Melvoin's main accomplishment in the music industry was his work as a studio musician in Los Angeles, according to Donald Glasgo, the director of the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble, who met Melvoin when he performed with the Barbary Coast in 2007. Melvoin directed the group while he was a student at Dartmouth.
While in Los Angeles, Melvoin worked on "outstanding recordings" with a wide range of musicians and performers, including the Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, Glasgo said.
The wide range of bands and musicians Melvoin worked with contributed to his multifaceted and diverse musical style, music professor Fred Haas '73, who met Melvoin at a Dartmouth reunion and later played music with him at a different reunion, said.
Melvoin's extensive experience allowed him to accompany other artists effectively, Haas said.
"When you play with somebody like that who had the depth and breadth of experience that he had, it feels like you've been playing with this person all your life," Haas said. "He would accompany you almost as if he was reading your mind."
Haas also arranged for Melvoin to teach one of his jazz history classes and to take part in a jazz improvisation workshop. Melvoin's experience with studio work before it became obsolete with the advent of synthesizers added a unique perspective to his class and the workshop, Haas said.
Even when synthesizers came to the forefront of the industry and replaced many studio musicians, Melvoin continued to play in a jazz piano trio and work with vocalists, Glasgo said.
Melvoin's ability to listen to others in music carried over to his personal relationships, according to Haas.
"The skills that he exhibited as a musician were like what he was like as a person," Haas said. "[He had an] ability to listen to what I was saying about my life and listen in a real, compassionate, understanding way."
Melvoin was "warm and real but intellectually brilliant at the same time," according to Doug Wise '59, another friend and classmate of Melvoin's. While he was incredibly gifted, Melvoin appreciated feedback from others, Wise said.
"Even though he had this talent for creating music, he would work with others and collaborate just to get other people's thinking and insights," he said. "[Melvoin] had this ability of really collaborating with people and coming up with something even better."
Melvoin's outgoing and compassionate personality made him popular and "very hip," Werbel said. During Melvoin's freshman fall at the College, when Dartmouth was not yet coed, he had no trouble finding two dates for one night and even had to "hand off one of them."
"Here we were not knowing how to find a date in town, and he had found two," he said.
Melvoin's experience at Dartmouth was extremely important to him and shaped who he was, Werbel said.
"[Melvoin] was very proud of his Dartmouth experience," he said. "He always made sure that any biographical reference to him mentioned that he had been an English major at Dartmouth."
Majoring in English enabled Melvoin to "think about things on a certain plane," and he carried this ability to think critically into his musical composition and arrangements, Werbel said.
Melvoin was very involved as a Dartmouth undergraduate, both musically and otherwise. He directed the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble, at the time a student-led ensemble, and took part in a small, popular jazz group known as "The Sultans," Glasgo said.
His experiences performing with these groups likely played a part in shaping Melvoin's future career as a musician, Werbel said.
At his 50th class reunion in 2009, Melvoin wrote a musical piece to honor outgoing College President James Wright, Werbel said.
"[Melvoin] was a wonderful composer, and he managed to convey a sense of Dartmouth and the mountains and the North Country in this tribute," he said. "President Wright was very touched."
Werbel also said that Melvoin's honoring of Wright reflected his deep love for the College.
"Whenever he came to Dartmouth, he felt he was home," Werbel said. "He thought Dartmouth was the furthest back place in his life that was changeless."
