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Spring
1999Vol.10,No.3
A Forumfor Contemporary’
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16 RobMounsey’75:
Lots of Monkey
Business
21 AnAppreciationof Duke
25 TouringTips
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SPRING
¯ 1999
VOLUME
¯
10
NUMBER
¯
3
Contents
LEAD SHEETby David McKay
BERKLEEBEAT
Berklee’s gala nets $200,000, Stan Getz Media Center and Library dedicated,
Walter Yetnikoff speaks at Berklee, faculty notes, and more
ON THECOVER:Keyboardist
and producer Rob Mounsey
’75 talks about his life in New
York’s studios. Cover photography by Gene Martin, production assistant David C.
Smith. Story begins on page 16.
MAKING
IT... BY HANDby Charles Chapman’72
Three alumni who changed their minds about being performers have
gained a following as luthiers .
14
LOTSOF MONKEY
BUSINESSby Mark Small ’33
Busy composer/arranger, producer, and session keyboardist
Rob Mounsey’75 sees his work more as a careen than as a career .
16
ANAPPRECIATION
OF DUKEby Jeff Friedman ’79
Berklee’s resident Ellington specialist tells of the contributions of one of
America’s greatest jazz composers and bandleaders
21
TOURING
TIPS by Deb Pasternak ’92
A little bit of practical advice on howto start building a
national audience on a small budget .
25
ALUM NOTES
News, quotes, and recordings of note
26
ALUMPROFILEby Mark Small ’73
Greg Abate ’71
33
CODAby Mark Small ’73
WhenIgnorance Was Bliss
4O
LEAD SHEET
Berklee t 0 d
APublication
of theOfficeof Institutional
Advancement
Editor
Marl{L Small’73
Copy
Editor
lisa Bnrrell
Perspectives
Graphics
Consultants
Dave
Miranda,
Mich~le
Malcllzisky
David M. McKay, V.P. for Institutional
Editorial
Board
RobHayes
Director
of Public
Information
JudithLucas
Director
of Communications
Lawrence
McClellan
Jr.
Dean,
Professional
Education
DMsion
MattMarvuglio
"74
Dean,
Professional
Performance
Division
Donald
Puluse
Dean,
Music
Technology
Division
Joseph
Smith
’75
Dean,
Professional
Writing
Division
InstitutionalAdvancement
DavidMcKay
Vice
President
forInstitutional
Advancement
MarjorieO’Malley
Assistant
VicePresident
forInstitutional
Advancement
PeterGordon
’78
Director
of theBerklee
Center
in Los
Angeles
Beverly
Tryon
’82
Director
ofCorporate
Relations
Kassandra
Kimbriel
Assistant
Director
fortheAnnual
Fund
Chil{aOkamoto
’87
Assistant
Director
forInstitutional
Advancement
As the alumni-oriented music magazine of Berklee
College of Music, Berklee today is dedicated to informing, enriching, and serving the extended Berklee community. By sharing information of benefit to alumni about
college matters, music industry issues and events, alumni activities and accomplishments,and musical topics of
interest, Ber/elee today serves as both a valuable forum
for our family throughout the world and an important
source of commentary on contemporary music.
Berkleetoday (ISSN1052-3839)is publishedthree times a year
by the Berklee Collegeof MusicOffice of Institutional Advancement.All contents ©1999by Berklee College of Music.
Sendall addresschanges,press releases,letters to the editor, and
advertising inquiries to Berkleetoday, Box333, BerkleeCollege of Music,i140 Boylston Street, Boston,MA02215-3693,
(617) 747-2325,or via e-mail: <msma/[email protected]>.
Alumni
are invited to sendin details of activities andideas suitable for
feature coverage.Unsolicitedsubmissionsare accepted.
2
Berklee today
Advancement
Z
ver the last 20 years, I have been on four campuses as
the new kid on the block. The job to be done was often
the same--build new programs in fundraising,
alumni
affairs, and public relations. Like Berklee, all of the colleges
and universities have something that sets them apart in their
curriculum an.d/or mission. Berklee has something extra-an intense creative energy.
My first visit to Ber!dee was during the SummerGuitar
Sessions. Manycollege campuses are kind of sleepy in the
summer, but I felt the energy upon stepping through the
front door. A few weeks later, I went to the fall convocation
concert. Seeing a performance makes it clear that Berklee is
all about nurturing the talents of students so that they can
find their place in the music world.
As vice president of Institutional Advancement,my job is
to lead the team that creates outreach programs to advance
Berklee’s mission. Alunmi, press, and donor relations are the
core elements of advancement.Wereach out to the press corps
so that they will better understand Berklee’s core values. The
fundraising programsare designed to obtain funding for scholarships, faculty development, external educational programs,
visiting artists, and other programs. The annual fund, the
Encore Gala, proposals to major donors and foundations, and
other initiatives are someof our fundraising tools.
Colleges across the country wrestle with the key component of an advancement program alumni relations.
All
institutions work to keep abreast of the changing needs of
their alumni. The relationship a college has with its students
should not end at graduation. It cannot be a one way street
either. Higher education cannot expect alumni only to give
without an ongoing beneficial relationship.
Over the next several years, we will continue to build our
alumni program around three main areas: continuing education, career development, and admissions. For example, on
March 28, we will host an alumni career seminar featuring
panel discussions and mentoring sessions for alumni and students in Boston. (Keep an eye on your mail.) Los Angeles
alumni have already been involved with a number of events
aimed at giving alumni assistance with their careers. We
intend to bring similar programs to other cities.
This piece began as a discussion about a newcomer’sperspective. To shape successful advancement programs, it is
essential to have experience from other institutions. To fully
understand the Berklee culture, however, I need to hear your
perspective. I am thing to meet as many people from the
Berklee community as possible, and I welcome your comments. Please feel free to write or to send me an e-mail message at <[email protected]>.
Spring 1999
Berklee b e a t
ENCORE
GALANETS and Company
has been com$200,000
mitted
to
forming educational partnerships that
benefit local
NeTws of Hot8
communities.
"Bet!dee City
Musicis a perfect example
perforof this com- GaryBu=rtongavean impromptu
mance
for
silent
auction
bidders.
mitment,"
said Charlie
Milligan, Schwab’s manag- Security Services; Pediatrix
ing director.
