Bill Fulton arranger – “Another Place and Time”
Bill Fulton Arranger for Alan Paul’s Another Place and Time
Bill Fulton arranger One Morning in May for Alan Paul’s 2003 solo album Another Place and Time. Fulton arranged the Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish standard for a recording featuring a large Los Angeles studio orchestra. Dennis Farias is featured on flugelhorn.
Another Place and Time was the first solo album by Alan Paul, best known as a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. The ambitious project combined classic American popular songs, jazz, swing and orchestral pop, with arrangements by several prominent Los Angeles arrangers and an extensive roster of studio musicians.
“One Morning in May”
Bill Fulton contributed the arrangement of “One Morning in May,” which appears as track three on the album. Hoagy Carmichael composed the song, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish.
Fulton’s arrangement was recorded at the historic Capitol Studio A in Hollywood. Dennis Farias played the featured flugelhorn solo, while the session included strings, woodwinds, French horns, brass and rhythm section.
Bill Fulton’s Recollections of the Arrangement
Fulton remembers his work on “One Morning in May” as both rewarding and, at one point, unexpectedly labor-intensive. The song was initially provided to him in the wrong key. Fulton had already completed a first version of the arrangement and therefore had to rewrite it in the correct key.
This happened during a period when Fulton still wrote his arrangements by hand in pencil on manuscript paper rather than using music notation software. Changing the key consequently involved considerably more work than transposing a completed computer score. Nevertheless, Fulton completed the new version, the recording went well, and he remains very fond of the resulting arrangement and the opportunity to contribute to the album.
A Collaboration Between Alan Paul and Peermusic
Another Place and Time grew out of a collaboration between Alan Paul and Peermusic. Paul thanked Peermusic in the original album booklet for its trust and support, specifically acknowledging Kathy Spanberger, Ralph Peer II and Brady L. Benton. Benton served as executive producer and, according to Paul’s liner notes, originated the idea for the project.
Alan Paul and David Snyder produced the album together. Snyder also contributed extensively as an arranger and orchestrator and conducted the orchestra. Other arrangers represented on the recording include John Rodby and Yaron Gershovsky, along with Bill Fulton’s arrangement of “One Morning in May.”
An Unusual Release History
The album appears to have followed an unusual path to the public. According to published information about the release, Another Place and Time was originally made available through the Peermusic catalog to music supervisors, advertising agencies and production companies for potential synchronization use in film, television and new media.
The Manhattan Transfer fan discography also identifies the Peermusic CD as a special limited-edition release available through The Manhattan Transfer Fan Club website. The recording subsequently became available to the general public and can now be found through digital music services.
This unusual history may help explain why Another Place and Time is not as widely known as its production scale might suggest. It was far from a small recording project. The album employed orchestra, big band and rhythm-section configurations and brought together many accomplished Los Angeles studio musicians.
Recording at Capitol Studio A
Several tracks, including Fulton’s “One Morning in May,” were recorded at Capitol Studio A in Hollywood. Other tracks recorded there included “Stardust,” “I Get Along Without You Very Well,” “Time Was” and the title track, “Another Place and Time.”
Bruce Dukov served as concertmaster. The orchestra included violinists, violists, cellists, contrabass, flute, oboe, clarinets, saxophones, French horns, trumpets, bass trombone, harp and percussion in addition to the rhythm section.
Among the musicians credited throughout the album are Bruce Dukov, Wayne Bergeron, Pete Christlieb, Brandon Fields, John Yoakum, Brian Scanlon, John Rodby, Pat Kelley, Mike Finnigan, Richie Goods and many other Los Angeles recording musicians.
Additional sessions took place at Castle Oaks Studio A in Calabasas. The album credits state that vocals were recorded live with the orchestra at Capitol and Castle Oaks Studios in October 2002, with additional vocal recording completed at WaterSound Studio in Studio City the following month.
Production and Recording
Alan Paul and David Snyder produced Another Place and Time, with Brady L. Benton as executive producer. Michael Aarvold recorded, mixed and mastered the album, with additional recording by Michael E. “Hutch” Hutchinson.
The project used 24-track analog recording with Dolby SR. The album was subsequently mixed and mastered in Digidesign Pro Tools HD. The combination of traditional large-ensemble recording and contemporary digital production helped support the album’s concept of revisiting the sound and atmosphere of classic vocal recordings.
Another Place and Time Track Listing
- Stardust
- Alright, Okay, You Win
- One Morning in May – arranged by Bill Fulton
- How Little We Know
- I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)
- You’re Nobody ’Til Somebody Loves You
- Time Was – with Three Hits
- Baia
- Everything’s Made for Love – duet with Janis Siegel
- Can’t Get Out of This Mood
- Cherry
- The Rumba Jumps
- Adios – with Three Hits & A Miss
- I’m a Fool to Care
- Another Place and Time
Janis Siegel and Other Guest Performers
Alan Paul’s Manhattan Transfer colleague Janis Siegel joined him for a duet on “Everything’s Made for Love.” Vocal group Three Hits also appeared on “Time Was,” while Three Hits & A Miss joined Paul for “Adios.”
The title track was a new song by Michel Legrand, Rick Carnes and Marc Lauren. Along with standards associated with Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer and other classic songwriters, the new composition helped connect the album’s traditional musical setting with newly written material.
Crossing Paths Again with Alan Paul
Bill Fulton crossed paths with Alan Paul again several years after Another Place and Time. Both participated in the L.A. Musical Artists Uniting to HELP JAPAN Benefit Concert at The Blue Whale in Los Angeles on March 19, 2011.
When Fulton spoke with Paul at the event, Paul did not appear to recall their earlier connection. Fulton had particularly enjoyed arranging “One Morning in May” and remembers wishing that the album had led to an opportunity to work with Paul again.
Fulton remains fond of the project and his contribution to the album. “One Morning in May” provided an opportunity to arrange a classic Hoagy Carmichael song for Alan Paul and a first-rate Los Angeles studio orchestra, with Dennis Farias featured on flugelhorn.
Read more about the event on Fulton’s L.A. Musical Artists Uniting to HELP JAPAN Benefit Concert page.
Bill Fulton Discography Credit
Another Place and Time represents one of Bill Fulton’s recorded arranging credits from the early 2000s. His contribution, “One Morning in May,” places his work alongside arrangements and orchestrations by David Snyder, John Rodby, Yaron Gershovsky and Alan Paul on a substantial orchestral vocal-jazz production.
Explore additional recordings featuring Fulton as an arranger, pianist, composer, orchestrator and producer in the Bill Fulton discography and album credits.
Additional information about Alan Paul and Another Place and Time can be found at All About Jazz. The album is also available through Apple Music.
Year: 2003Role: arranger
Album: Another Place and Time
Title: One Morning In May
Artist: Alan Paul
Release label: Peer-southern Productions
Purchase links: Amazon, iTunes
