NEW YORK CITY, NY — Randall Keith Horton overcame adversity, growing up in the Roxbury/Dorchester section of Boston to become a musical scholar, composer, conductor and historian. From his early work with musical greats Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves, Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five, Horton soon found his greatest fulfillment, championing the Sacred Music of Duke Ellington and sharing his love of music as a knowledgeable historian. He created the American Music television series to highlight the accomplishments of American musicians, composers and scholars. He called attention to the works of the late folk singer-songwriter Kate Wolf by composing a choral tribute to her musical legacy, and for more than 43 years, championed the pioneering Sacred Music of Duke Ellington that has been largely overlooked and under appreciated.
After his parents’ divorce, Helen Taylor-Horton raised her four young children in Boston’s South End as a struggling single mother. But the low-income neighborhood had its advantages. It was a jazz mecca, with some of the country’s top clubs and musicians. Horton, surrounded by music and encouraged by his classically trained operatic mother, quickly learned to play the piano and compose his own music. His father, although never abandoning the family, was largely unavailable as he battled and overcame his own personal issues, ultimately becoming an immigration lawyer and the Assistant District Attorney of Boston’s Suffolk County at the time of his retirement.
In 1964, at the age of 22, providence led Mr. Horton to California and into the world of Duke Ellington. He attended Ellington’s first Sacred Concert in San Francisco in 1965, and several additional performances of the Ellington Orchestra that led to an invitation by Duke Ellington to meet up with his orchestra in Disneyland. Horton was directed to prepare an original composition and conduct the Ellington Orchestra in its performance after which Ellington hired Horton as his assistant conductor, composer and pianist. He traveled briefly with the band that at the time also included Ellington’s adult son Mercer.
After Ellington’s death in 1974, Horton was taped by G. Schirmer Publishing, Inc., with son Mercer Ellington’s blessing, to create the first and only full-length concerto gross orchestration of Ellington’s magnum opus, Black, Brown & Beige, a symphonic/big band tone poem subtitled “A Tone Parallel to the History of the American Negro.” In later years, Horton also concertized and performed the best of Ellington’s (three) Sacred Concerts at the direction of Ellington’s sister, Ruth Ellington-Boatwright. Horton’s personal connection with Duke Ellington and his family, coupled with his exhaustive work arranging, performing and championing his Sacred Music, uniquely position him as the world’s leading expert on these little known Ellington compositions.
Horton’s connection with Duke Ellington also helped pave the way for opportunities arranging and composing for some of the top pop music icons of the time. He was ultimately offered the musical directorship of The Supremes, but the fast-paced life of the commercial music industry was not a comfortable fit for Horton. He called upon the strong connection he felt with Ellington’s Sacred Music, opting instead for a career in musical directorship for churches and synagogues throughout California, Texas and New York. He expertly conducted symphonies, big bands and choirs in numerous performances of Ellington’s Sacred Concerts and Black, Brown & Beige and guest conducted the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, San Francisco Conservatory Symphony, Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and many church and university orchestras and choirs.
Randall Keith Horton also fed his life-long hunger for musical knowledge by studying music theory, composition, orchestration and conducting. He earned a Masters of Arts degree in Music Theory from Queens College, a Masters of Science degree in Media Studies from Brooklyn College and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Television production fro City University of New York (CUNY). The latter two degrees helped Horton launch and host the successful American Music series on PBS affiliate KRCB-TV in the northern San Francisco area. The on-going series showcases the artistry, music and personal histories of noteworthy American composers, musicians and scholars. Other seminal projects by Horton include: writing and conducting the big band arrangement for the renowned gospel music leader Walter Hawkin’s Grammy-nominated gospel album Love Live IV and writing and arranging a choral tribute to legendary folk singer/songwriter Kate Wolf which is the title track on her soon-to-be-released
“Unfinished Life, Dreams, Friendships and Farewells” CD.
Horton is a teacher and historian at heart, continually sharing his love and knowledge of music as a conductor, faculty member, consultant and lecturers at universities and societies across the country. He is a devoted musician, historian, husband and father, who resides in New York City with his wife of 18 years, Andrea. For additional information on Mr. Horton and his American Music TV series, please visit www.RandallKeithHorton.com and www.AmericanMusicTV.org.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON RANDALL KEITH HORTON