"We are
Medical Group; Pioneer
extremely proud to be the Capital
Corporation;
lead sponsor of the gala."
MBNA
America; and W.S.
Schwab has already agreed Kenney Company, Inc.
to sponsor next year’s
The silent auction, coEncore Gala.
chaired by trustee Don
After an elegant recep- Rose and his wife Nina
tion and candlelight dinner, Simonds, offered bidders a
the HarvardClub was filled
chance to win a variety of
with the sounds of various musical instruments; getgroups playing iazz, blues, away packages to Puerto
world music, gospel, folk,
Vallarta, NewHampshire,
and classical music past and the Berkshires; dinner
midnight.
at award-winning restauTrustee Craigie Zildjian, rants; memorabilia; and
and board of visitors mem- unique wine packages.
ber Sharon
Mohney
The silent auction was
cochaired the gala, and hardly silent as guests
President Lee Eliot Berk enjoyed impromptu perforand his wife Susanserved as mances by vibraphonist
honorary cochairs. Gala Gary Burton accompanied
Superstar Ballroom spon- by the Yamaha
Disldavier, a
sors included
Cutler
featured item at the auction.
Associates,
Newbury
The gala raised over
Comics, and Shawmut
$200,000 for the BCMproDesign and Construction.
gram. BCMhelps to keep
The Gala nightclub spon- aspiring musiciansin school
sors included Cabletron
andprepare themfor a colFromthe left: LeeEliot Berk,LonGorman
president,SchwabSystems;
Donaldson,
lege music education
CapitalMarkets
& Trading
Group,
andBerklee
Board
of Trustees Lufkin & Jenrette; Foley, through mentoring and perChairWill Davis.Schwab
wastheEncore
Gala’sleadsponsor. Hoag & Eliot; Longwood formance programs.
from about
town and
around the
Spring1999
The October Encore
Gala, Berklee’s flagship
fundraising event, drew
more guests and netted
more money for Berklee
City Music (BCM)scholarships than ever before in its
four-year history. BCMis
the college’s scholarship
outreach program for disadvantaged urban youth.
Over 900 party goers
filled the Harvard Club on
Commonwealth Avenue to
experience more than i00
faculty and student musicians of everystylistic stripe
performing for dancing and
listening audiences in eight
nightclubsettings.
The gala was sponsored
this year by SchwabCapital
Markets & Trading Group.
Since its founding in the
early 1970s, Charles Schwab
Berklee today
3
MEDIACENTER
DEDICATEDfacilities
On October29, the Berklee library
and media center got a new nameand
was dedicated as the Stan Getz Media
Center and Library. The facility was
namedin honor of the renownedjazz
saxophonist through a generous grant
from the Herb Alpert Foundation.
Herb Alpert, a friend of Getz, was
leader of the immensely popular
Tijuana Brass in the 1960s and later
founded A&MRecords.
Alpert, his wife, singer Lani Hall,
and Kip Cohen(president of the Herb
Alpert Foundation) were on hand for
the event as were Getz family members Monica Getz and Beverly Getz
McGovern.
Dan Morgenstern, director of the
Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers
State University gave the keynote
address, speaking about the importance of musiclibraries cataloging jazz
materials. "As the 20th century ends, I
think manywill concludethat jazz will
be considered the most important
form of music to come forth in this
century," Morgenstern said. "Jazz
needs documentationand historiography-perhaps more than any other
form of music."
President Berk spoke of the beginnings of the Berklee library, telling
howhis father, Chancellor Lawrence
Berk,drafted himto help build the collection. %used to go to second-hand
shops and used bookstores
in
Cambridge and Boston on Saturdays
and return with carloads of books for
the library," Berksaid.
In his remarks, Berklee’s Library
Director John Voigt spoke of the
library’s growth during his 30-year
tenure. "WhenI started workinghere,
it was just me and another staff member aided by a work-study student,"
Voigt recalled. "Todaythe library has
45 staff members,is open 100 hours a
week, and circulates over 20,000 printed materials yearly. Weroutinely get
calls from people like Quincy Jones,
Gunther Schuller, and people from
Harvardor Princeton because the collection is so good."
Gary Burton thanked Herb Alpert
and the Herb Alpert Foundation for
the gift namingthe facility, saying, "We
are pleased that one of the very first
4
gerklee today
namedat
Berklee is in
honor of Stan. It
is our hope to
receive moregifts
to name other
facilities after
those who have
made meaningful
contributions to
music." Burton
spoke of the Stan
Getz legacy and
recounted anecdotes from his
years as a mem- Fromthe left,, HerbAlpert, LeeEliot Berk,Monica
Getz,
ber of the Getz George
Garzone,andGaryBurton.
band. "Stan was
one of those rare musicians whowas told mehe never played a note he didn’t mean--not manycan say that. I
respected by musicians and loved by
the public," he said. Burtonthen went loved Stan, and this plaque really
touches me."
to his vibraphone and led a quartet
The Stan Getz Media Center and
featuring George Garzone(playing
Library’s
listening roomhouses CD,
tenor saxophone that belonged to
video,
and
laser disc players and over
Getz), bassist John Lockwood,and
drummer Ron Savage in a musical
16,000 CDsand videos. The library
has the largest academiccoilection of
tribute.
The quartet performed
printed popular and jazz music and
Jobim’s "O Grande Amor" and
solo transcriptions in the nation.
"Here’s That Rainy Day," perennials
in the Getz
repertoire.
President
Ken Hatfield
Berk presentand
ed a plaque to
Hans Glawischnig
Herb Alpert
in commemoMusic for
ration of his
foundation’s
Guitar and Bass
gift to the college. "Herb
"I like the compositions...Theplayingis damned
goodtoo."
has
given
--Charlie Byrd
much back to
the
music
"Awonderfuleclecticismdistinguishesthe performances
of Ken
industry by
Haffield and HansGlawischnig. . . Muchof it springs from
his philanHatfield’scarefullytailored compositions...Bothmenhavegreat
thropic gifts to
rhythmicimpulsesthat never leave the musicwantingfor any
education
other percussiveeffect... They... think.., beyondthe limitathrough his
tions of their instruments.., to producecogentmusicalstatefoundation,"
mentsbasedon creative and engagingconcepts."
