Al Schmitt

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Al Schmitt
Birth name Albert Schmitt
Born (1930-04-17) April 17, 1930 (age 94)
Brooklyn, New York
United States
Occupation(s) Recording engineer, record producer
Years active 1957–present
Labels Capitol Records
Associated acts
Website alschmittmusic.com

Albert Harry "Al" Schmitt is an American recording engineer and record producer. He has won 23 Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and others.

Biography

Early career

Schmitt grew up in New York City. After serving in the U.S. Navy he began working at Apex Recording Studios at the age of 19. In the late 1950s Schmitt moved to Los Angeles and became a staff engineer at Radio Recorders on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood. In the early 1960s he moved to RCA in Hollywood as a staff engineer.[1] While at RCA he engineered albums for Henry Mancini, Cal Tjader, Al Hirt, Rosemary Clooney, Liverpool Five, The Astronauts, Sam Cooke ("Bring It on Home to Me," "Cupid," "Another Saturday Night") in 1961. He also did a lot of motion-picture scoring work for Alex North and Elmer Bernstein. In addition, Schmitt worked with Jascha Heifetz's "Million Dollar Trio", which comprised Heifetz himself, Arthur Rubinstein on the piano, and Gregor Piatigorsky or Emanuel Feuermann on cello. Schmitt once stated that "Mr. Heifetz was very temperamental in the Studio." He has also stated that Heifetz would have angry fits during recording sessions.

From the mid-60s to present

In 1966 Schmitt left RCA and became an independent producer. He produced albums for Jefferson Airplane, Eddie Fisher, Glenn Yarborough, Jackson Browne and Neil Young. In the mid 70's he began spending more time engineering again, recording and mixing artists from Willy DeVille to Dr. John.

Other career highlights include engineering both Frank Sinatra Duets albums, Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company and some of Diana Krall's albums. Much of his work in the last few years has been with producer Tommy LiPuma. He has also recorded Sammy Davis, Jr., Natalie Cole, Thelonious Monk, Elvis Presley, Tony Bennett, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and many others.

Most recently, in 2014, Schmitt worked on Bob Dylan's album, Shadows in the Night, which was released on January 30, 2015.[2]

Capitol Records

Since he moved to Hollywood, Schmitt has almost exclusively worked at Capitol Studios, with occasional sessions at United Recording Studios and EastWest Studios, formerly Western Recording. He made an advertisement for AMS Neve's 88R console at Capitol's Studio A, which currently holds an 88R.[3]

Schmitt has also appeared on the online internet television series "Pensado's Place", hosted by Dave Pensado and Herb Trawick. During one of the segments he mentioned that his favorite microphone is the Neumann U 67 tube (valve) condenser microphone, and explained that he uses the microphone on numerous sources.[4]

Albums produced

Star on the Walk of Fame

In 2014, Schmitt was awarded a star on Hollywood's famous walk of fame by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. He was one of many including Daniel Radcliffe, Bob Kane, Bobby Flay, Seth MacFarlane, Kelly Ripa, Jim Parsons, Amy Poehler, Pitbull, Pharrell Williams, Larry Elder, and others.[5]

The star was placed on August 13, 2015.

Don Was, Joe Walsh, and President/CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Leron Gubler were speakers at Schmitt's Star Unveiling Ceremony.[6] During the Ceremony, Gubler declared that August 13 would be designated as 'Al Schmitt Day' in Hollywood. Although Natalie Cole and Paul McCartney were not able to attend the ceremony, both released statements that were read by Gubler at the ceremony.

Awards

During his career Al has recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums[7] and was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame in 1997, and received the Grammy Trustees Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. As a member of The Recording Academy's Los Angeles Chapter, Al served several terms on The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. He has won a total of 19 Grammy Awards, more than any other engineer or mixer. In addition he was awarded two Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 including Album of the Year. In 2005 he won five Grammys for his work on Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company including Album of the Year, setting the record most Grammys won by an engineer or mixer in one night. He was also the first person to win both the Grammy and Latin Grammy for Album of the Year.

The Schmitt-engineered song "Moon River" and its associated album won two Grammy awards in 1961 as well as an Academy Award for Best Song with its appearance in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Schmitt won his first Grammy in 1963 specifically for engineering the Hatari! soundtrack by Henry Mancini.

In June 2014, Schmitt won the Pensado Giant Award, which was awarded at the Pensado Awards at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, CA, hosted by Dave Pensado and Herb Trawick.[8]

In September 2014, Schmitt received an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music.[9]

Grammy Awards

List of Grammy Awards received by Al Schmitt[10]

Year Category Title Note
1962 Best Engineering Contribution – Other Than Novelty And Other Than Classical Hatari! Henry Mancini
1976 Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical Breezin' George Benson
1977 Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical Aja Steely Dan
1978 Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical "FM (No Static at All)" Steely Dan
1982 Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical Toto IV Toto
1991 Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical Unforgettable… with Love Natalie Cole
1996 Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical Q's Jook Joint Quincy Jones
1999 Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical When I Look in Your Eyes Diana Krall
2000[10] Album of the Year Amarte Es Un Placer Luis Miguel
Pop Album Amarte Es Un Placer Luis Miguel
2001 Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Look of Love Diana Krall
2002 Best Jazz Vocal Album Live in Paris Diana Krall
2004 Best Surround Sound Album Genius Loves Company Ray Charles
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Genius Loves Company Ray Charles
Best Pop Vocal Album Genius Loves Company Ray Charles
Album of the Year Genius Loves Company Ray Charles
Record of the Year "Here We Go Again" Norah Jones & Ray Charles
2006 Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group The Ultimate Adventure Chick Corea
2008 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Still Unforgettable Natalie Cole
2010 Best Jazz Vocal Album Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater
2012 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Kisses on the Bottom Paul McCartney

References

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External links

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