Jay Blackton
Jay Blackton (March 25, 1909 – January 8, 1994) was an American composer and conductor. In 1956 he won an Academy Award in the category Best Scoring of a Musical Picture for the film Oklahoma! and was also nominated for Guys and Dolls. He was the music director, orchestrator or arranger for more than 25 Broadway productions and national tours. Born Jay Schwartzdorf in New York City, he studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School. He began his career in opera, as an assistant conductor at New York Opera Comique and then as the conductor at St. Louis Municipal Opera from 1937 to 1942. In 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein hired him to orchestrate and conduct Oklahoma! on Broadway, and he followed this engagement as music director and often orchestrator or arranger of such musicals as Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Madam, Guys and Dolls, Hello, Dolly! and George M!. In addition, he toured with Bob Hope and others. Blackton died in January 1994 of heart failure at the Granada Hills Community Hospital in Granada Hills, California, at the age of 84. |
Birth and Death Data: Born New York City (most populous city in the United States), Died January 8, 1994 (Los Angeles (seat of Los Angeles County, and largest city in California, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1943 - 1955
Roles Represented in DAHR: conductor, leader, arranger
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 59 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | D4RB-0700 | 10-in. | 11/15/1944 | I wonder as I wander | Jay Blackton ; Gladys Swarthout ; Victor Orchestra | Mezzo-soprano solo, with mixed vocal chorus and orchestra | conductor | |
| Victor | D4RB-0701 | 10-in. | 11/15/1944 | Beat out dat rhythm on a drum | Jay Blackton ; Gladys Swarthout | Mezzo-soprano solo, with mixed vocal chorus and orchestra | conductor | |
| Victor | D4RB-0702 | 10-in. | 11/15/1944 | Right as the rain | Jay Blackton ; Gladys Swarthout | Mezzo-soprano solo, with mixed vocal chorus and orchestra | conductor | |
| Victor | D5RC-1362 | 12-in. | 9/7/1945 | Vilia | Jay Blackton ; Eleanor Steber | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | conductor | |
| Victor | D6RC-5028 | 12-in. | 1/15/1946 | Summertime | Jay Blackton ; Eleanor Steber | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | conductor | |
| Decca | 71454 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | Oklahoma overture | Orchestra (unidentified; Decca Records) | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71455 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | Oh what a beautiful morning (Act 2-Scene 2) | Alfred Drake | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71456 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | Pore Jud is daid (Act 1-Scene 1) | Howard Da Silva ; Alfred Drake | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71457 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | I can't say no (Act 1-Scene 2) | Celeste Holm | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71458 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | All or nothin' | Lee Dixon ; Celeste Holm | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71459 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | The surrey with the fringe on top (Act 2-Scene 1) | Alfred Drake | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71474 | 10-in. | 10/25/1943 | Oklahoma! (Act 1-Scene 1) | Oklahoma Boys, The | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71475 | 10-in. | 10/25/1943 | Kansas City (Act 1-Scene 3) | Oklahoma Boys, The | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71476 | 10-in. | 10/25/1943 | Finale (Oh what a beautiful mornin' ; People will say we're in love) | Oklahoma Boys, The | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71477 | 10-in. | 10/25/1943 | People will say we're in love | Oklahoma Boys, The | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71478 | 10-in. | 10/25/1943 | Many a new day (Act 1-Scene 1) | Oklahoma Boys, The | conductor | ||
| Decca | 71479 | 10-in. | 10/25/1943 | Out of my dreams (Act 1-Scene 1) | Oklahoma Boys, The | conductor | ||
| Decca | 72169 | 10-in. | 5/25/1944 | It's a scandal | Joseph Buloff | conductor | ||
| Decca | 72170 | 10-in. | 5/25/1944 | The farmer and the cowman, part 1 | Betty Garde ; Ralph Riggs | conductor | ||
| Decca | 72171 | 10-in. | 5/25/1944 | The farmer and the cowman, part 2 | Betty Garde ; Ralph Riggs | conductor | ||
| Decca | 72172 | 10-in. | 5/25/1944 | Lonely room | Alfred Drake | conductor | ||
| Decca | 73139 | 10-in. | 11/16/1945 | When you're pretty and the world is fair | Jay Blackton | conductor | ||
| Decca | 73140 | 10-in. | 11/16/1945 | The streets of New York | Wilbur Evans | conductor | ||
| Decca | 73141 | 10-in. | 11/16/1945 | Every day's ladies' day with me | Wilbur Evans | conductor | ||
| Decca | 73153 | 10-in. | 11/23/1945 | Moonbeams | Eileen Farrell | conductor |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Blackton, Jay," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105863.
Blackton, Jay. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105863.
"Blackton, Jay." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Jay Blackton
Discogs: Jay Blackton
Apple Music: Jay Blackton
IMDb: Jay Blackton
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Blackton, Jay, 1909-1994 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n88100606
Wikidata: Jay Blackton - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3807499
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/11394758
MusicBrainz: Jay Blackton - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6f4830ba-8e8c-4b3a-b26a-b0a47c3ab80e
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