Berk
said.
--Jim Fisch, "TheJazz Box,"2OrbCenturyGuitar
Accepting the
plaque, Alpert
recounted his
Tohear excerpts, checkout <www.kenhatfield.com>.
friendship
with
Getz.
CDMusicfor GuitarandBass(ACM-9708)
andprinted folio Nine
"Stan was a
Jazz
Duets
for
Guitar
and
Bass
(KHJGB100)
(as recordedMus
ic
special musifor
Guitar
and
Bass)
available
from
Indiego
Global
Distribution
at
cian and a car<www.global.indiego.com>
or
call
(888)
311-0797,
24
hours
a
day.
ing friend," he
said. "He once
Spring1999
TWOADDEDTO BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
Berklee’s Board of Trustees
Chair Will Davis announced this
fall the addition of two membersto
the board. William G. Morton Jr.,
and William Van Loan have been
namedBerklee’s newest trustees.
Morton is an accomplished, 38year veteran of the securities industry. He has been steering the dayto-day operation and strategic
direction
of the Boston Stock
Exchange since 1985, when he was
named chair and CEO.
In welcoming Morton to the
Berklee community,
Berklee
President Lee Eliot Berk said, "Bill
Morton brings to Berklee a background in both finance and community organizations that will be
an invaluable asset to our leadership
at the trustee level."
In addition to his work in the
securities industry, Mortonis a director of several corporations and civic
organizations,
including Tandy
Corporation, Morgan Stanley Asset
Management, Inc., the National
Football Foundation and College
Hall of Fame, Inc.,
and the
Bostonian Society. Recently he was
elected to the City of Boston’s Year
2000 Planning Commission. Morton
is actively involved in the alumniand
trustee affairs of his undergraduate
alma mater, Dartmouth College. He
also received an MBAfrom New
York University.
An avid music aficionado,
MOrtonbegan playing drums in his
preschool years. "Music--specifically jazz music--has played a big
WilliamG. Morton
Jr.
WilliamW. VanLoan
part in mylife," he said. "I beganas
a drummerand have been a follower and advocate of jazz ever since.
As a 14-year Back Bay resident,
I’ve become familiar with Berklee
through meeting a number of students and hearing their music. The
school is doing a great job, and I’m
looking forward to being more
actively involved."
William W. Van Loan is former
president of HQBusiness Centers
of Massachusetts and a former
senior executive for the Coca Cola
Company.
A successful marketing executive and corporate leader, Van Loan
founded the Massachusetts division
of the HQ Business Center network, a world leader in the executive suite industry. During his
tenure
as president,
HQ
Massachusetts expanded to include
five business centers in the Boston
and Framingham area, providing
clients with office space, secretarial
staffing, and other support services.
Van Loan later founded the HQ
Business Center in Charlotte,
North Carolina, and served as chair
of the board of the HQ Network
Systems.
Prior to that, VanLoanserved as a
senior executive with the Coca Cola
Company° He was executive vice
president and chief operating officer
of Coca Cola Japan (based in Tokyo),
before becoming Coca Cola’s vice
president of marketing. VanLoan was
inst~imental in developing "Have a
Coke and a Smile" and other awardwinningadvertising campaignsfor the
soft drink giant.
Of his Berklee appointment, Van
Loan said, "It is a great honor for
me to join the Berklee College of
Music board of trustees. Music is
our international language and can
contribute to international understanding and enrich our culture.
Berklee is makinga significant contribution to our global society by
providing outstanding academic
and professional preparation for
student musicians."
The appointment of Morton and
Van Loan to the board brings total
menztbershipto 23 trustees.
--Sarah Godcher
BERKLEE
HELPS
MARK
U.N. DAYATSTATE
CAPITOL
BerkleePresident LeeEliot Berk was
appointed by Governor Paul A.
Cellucd to chair an October22 ceremony markingthe 50th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
at the MassachusettsState House.
In attendance were numerousdignitaries, including representatives from
the consulates of Greece, Japan,
Romania, Hungary, and Nepal, and
membersof the 1998 United Nations
Day Honorary Committee.
Spring1999
After his remarks, President
Berk invited two Berklee students
and an alumnus from countries
where human rights have been
violated, to addressthe audience.
Adeniyi Adelekanof Nigeria,
Ignacio Perez of Chile, and
Damien Draghici of Romania
described growingup under harsh
conditions. TheBet!dee Jazz Rock
Ensemble’srendition of "Circle of Fromthe left: AdeniyiAdelekan,Ignacio
Life" underscoredthe theme.
Perez,Damien
Draghici,LeeEliot Berk
Berkleet o d a y
5
WALTER
YETNIKOFF
SPEAKS
AT BERKLEE
Berklee welcomed record industry titan Walter Yetnikoff to the
campus on November 13, 1998, as
the speaker for the sixth annual
James G. Zafris Jr. Distinguished
Lecture
Series
for
Music
Business/Management. Yemikoff,
former CEO of CBS Records and
current
CEO of Velvel Music
Group, delivered a talk entitled
"Consolidation and Its Effects on
Creativity in the MusicBusiness."
Yetnikoff spoke to a standingroom-only crowd in the David
Friend Recital Hall about "corporatization" and the chilling effect that
consolidation has had on creativity,
stressing that the fight for short-term
profits has often resulted in the loss
of long-term creativity. In the past,
record companies may have been
morewilling to allow a creative artist
time to experiment and build a following; nowradio and record labels
are less willing to take a chance,
looking more toward quarterly profits, Yetnikoffsaid.
Pointing to the effects of consolidation, Yetnikoffstated that only five
major record companiesrepresent 80
percent of marketshare in the industry. Similarly, today in radio, a small
number of corporations owna large
number of radio
stations. Yetnikoff
asked rhetorically,
"Would
Bob
Dylan be played
on radio today if
he were a new
artist?"
