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Manns Among Men

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Inexplicably, today is the birthday of two famous men named Mann – Theater mogul and philanthropist Ted Mann in Wishek North Dakota in 1916, and hip flutist Herbie Mann in Brooklyn, in 1930.

Both Mann men made something big out of rather thin soup. Through talent and timing Ted Mann is known today in the Twin Cities for having his name on a performance space at the University of Minnesota – the Ted Mann Concert Hall. Mann got his start as a University of Minnesota student when he rented the struggling Selby Theater in St. Paul for $100 per month and proceeded to return it to financial health by doing all the booking, ticket selling, popcorn making, etc. by himself. His empire expanded to 25 theaters across Minnesota, and later to Southern California where he made a fortune. At one time he owned Graumann’s Chinese Theater, renaming it Mann’s Chinese Theater, of course. Late in life is rumored to have said about his journey, “Not bad for a sod kicker from the sticks.”

And if that’s not strange enough, Herbie Mann became a star playing jazz on the flute – an achievement that no longer seems possible in an American music scene dominated by self-indulgent pop vocalists. The flute isn’t loud enough or dangerous enough to get much attention today. Still, you have to admit this looks (and sounds) pretty cool.

http://youtu.be/j4xY1RFNsBU

If you were granted the ability to successfully launch any business venture, or become a star while playing any musical instrument, what would you choose?

53 thoughts on “Manns Among Men”

      1. george benson is a wonderful jazz guitarist who canme out with this tune an masquarade in the early 70’s i was so taken with them i went out and bought the album only to discover goerge doesnt sing. these two songs are the exception to the rule. when you listen to his singing it sounds like he is a guitarist who sings to get the words in. he is not bad but the voice sounds like a guitar inmitation instead of being soulful of from an inner voice. he does guitar lick out of his mouth even when singing words instead of scat. i love his scat by the way.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpEfAV1T5b0

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  3. Good morning. I don’t know if I would even want to be a business man. I tried to operate my own business and wasn’t good at that. I admire people who are good business men, but that’s not for me. I am also not good a music, but I would like doing that if I could. Of course, I’ve never been a musician so I don’t know from experience if I would like it. I’m sure I would. Singing would be great and I would like to accompany myself on the piano or another instrument.

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    1. It is a lot of work. I still cannot believe I am good at it. So far the most difficult part is finding reliable support people who can corral a bunch of ADD psychotherapists who are good at people and really, really, really, really bad at details and numbers.

      And I mean really bad. The check book register is just a theoretical concept.

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      1. I should say business women as well as business men.

        I wasn’t too bad at managing other people in a business setting. It was taking care of the things I needed to do to manage what I was doing that gave me trouble. Keeping things in order and deciding what to do to build my business were things that I didn’t do well.

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  4. Great duo
    I worked for Ted and loved herbie
    On broadway by George benson was also a favorite in the 70’s
    I would love to sing for my supper but…
    I have a business idea or two on the incubator right now
    One; a groupon idea where non profits are the focus and another regarding an idea in my catalog if stuff to get to with a variation on seating for couches and chairs
    It keeps me going
    Just ordered led aquarium lights and booked the .com name to get into that biz
    And then there are hats……
    Off to my hat guy to talk hats and start my Tuesday by transforming little beat up pieces of grandpas hand me down into the next Internet dream come true
    My damn lap top appears to be toast
    I’m getting better at typing on the phone Actually my daughter pointed out that you can talk into the phone and not bother typing today see voice technology is such that maybe I can stop typing altogether now I don’t have to worry about hosting such short entries on the on the trail seal later that last little part was done with the microphone because I reminded myself

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  6. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    I would love to have a vibrant singing voice, rich and low, like Ann Reed. The power of a great singer is to rivet then inspire.

    Recently we went to “The Women of Red House” Concert at O’Shaunessy. It was magnificent–Claudia Schmit, Lucy Kaplansky, and Heather Masse.

    Wow

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  7. Wishek is a little town in the area southeast of Bismarck known for its Germans from Russia settlers (just like Lawrence Welk’s family in Strasburg). Its inhabitants, like other German Russians in the area, have a reputation for being somewhat suspicious of outsiders (people from anywhere else in ND) and keep themselves behind the “Saurkraut Curtain”. An acquiantence of mine from Wishek told me some sage advice given her by a Wishek elder about the outside world “You haf to pe on your toas when you are in Pismarck”.

    I’d choose to be a concert pianiist.

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  8. I was going to be the next (or first) great white jazz trumpet player from Minnesota when I went off to the University of Miami in 1973 (yes, FLORIDA’s Miami–amazing how almost everyone assumes Miami, Ohio, as if it’s inconceivable for a Minnesotan to go any farther south than St. Louis.)

    Of course, that little experiment didn’t work out for a variety of reasons, chief among them being I am not physically structured to play the trumpet for the long hours required to be a professional. Translation: am embouchere ill-suited for the task of playing High C and above for hours at a time.

    Business-wise, I’ve always thought it would be cool to be a music producer, or run a cozy little jazz club like the Dakota.

