Oscar Levant
Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906 - August 14, 1972) was an American jazz composer, conductor and pianist. He composed music for many Hollywood films and also had acting roles in musical films like An American in Paris (1951) and The Band Wagon (1953). He performed and recorded many classical works too. Influenced by Arnold Schoenberg, Levant also composed more artistic music.
Levant was known for his humorous side and reached wider fame by appearing as a panel member in the radio game shows Information Please (1938-1951), Who Said That? (1948-1955) and as a sidekick pianist to singer Al Jolson in Kraft Music Hall (1933-1949). He also appeared on many TV talkshows as comic relief and also hosted his own TV show, The Oscar Levant Show (1958-1960).
Frank Zappa
In The Real Frank Zappa Book, Frank Zappa included a quote by Oscar Levant from his 1942 book A Smattering of Ignorance: "I have found, in my varied experience as a conductor, soloist with orchestra, and ordinary listener, that there is a general misuse of power all round, depending in whose hands it happens to repose in any given instance. The orchestra which finds that it has at its mercy a conductor -- whom it may dislike for any reason from lack of musicianship to mere unsociability -- is frequently as ruthless in its use of power as the conductor who exercises authority merely because he does not fancy a violinist's complexion or the way he sits while playing. Pundits may talk of a conductor's 'authority,' his 'beat' and his 'knowledge of scores,' but actual control of an orchestra is more frequently founded on the less gaudy basis of economics."