Whenasked to
WalterYetrfikoff(left) greetsMrs.Susan
G. andLeeEliot
name the accom- 8erkduringhis November
visit to the college.
plishments
of
which he felt most
expressed his continued "awe of creproud, Mr. Yetnikoff referenced his
work nurturing the careers of Bruce ative artists," remindingthe Berklee
Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and communitythat "the definition of an
artist is someonewhois different and
Billy Joel.
unique" and that "consumers would
Quoting St. Augustine, Yetnikoff
not be stimulated by an uncreative
told the aspiring music professionals
business."
in the audience that "the most
"Sometimes less power is more
important things happen when we
power,"
reflected Yetnikoff about his
are most confused." His message
was clear: be prepared for new current position at Velvel. It is the
"adventure and excitement" of this
opportunities that will open up,
including the advanceof Internet use company that keeps him happy,
amongst artists. Whenqueried about
for marketing and promotion.
his plans for the future, Yetnikoff
Whenasked if there was room for
joked, "I’ll come to teach here,
new artists in such a constrictive
maybe,if you’ll have me."
trend, Yetnikoff reminded the audience that without performingartists,
there is no mustc industry. He --Emily Singer
BOOKSTORE
ANDBANKBUILDINGGETFACELIFTS
The Berklee College of Music
Bookstore underwent a transformation this fall that has given it a new
look and greater capacity. The new
design yielded more shelf space and a
second register to cut downon lines.
According to store manager Bob
Adams, "We actually lost square
footage but gained linear footage. The
newfixtures we installed allow us to
stock more inventory now."
Adams also described the new
Website for the store and the capability of people all over the world to
make purchases online. The bookstore’s home page can be found at
<http://berklee.bkstore.com>.
"This newcapability is a real benefit for our international alumni," said
Adams."Nowthey don’t have to get
up in the middleof the night to call in
6
Berkleet o d a y
Student Activities Center in December
in the 130 Massachusetts Avenue
building (also knownas the "bank
building.") The renovated space is
now home to Berklee’s Student
Activities Center, ComputerStore,
and Ensemblefaculty offices.
The Student Activities Center
includes three small lounges, vending
machines, offices for various student
organizations and for The Groove,
Berklee’s student newspaper.
"Students now have a comfortable
place in whichto relax betweenclasses,
eat a take-out lunch, exchangeideas,
study with fellow musicians, or check
their e-mail," said Student Activities
Director Jane Stachowiak.Shesees it as
%living laboratory wherestudents can
ThenewStudentActivities Center developtheir sense of leadership, comlocatedat 130Massachusetts
Avenue munity,and citizenship."
an order." Adamshas seen a steady
flow of orders comingin since the site
went up last fall. "The response ihas
been overwhelming," he said. "You
won’t find many of the books we
carry at Amazon.com.
This is fulfilling a big customerneed."
Berklee also unveiled the new
Spring1999
DEPRESSION
AWARENESS
DAYAT BERKLEE
"Depression
is an illness, not a deficiency," Dr. Scott Ewing,director of
depressionand anxietydisorders outpatient services at McLean
Hospital
told the capacity crowdin the David
FriendRecitalHall. "It can be a serious, life-threateningdisorder." Ewing
wasoneof four distinguishedpanelists
on hand for the first annual
Depression AwarenessProgramheld
at Berldeeon October8, 1998.
SusanBerk (wife of President Lee
Eliot Berk) and Wen@
Woodfield,
vice president of the Cole Mental
Health ConsumerResourceCenter at
McLean Hospital in Belmont,
Massachusetts,chaired the committee
that organized the event. The twohour discussion, sponsored by the
six-college Pro Arts Consortium,
marked
Berklee’sfirst participationin
the annual National Depression
ScreeningDay.
In his openingremarks,Berklee’s
ExecutiveVicePresident GaryBurton
explainedthat depressionaffects 17.6
million Americanseach year, thousandsof whom
are creative artists who
experiencea range of symptoms.
Burtonintroducedsinger andtelevision actress Jennifer Hollidaywho
was the event’s keynote speaker.
Holliday,riding highwitha role in the
successful television series "Ally
McBeal,"camein from Los Angeles
just for the event.
Hollidaydescribedher trials with
clinical depressionfor 10 years. She
hadenteredshowbusinessin the early
1980sand rapidly achieved stardom
with the hit Broadway musical
Dre~rngirls.She wasn’tpreparedfor
the high life she found behind the
scenes. Not participating in the
lifestyle of those aroundher created
feelings of isolation. "I wasn’tready
for these things," she said. "I’d hada
wonderfulchildhoodin Houstonand
becamea star in NewYorkovernight.
I didn’t havemanyfriends andbecame
withdrawn. Food becamemyfriend,
andI blewup to 340 pounds."
Hollidayrelated that despite winning Tony and Grammyawards for
her workonstage and subsequenthit
records, she sankinto depression."I
didn’t knowwhoI was aside from
someone
with a goodvoice," she said.
Spring1999
For several years, she battled
with her weight, bankruptcy,
and numerouspersonal and
professional disappointments
as she struggled to keep her
career on track. Tired of the
roller coaster ride, she
attemptedsuicide by overdosing onsleepingpills. Afriend
foundher in time to save her
life. Holtidaylater soughthelp
through psychiatric and pre- From
theleft: ’1~m
Collins,
Dennis
Hagler,
Jennifer
scription drugtherapy.
Holliday,
Dr.,~;cottEwing,
and
Gary
Burton
"Some
peopleare afraid to
take medication," she said,
"but it helpedme.I cameback
stronger.I decidedthat whenpeoplein depression should not be ignored
the entertainmentindustry said no to because30 percent of those diagnosed
me,I wasn’tgoingto take it personal- withit will attemptsuicideand15perly. If I hadnorecordcontract,I would cent of those whoattempt will sucfind other thingsto do." Sheultimate- ceed.."
Berklee trustee and former
ly discovered that "whenyou let a
AerosmithmanagerTimCollins said,
dreamgo, it can comebackto you."
Hollidaytold the crowd,"Thepast "Onereason I camehere today was
threeyearshavebeenlike a newlife for because I had a friend who was
me."Shedescribedher new,positive depressedandrecently endedhis life.
