘Can you play Rach 3, boy?’ I said, ‘Yes’. he said, ‘Send it to me’. I did. After waiting several weeks, I called him and was unsure what to expect in a response. he said, ‘I listened to your Rach 3, and you know what? You nailed it!’ He said, ‘I’m going to compose a piece for you, for piano and strings. I love Rachmaninoff, so something lush and with a jazz language’. The result is ‘Moods’. The one and only opportunity I had to premiere this beautiful composition was with the Moravian College orchestra. Few of Jeremy’s closest circle friends and colleagues know this exists. For everyone about to click this link, I hope you enjoy it. RIP, dear friend. https://youtu.be/RwZrbBWbaF8
In Jeremy’s words:
“The man behind the beautiful arrangements for Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, and the late Ray Charles and Michael Jackson, chooses world renowned pianist, Jeffrey Biegel as he turns his craft to the
concert hall with a new, eclectic work for solo piano and string orchestra entitled,’Moods’.”
Cherished memory now:
Dear Jeffrey,
Congratulations on your Doctorate!!!
And I wish you the very best for your premier performance of “Moods”. Very exciting for me, but I only wish I was going to be there. By all means do a live stream of the proceedings. I would love to see it!!!!!!!!
All the best,
Jeremy
There are, and have been, many extraordinary arrangers and orchestrators we owe a debt beyond the usual platitudes and recognition for their supreme gifts: Salinger, Legrand, Riddle etc. Mr. Lubbock belongs to that pantheon. His passing leaves an enormous hole in the hearts of so many contemporary musicians whose admiration for his craft was observed by being held spellbound in awe of the sound worlds he could evoke and his luminous control of the orchestra. Really, really sad news. Vale.
Dear Mr. Purcell,
Thank you for your beautifully composed tribute.
I had the honor, joy and privilege of being Jeremy’s wife and partner for 20 yrs.
Stanley Myers arranged our meeting right after he heard me playing solo in London 1988 and suggested that I should fly out to Los Angeles. Jeremy said, like he, there was no career to be had in London and that I should consider moving to Hollywood. When I heard Al Jarreau singing ‘Not Like This’ a few years prior it affected me so profoundly that I made a most curious vow to myself: I must marry the composer of this music, these harmonies, these lyrics – if it’s a man. And, with divine guidance, it came to pass!
There is so much to say about living, loving & working with a man whose musical standards were dictated by and accessed from the highest of spiritual realms and whose laser-beam focus afforded him the self-effacing comment “…I don’t know where it comes from…it just comes down the pipe”.
As a trained architect he used the enclosing of space to design a structure. In the same vein he used silence as the backdrop to his compositions and arranging. “No extraneous notes” and “there’s no substitute for right” were his most memorable mottos. Last but not least, “God is in the details”.
I distinctly remember the day he received a letter from the Vatican complimenting him on his notation as the most legible and most elegant in the entire collection of handwritten scores in the Vatican’s archive – from Palestrina to Bach to the present day.
I have come to terms with his passing knowing that he fulfilled his destiny here on earth and with his leaving us a very rich musical legacy for the upliftment of humanity’s collective soul.