Book review: John Altman - Hidden Man: My Many Musical Lives.

Hidden Man, huh? Well, no longer will this be the case as the remarkably versatile and talented John Altman outlines a potted history of jazz and popular music as well as film scores from 1970 to the present day. In both the UK and USA he was there as a saxophonist, arranger, composer, conductor and producer. His prodigious memory and healthy photo archive provide the reader with an entertaining and fascinating collection of anecdotes of the behind the scenes' antics therein.

To attempt to list the unending names of the great and the good that Altman has played and collaborated with would be fruitless. As the cliché goes, it would be much easier and more economical to list the few that he has NOT been involved with. As this review is for a  jazz publication it might be wiser to the highlight the many jazz names that this prominent polymath knew and worked with. These include Quincy Jones (of whom a picture of him and Altman feature on the top of John's F/b home page), Benny Carter, Plas Johnson, Dudley Moore, Chet Baker, Amy Winehouse and...(at a stretch) Van Morrison. All of whom bear heartwarming and lovingly told tales of interactions with the author.

Not to be overlooked is that Altman is the nephew of both Sid and Woolf Phillips - two renowned bandleaders and musical directors in the UK during the 2nd half of the 20th Century. His cousin is Simon Phillips, an internationally recognised session and rock drummer who boasts appearances with Toto, The Who, Peter Gabriel, Frank Zappa and Gil Evans, amongst many luminous others. One cannot imagine a more successful and noteworthy UK music biz dynasty. It's no surprise that Altman's many talents and skills in so many different musical arenas are a product from his early musical years amongst this lot.

Altman formed his big band in 1985 and has performed with it in both London and LA - his musical home - frequently to this day. The repertoire consists of an equal mix of his original pieces and jazz standards. Having heard the band on a few occasions I can say that  I was  particularly delighted with his treatments of Clifford Brown's Joyspring and Mario Bauza's  Mambo Inn. Both of which show great respect for the stylistic idiom peppered with a healthy dash of John Altman. Plus, his longtime copyist, Leytonstone based tubist and bassist Graham Read, remains on his payroll today as both lead tubist and chief copyist. Such devotion and consistency, indeed.

As the tumult of the pandemic appears to be abating do keep an eye out for the John Altman Big Band who have been known to  appear annually at a pub in NE London. If so, the author will be the guy with the soprano saxophone hanging from his neck throughout the entire gig as well as conducting  and playing solos along with telling many stories - quite a few of which are eloquently and endearingly included in Hidden Man.

John Altman, like Salmon Rushdie, is no longer hiding. The fatwa has now been lifted. Read Hidden Man sharpish to experience the Forrest Gump of popular music's take on a lengthy and distinguished career. And it ain't over yet (especially if you can toddle  along to his next big band gig...) Frank Griffith

SBN 10: 1800501544 / ISBN 13: 9781800501546 Published by EQUINOX PUBLISHING ACADEMIC, 2022