Henevergot treatmentbecausehe felt
outlook and howshe no longer lets
disappointment
overtakeher. "I don’t there wasa stigmaattached to that."
buildup false hopefor thingsI haveno Collinssharedthat he hadexperienced
controlover,"she said. "You’ve
got to depressionhimself and that he found
be happytoday." Citing her workon medicationand therapy to be greatly
the "Ally McBeal"
showas a case-in- helpful. Healso noted that a number
point, she said, "I don’tknowif I will of the recordingartists he has worked
be on the show next month. All I with have had bouts of depression.
knowis I go to work tomorrowand "OnethingI havenoticedis that artists
I11 get the check the following whoovercomedepressionstart getting
Thursday."Shetold the audiencethat very goodmusicalresults."
helpis available."I amvictorystandDennis Hagler, treasurer of the
ing before you." She summed
up her Manic Depressive and Depressive
remarksby singing a beautiful r&b Associationof Boston, spoke as one
ballad titled "There Is a DreamOut whohas also beendealing successfully
There with YourNameon It."
with depression. "WhenI wasa Peace
After Holliday spoke, the other Corpsvolunteerin Malaysia,I had to
three panelists madebrief remarks be hospitalized because of depresI
beforetaking questionsfromthe audi- sion,"he said. "It is life-threatening.
wan~:ed
to
end
it
all,
but
got
I
help-ence.Forhis part, Dr. ScottEwing
listed several of the symptoms
that are andI amglad."
present whena person suffers from
In his closing remarks, Gary
true clinical depression.Theyinclude Burtonthankedthe participants and
significantweightloss or gain, insom- organizersof the event. Burtonalso
nia, lack of concentration,psychomo- announceda newtoll-free Pro Arts
tor agitation(or the opposite,sluggish- Consortiumdepression help-line at
ness),feelingsof guilt or excessive
self- (800)291-4.882.Thenewserviceoffers
criticism, continual fatigue, and a free inforraation on depression and
confidential screening and referral
depressed mood.Ewingstated that
"80 percent of those suffering from information to Pro Arts school stu24
clinical depressioncan be treated with dents, faculty, and staff members
medicine and/or therapy. Clinical hoursa day.
Berklee
t od ay
7
BERKLEE’S
HELPINGHANDS
benefitconcert
AI Kooper’s
Rock music icon turned
Berklee professor
A1
Kooperhas been central to
many prime rock moments
across the past four decades
ranging from Bob Dylan’s
"Highway61 Revisited" to
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s "Free
Bird."
On Saturday,
November 7, 1998, the
Rekooperators, featuring Fromthe le~t: All Kooper,
MikeMerritt, andthe
Kooper on keyboards and BerMee
IReverence
Gospel
Choirgivea renditiionof
vocals, Jimmy Vivino on "BuryMyBody"at the November
7 show.
guitar, MikeMerritt on bass,
and Anton Fig on drums,
rocked a packed Berldee Performance this duo performed music by Chick
Center for a special benefit concert. Corea, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astor
Making cameo appearances were Piazzolla,
Benny Goodman, and
Grammy-winningvibraphonist Gary Georges Delerue. The event raised
Burton, session pianist Paul Griffin,
$12,000 in scholarship funds :for
and the Berklee Reverence Gospel Berklee’sfilm scoring students.
Choir.
MemorialScholarship
This all-star concert, sponsoredby Chris Yeoman
NewburyComics and Risky Records, Fundreaches
$20,000
wasin the spirit of Kooper’s1968clasThe Chris Yeoman Memorial
sic album Super Session with Mike ScholarshipFund, established last year
Bloomfeldand StephenStills. It raised in memoryof Berklee alumnus Chris
$10,000 for Kooper’s It Can Happen Yeoman’97, has grown to becomean
Fund. The moneywill be used to sup- endowedfund, owing to an outpourport adaptive technologyfor physical- ing of generosity after Yeoman’s
ly-challenged Berklee students. "I untimely death, his friends and family
want to do what I can," said Kooper, madedonations to the fund, enabling
"to makesure that anyonewhohas the it to reach $20,000.
talent and perseverance to begin a
The multifaceted Yeomanwas; a
gifted percussionist, songwriter, guimusiccareer can do it."
All musiciansdonatedtheir time for tarist, singer, and audio engineer. He
this event, dubbed"SuperSession ’98." died in a car accident in January 1998
It was the first edition of whatKooper while returning homefrom a gig. The
fund will keep the memoryof Yeoman
plans to makean annual event.
alive through annual scholarship
Delerue
scholarship
getsa boost
awardsto Berklee students maioringin
The growth of the GeorgesDelerue Music Production and Engineering
MemorialScholarship, established in and/or to percussionprincipals.
1994, received a significant boost with
fund
the proceeds of a unique gathering in Annual
This fall, manyBerklee alumni, stuLos Angeles. On October 24th,
Colette Delerue(wife of the late film dent parents, and friends responded
composer Georges Delerue) and generously to the annual fund direct
Berldee hosted a fundraising event at mail and phonathon appeals. The
the Delerue home. Guests--including annual fund provides much-needed
many prominent members of the Los support for student scholarships and
Angeles film scoring community-- financial aid, equipment purchases,
enjoyed an outstanding brunch and a curriculum improvements,and facility
performance by Gary Burton and renovations.
For those whohave not yet madea
pianist MakotoOzone. The intimate
gift,
studentcallers will try again dursetting, in the Delerue living room,
made for a memorableexperience as ing the March/April phonathon.
8
Berklee
t oday
RECENTDONORS*
Vivian Beard
Christel Belrichard
J. Scott Benson
Ken and Judy Berk
Laura Bernard and MarsomPratt
Alf Clausen’66
~mothvCollins
WilliamandJessica Davis
Colette Delerue
DavidFoster
Michaeland Lois Friedman
Harry and Barbara Gould
GreaterBostonBusinessfor Charity
Kenneth Hertz
Mikeand Elaine Kantor
Latin Jazz Institute
Leon Parker and Company,Inc
,roe and Emily LoweFoundation
Arif Mardin"61
Bill Morton
NewBalance Foundation
Newbu~.Comics, Inc.
Ralphand Lucy Palleschi
Vito PascucdH’98
Risky Records
RolandCorporation
William and RhodaSapers
Sebrafft CharitableTrusg
A1and Ma*jorieSchultz
David Share
Joe Smith H’92
RichardStone
Eric Teicholz
Sandra Uvterhoeven
VangelosCorporation
William Van Loan
E{;k and Rose-MarieVanOtterloo
Donaldand Janice Yeoman
Avedis Zildjian Company
CraigieZildjian
"~’Acomplete
listing of 1999donorswill be published in Givingto Berkleein OctoberI999.
