Today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit takes a fresh look at a man we’ve branded a “quiet giant of postwar pop” the late great composer, conductor and arranger Nelson Riddle, the man who created what became the signature sounds for both Sinatra and Nat King Cole (while working on some pretty classic stuff by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland, to Linda Ronstadt and Batman).
This Oscar/ Emmy/ Grammy-winning linchpin of the entertainment business was also a man with a connection to the greater Red Bank orbit (he was in the first graduating class at Rumson-Fair Haven High School). As six of his children prepare to stage a weekend of orchestral tribute concerts at Tim McLoones space-age Supper Club in Asbury Park, we’re pleased to bring you an interview with daughter Rosemary Acerra, a former Red Bank resident, in which she talks about famous family friends, favorite milestones from a fantastic career, and the ways in which the legacy of Nelson Riddle moves forward into the future.
It’s all here, along with more pure data than a box-set’s worth of TNG reruns, in Red Bank oRBit (My Kind of Town)!