Frank Mantooth, a jazz pianist, composer and arranger whose work received several Grammy nominations, died Friday in Ardent City, Kan. He was 56.
He died of natural causes, a coroner, Harold Perkins, said, but final autopsy results have not yet been released.
Mr. Mantooth was commissioned to write music for Doc Severinsen, the Kansas City Symphony and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He published more than 165 works for jazz and other ensembles since 1978. He also recorded five albums of his own, which earned 11 Grammy nominations.
Mr. Mantooth earned his B.A. in music from North Texas State University in 1969 and contributed arrangements as a member of the Air Force Academy Falconaires from 1969 to 1973. He followed that with seven years in Austria, where he earned his piano degree from Vienna’s Hochschule für Musik in 1977.
His survivors include his wife, the former Carrie Herrman, and his children: Danika Little, Elizabeth Herrman, Ryan Herrman and Emily Herrman and Matthew Mantooth.