Spring1999
The Berldee bookstore is now on-line.
Place your order by surfing to
http://berklee.bkstore.com
Spring1999
Berklee today
S~lOWCases
~residents
Panels
¯ Songwriting
&Demo
Critiqui[
¯ Continuing
Legal
Education
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Marketing
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Building
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Cassidy
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n’ RollDemolition
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& Bang
UpBall
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A HOLISTICAPPROACH
Associate Professor MarcRossi
doesn’t see diverse musicstyles fitting
neatly into compartments. A pianist
and composer, he freely moves
between musical genres running the
gamutfromjazz and fusion to classical
and nonwestern music. A look at his
resume reveals that his orchestral
pieces have been premiered at
Boston’s SymphonyHall and other
prestigious venues. His chamberand
ensemble works have been performed
and recorded by pianists, string quartets, and vocalists, and his jazz works
have been played by large and small
groups. As a keyboardist, Rossi has
workedwith artists ranging from Bo
Diddley to jazzers GeorgeRussell and
Stan Stricldand, to sitar master Peter
Rowand Rwandan vocalist Ignace
Ntirshawamaboko’95.
Rossi grewup in a musicalfamily in
Hartford, Connecticut, hearing many
different kinds of music. "Myfather
played guitar and wouldlisten to flamencoguitarists Carlos Montoyaand
Sabicas aroundthe house," Rossi said.
"He was also in the Yale Chorale. We
wentto concerts wherethey sang things
like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.My
motherhad a favorite record of Eartha
Kitt singing Turkish songs. So I was
hearingall of this stuff, andit started to
makesense as a wholeto me."
Rossi started learning classical
piano from his grandfather when he
wasthree and in his teen years, gravitated toward jazz and Indian music.
Ultimately, he earned his bachelor’s
and master’s degrees in compositionat
the New England Conservatory of
Music. Continually reaching for more,
Rossi still studies composition and
orchestration with Frank Bennett and
improvisation with Charlie Banacos.
"Evengoingto grad school is just getting your feet wet," he said. "Thebest
study comes afterwards when you can
really see whatit is about."
At Berklee, Rossi teaches courses in
jazz fusion composition, world music,
and has private piano students.
"Teachingis a great challenge whether
you are working with beginners or
advanced students," he said. "You
knowthat you are really affecting the
beginners, and you want to give
Spring1999
Pianist/composer
MarcRossi
advancedstudents somethingthat will
get them excited and keep them growing. It is a lot of responsibility."
Rossifinds it a juggling act to keep
the performing, composing,and educational sides of his career in motion.
Lately, his composerside has been at
center stage. On November30, 1998,
the renowned Czech Radio Symphony
Orchestra, in Bostonfor the BostonPragueFestival at Symphony
Hall, premiered Rossi’s 25-minute symphonic
poem Moon Mirror--Denying the
Abyss. Later this winter, he will go to
Prague to hear a second performance
and oversee the recording of the work
for the MMC
label.
"Writingfor orchestra is a challenging and humblingexperience," he said.
"It is a formidableensemble,and the
weightof history is there. Youhaveto
write your most serious thoughts with
all of the available resources of your
mind,heart, and soul."
Rossi’s other endeavors include a
jazz/Indian music collaboration with
sitarist Peter Row,a second contemporary jazz recording with his group
Solaris, and playing with saxophonist
Stan Strickland’s group Ascension.
Like a rondo theme reappearing regularly in his conversation,Rossireturns
to composing.He is presently writing
a new symphony
and a set of classical
piano pieces, amongother things.
"Composingis not something I do
nowand then; it is an absolute life’s
work, an internal drive, mydharma
or spiritual path," he said. "Mygoal
has been to refine myownvoice as a
composer, and that involves using
your whole-life experience. It brings
methe most fulfillment."
Berklee today
11
FACULTY
NOTES
Assistant Professor of Guitar
Lauren Passarelli was named
Acoustic
Research
and
Technology’sartist of the monthfor
December. Passarelli’s Wizard and
Feather Brown Productions company was hailed for providing individual and group guitar lessons that
offer new approaches for performing songwriters.
HarmonyProfessor EduTancredi
released a CDtitled Latin Spell for
the Brownstonelabel. The disc features faculty membersDino Gov0ni
(saxophone), Mia Olsou(flute), and
FernandoHuergo(bass), and was
engineered
by MP&EProfessor
MarkWessel and several alumni.
Associate Professor of Guitar
3ohnBaboianled an all-faculty band
called the BebopGuitars in a date at
Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. The
band featured faculty guitarists
Baboian, Garrison Fewell, John
Marasco,Jack Pezanelli, andJohn
Wilkins as well as Assistant
Professor Jerry Cecco (trumpet and
flute), Associate Professor Victor
Mendoza(vibes), Instructor
Ron
Mahdi (bass),
and Associate
Professor Jon Hazilla (drums).
Associate Professor of Harmony
Michael Farquharson composed,
arranged and produced the music
for his CDThe Arrival on the Jazz
Inspiration label.
Keyboardist
and Associate
Professor
of Ensemble Carolyn
Wilkins released a CDtitled Spirit
Jazz H.
A half-hour radio portrait on
Associate Professor of Voice Mili
Bermejo was produced at WGBHFM, Boston by Steve Schwartz and
Margo Melnicove. It was broadcast
in October and November.
Assistant Professor of Guitar
TomoFujita released a guitar instructional video for Rittor Music.
Associate Professor of Brass
Tiger 0koshi released the CDColor
of Soil for the JVClabel. While giving a series of master classes at
Bishop’s University in Montreal in
November, Okoshi was invited to
play "When the Saints
Go
Marching In" for Bishop Desmond
Tutu during a ceremony honoring
12 Berklee
today
Guitarist JonFinnreleasedWicked
the South African cleric in Canada.