    Chris in Owatonna

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      1. That’s a great idea, tim. It’s a long haul to DT Mpls. to get to the Dakota. Something in Burnsville or another southern town would be much easier for me. But, I’m grateful enough for the Dakota. Wish I could find the time and money to go once or twice a week.

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  9. Morning all! I don’t think I’d enjoy being famous – I don’t really need that kind of attention and I would SO miss my privacy. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’d like to be a business owner either. Many business owners that I know are completely wrapped up in their work, spend way too many hours dealing w/ said business. Sad to say, I could easily fall into the trap and also the trap of feeling that no one else can do what I do….. nasty.

    Suppose that means no fortune for me…. rats.

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    2. I’m with you, VS. I have No Desire Whatsoever to be famous, in fact, the idea gives me the creeps. Don’t want to be a business owner, either.

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  10. Sorry to be late to the party. Been a tough day here. I have a house guest who threw a fit last night and spread the contents of two BIG wastebaskets all over the house. Then I lost internet service. Then I lost my phone, which is still dead.

    If I could be a musical star, I’d like to be Emmylou Harris. I adore her musicianship, her humility and her ability to play well with others. But that is more than a “stretch of the imagination.” I should pick a male star to emulate. Which leads me to this guy . . . but first a joke, which I hope strikes nobody as sacrilegious:.

    Jesus is talking to an angel in heaven. He says, “God is learning guitar, and it is driving us all crazy.”
    The angel says, “Well, how bad can he be? I’d guess he plays like God.”
    Jesus says, “Oh, he does, he does!. But he keeps trying to play like Mark Knopfler!”

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    1. I certainly hope your houseguest was not of the human race… otherwise they need to be slapped around some!

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      1. You are welcome to come over to do some slapping. My guest is a 90-pound black Labrador who is going nuts because is homesick and she knows “home” is RIGHT NEXT DOOR! Last night when I was trying to fall asleep I heard ominous sounds from the front of the house. I knew I would get up to find my home partially destroyed, but I needed sleep so badly I went with it. She coulda done a lot worse. And probably will, tonight.

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        1. Somehow I thought it was an animal, although I was thinking squirrel. How long does will you be hosting homesick pup?

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        2. hey steve im leaving in a couple of weeks i need a sitter for my four doags two cats and 5 fish tanks. what do you say. the fish are almost no trouble

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      2. I had a similar experience with a couple of guys from high school (why did I Confirm when I could hardly remember who they were?). After one really nasty, over the top post from each in the same week, I hit “Unfriend”. They say the person doesn’t know, but I imagine they figure it out eventually if they’re paying attention.

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  11. Completely OT, but I need advice.

    Two years ago when I wrote the blog about the big tree and the matchbox cars, I thought maybe I could find that childhood friend on Facebook. Found him, sent a message, never heard from him. Fast forward two years and he “found” my message and has friended me. Unfortunately while we were compatible as 5-year olds, his current political/religious views are so far from mine that seeing some of his posts on Facebook is giving me the heebie-jeebies. But for some reason I feel a little guilty just unfriending him. I need voices of reason to tell me that I can unfriend him or block him and it’s not that big a deal…..

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    1. You don’t need to unfriend him to block his messages, vs. I’ll send you an email on how to do it, it’s not a big deal. I have done the same thing and for a similar reason.

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      1. Ha ha. I’m guessing, based on his vitriolic posts, that he would not laugh if he read this.

        It’s actually been a little disturbing… not sure why I would make an assumption that a friend I knew when I was five would think the same way I do. But I clearly did have that assumption buried somewhere in my subconscious because it’s been startling to say the least.

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        2. PJ – I read that as “wide asses” and thought, well, why wouldn’t they be allowed here? ha, ha.

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        3. Well, Edith, there are certainly some of us who would fit that description, and come to think of it, the other one as well.

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    4. Woops, posting this again, cause the first time I put it ectopically under Steve’s.

      I had a similar experience with a couple of guys from high school (why did I Confirm when I could hardly remember who they were?). After one really nasty, over the top post from each in the same week, I hit “Unfriend”. They say the person doesn’t know, but I imagine they figure it out eventually if they’re paying attention.

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    5. Yes, I think there is a way to take a person off your friends list without unfriending them. It was suggested to me that I could do that for a person I knew from long ago who was filling up my Facebook with a large number of messages that were way over the top due to the excessive number of them and the far out content.

      This guy had been a good friend and was always a little crazy. I did unfriend him, but I would have done whatever it is I could have done to get him off my friend list without unfriending him if I had know about that before I unfriended him. I am not much of a facebook friend myself because I hardly ever do anything there except read the posts of a few people and groups that I follow.

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  13. No launching, but I would like to have a little book business again if I could be, say, the manager, not the owner. In fact, I’d just as soon be “staff” and not have input on the book we sell,; but not have to be the “last word” on all the decisions. I join, apparently, scores of other Baboons who do not want the headaches (and loss of free time) that go with owning a business!

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