Associate Professor of Guitar
Bret VVil~motthas released the CD
Bret’s Frets--European Rendezvous. The disc is a European
reunion of his 1994 student ensemble featuring Philipp Van Endert,
Martin Koller, Alex Gunia, Ola
Forsell, Juraj Burian, and Willmott
on guitars, David Spak (percussion
and voice), David Wiesner (bass),
and Johan Svensson (drums).
Professor
of Percussion
Ed
Saind0n released a new album for
Big City Jazz entitled The Great
American Songbook. Guest artists
Warren Vache, Ken Peplowski, Dan
Barrett, and Marshall Wood ’83
played on the recording.
Assistant
Professor
of Ear
Training Jeff Galindo released
Locking Horns with a sextet including Associate Professor of Brass
KenCervenka (trumpet), and Bass
Instructor John Lockwood.The disc
is on the Twin TowerRecord label.
Assistant Guitar Professor Craig
Hlady was coproducer and played
guitar, mandolin, and keyboards on
the Time Will Tell album released
by Amy Rome on the Miranda
Musiclabel.
Associate
Professor
of Ear
Training Mitch Seidmanreleased the
CDThis over That with fellow guitarist Fred Fried and bassist Harvie
Swartz’70 for the Jardis label.
Fih-a Scoring Chair DonWilkins
composed the music for the
WGBHdocumentary Into the Sea
of Uncertainty,
which aired on
November 8. Film Scoring Lab
Manager Jack Freeman did the
sound editing and Film Scoring
Audio and Video Engineer Fred
Mneliermixed the project.
Guitar Professor GarrisonFeweli
previewed material from his forthcoming album at the Regattabar in
Cambridge with bassist
Steve
LaSpina
and drummer Jeff
Williams. Birdland Records will
issue the new disc in March.
Brownstone Records released
Bass Instructor FernandoHuergo’s
CD Living in These Times which
features vocalist and Ear Training
Assistant Professor Luciana S0uza
and a host of alumni instrumentalists. Huergo also recorded New
Beginnings for Seaside Recordings
with the Jinga Trio (Steve Langone
drums and Alon Yavai piano).
Guitar
Professor
Charles
Chapmanperformed with legendary
bassist Jerry Jemmott at the Long
Island Guitar Showin October. He
also penned articles
on George
Benson and Tai Farlow for Guitar
Shop magazine.
Associate
Professor
of Ear
Training Bob Patten engineered
Guitar Instructor Jane Miller’s CD
Secret Pockets for the Pink Bubbles
label.
The Jon Finn Group (comprising Bass Instructor Joe Santerre,
Drum Instructor
Dave DiCenso,
Guitar Professor Jon Finn, and keyboardist Ross Ramsay), released
new CDtitled Wicked. Finn also
wrote an article for Guitar magazine about the process of recording
the new album.
Vice President for Information
Technology David Mash has just
completed a three-volume series of
books for Warner Brothers
Publications. The series is titled
Ultimate Beginner Tech Start Series
and includes the titles Musicians
and the Internet, Musicians and
Computers, and Musicians and
Multimedia.
Spring1999
FALLVISITINGARTISTS
Duringthe fall semester,
manynotable artists shared
insights with interested parties amongthe Berklee community.
Latin jazz trumpet sensation Arturo Sandovalpresented a clinic for brass players in the David Friend
Recital Hall.
Jazz and rock drummer
Chad Wackermanspoke
about his work with artists
ranging
from
Allan
Holdsworth to Barbra
Streisand.
Dr. Francisco
Bueno
of the
University of Valencia,
Spain, spoke about trends in
the music of contemporary
Spanish composers.
Jazz pianist
Armen
Doneliandiscussed his experiences as a sideman with
countless jazz luminaries.
Violinist and violist Beth
Cohenspoke on Greek fiddle techniques as a guest of
the String Department.
The October "Bass
Days" included presentations by DavidFriesen,Sid
Jacobs,andLee Traversa,
and product demonnstrations for Pedulla Basses and
Fishman Transducers, as
well as bass faculty clinics
and performances.
The Professional Music
Departmenthosted multiple
events with SandraTrimDacosta(a vice president at
N2K/Encoded Music) and
keyboardist
Marcus
Johnson.
SteeI drum virtuoso
AndyNarell cameas a guest
of
the
Percussion
Department to talk about
his career as a touring and
recording artist for the
Windham
Hill Jazz label.
Bela Fleck and the
Flecktonesstaged a full
concert performance in the
BPCfor a capacity crowd
in late October.
Donna Chadwick
conducted seminars
about assessmenttechniques for musictherapists in a session
hosted by the Music
Therapy Department.
Hartt School of
Music faculty member
bassist Nat Reeves
spoke and performed
in a trio setting with
pianist
Richard
Johnson and drummer
John Lamkin.
Dr. TobyMountain,
founder and president
Jimmy
Buffer speaks
of NortheasternDigital Songwriter
with students
after his November
Recording, spoke to
lectureandperformance.
MP&Estudents about
mastering for multimedia projects.
and played a concert.
Drummer Steve Smith
Guitarist/songwriter Lent
and membersof his group
Sternspoke about the busiVital Information (Tern
ness of releasing your own
Coster,FrankGambale,
and
CDand about composition
BaronBrowne)
gave clinics
techniques.
All brands: new, used, vintage
Full line of accessories
Repairs and restoration
Expert consultation
Exporter
of EM Winston
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263 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA02115 USA
Tel: 6t7-266-4727 ext. 25 Fax: 617-266-1517
Internet:
www.rayburn.com
Servingmusiciansandeducatorssince 19~9.
Spring1999
Berkleet o d a y
13
CAREERSPOTLIGHT
¯
Making
it... by
Hand
Three alumni wholeft the "~cwoodshed"
have found
rewardingcareers in their workshopsas luthiers.
t is very commonto read in these pages of
alumni whohave departed from their original aspirations to discover rewarding, creative careers in another field. Three alumni,
David Bonsey ’80, Mark Campellone ’72, and
Brad Nickerson ’69, all came to Berklee with
an interest in performing, but after leaving,
each movedinto alternate careers as luthiers
(makers of stringed instruments). Bonsey
specializing in building violins; Campellone
by Professor
and Nickerson are concentrating on guitars.
All three havegained a profile in their fields
Charles
and
are starting to see their instruments
Chapman"72
played by notable artists.
Campellone and
Nickerson
were honored
with
commissions
from
the
renowned
guitar collector
Scott
Chinery to
build instruments for his
now-famed
Blue Guitar
Collection.
Chinery
sought out 22
top luthiers
and
asked
Mark Campellonehas earned acclaim each to build
a blue, archfor his hand-made
archtopguitars.
I
14 Berklee
today
top style guitar. The complete collection was
exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute
in
Washington, D.C., last year and is now touring being displayed in museumsand expositions around the world.
It is noteworthy that neither Bonsey,
Campellone, or Nickerson ever formally studied lutherie. However, they feel that having
majored in performance has enabled them to
approach the luthier’s craft from a musician’s
perspective. This, they believe, has helped to
give their instruments that little "something"
that manyplayers are searching for.
Mark Campellone grew up in an artistic
family in Providence, RhodeIsland, and started playing guitar at age ten. Learning to play
jazz became his quest as a teenager and ultimately drew him to Berklee in the early 1970s.
By the middle of the decade, he was doing
repairs on all types of instruments and had
started building solid-body electric basses.
His first bass was madefor Berklee Professor
Bruce Gertz whostill owns and treasures the
instrument.
WhenCampellone started restoring vintage
archtop guitars, he found his calling and decided to build archtops exclusively. Since then, his
instruments have garnered widespread acclaim
for their blend of traditional jazz guitar design
and classic decorative details. "I’m optimistic
about the level of interest being shownin archtop guitars
today," Campellone said.
’~Basically, I feel they’re like classic cars. In
spite of all the modernstylings seen on cars
Spring1999
states: "I didn’t actually
apprentice with anyone, but
whenI decided to makemy
first archtop in 1983, both
MacKenzieand [New York
luthier] Carlo Grecowere a
big help."
He has now become a
world-class
maker of
acoustic, semi-acoustic,and
solid-bodyelectric guitars.
Nickerson states, "I am a
custom builder and welcome interaction
with
clients. I do not keep making the sameguitar over and
DavidBonsey:
"1 feel mymusical
training-- over--I amalwaysinterestespecially
at Berklee--iswhatenabled
meto ed in evolvingandcreating.
become
a creativeluthier."
I have made a solid body
electric dulcimer, a very
today, a classic design--likethat of a unique 12-string guitar, and many
Rolls Royce--still looks great. The other very unusual instruments. I
archtop guitar fits into our musical am currently working on a project
culture in the sameway."
that I’m quite excited about. It is
His CampelloneSpecial was the really goingto be a showpiece. It’s
model he built for the Blue Guitar an archtopwith a tiger themeto repCollection. "All of myguitars are resent the plight of these great anicompletelyacoustic [with no built- mals. It has boomerang-shaped
in electronics]," he said. "Theirtone sound holes with extensive inlaid
and projection mustbe consistent or engravings by Petria Mitchell, a
they don’t leave my shop."
Brattleboro, Vermontartist."
Campellonebelieves that a truly
His Nickerson Equinox Custom
great instrument must not only was the modelchosento be included
sound goodand be responsive to the in the Chinery Blue Guitar
player’s touch, but it should look Collection.
great as well. He feels there will
DavidBonsey,born and raised in
always be a demandfor goodinstru- Wasiawa, Hawaii, started playing
ment makers and would encourage the violin at the age of nine. Often
anyonewith interest in the field to taunted in the schoolyardfor carryfollowhis or her aspirations.
ing his violin case, he switched to
Brad Nickerson was born and guitar. That seemedto rectify this
raised on Cape Cod, Massachusetts situation. His grandfather was an
and started playing guitar at age amateur violin maker, and Bonsey
fourteen, but actually did not makea spent manyhours in his grandfaguitar until he was nearly 40 years ther’s shoplearningthe basics of this
old. Like the other alumni in this time-honoredcraft.
article, his maininterest at Berklee
Hecontinued to play both guitar
was performance. After he graduat- and violin, but chose guitar as his
ed, he workedin the graphic arts principal instrument at Berklee.
field for manyyears, but kept his Duringhis college years, he worked
interest in music and worked at for several established violin makers
instrument repair shops in Boston doingrepairs andhoninghis skills as
and Amherst,Massachusetts.
a luthier. Theweekbefore he graduNickerson received advice and ated from Berklee he was offered a
encouragementto start makinghis full-time position as a journeyman
own instruments
from Donald violin maker and restorer at W.J.
MacKenzie, a Cape Cod bow and Fleischer in Boston. He graduated
violin maker. Nickerson, like
on a Saturday, and the following
Campellone and Bonsey, didn’t
Mondaymorning, he started workstudy in the traditional sense. He ing at his newcareer.
Spring
1999
BradNickerson:
"1 amalwaysinterestedin evolving
andcreating."
]bday,
Bonsey
makesviolins, violas,
andcellos, but violinmaking
is his primaryinterest. "Mylast violin wasvery
special becauseI styledit after oneby
G.B. Guadagniviwholived about a
generationafter Stradivarius,"he said.
"GuadagnJ,
vi’s instrumentsdonot have
a direct lineageto anyother makeror
dynast, andthat is howI like to think
of rrdne. Myinstruments
reflect a crosspollinationof the Italian andAmerican
styles andare veryindividual."
Bonseyhas exhibited his instrumentsat the Triennial Expositionin
Cremona,Italy, and at the Musicora
Exposition
in Paris. Heis also a prizewinnerin international competitions
andhas doneresidenciesat the Kneisel
Hall and ManchesterChamberMusic
festivals and at the Conservatoryof
Musicof PuertoRico.
In 1994, he studied violin making
in Cremona,Italy, with Pierangelo
BalzariniandFabioVolta. In 1995,he
formed the Violin Workshop at
Johnson Instruments in Newton,
Massachusetts with Italian violin
maker Marco Coppiardi. Bonsey
nowspecializes in restoring fine
antique instruments and makingnew
violins,violas,andcellos.
"I feel my musical training-especially at Berklee--is what
enabled me to become a creative
luthier," Bonseysays. "Berkleewas
a wonderfulexperience. Thediversity of the’, students and styles of
musicgave mea foundation to build
on that I veouldnever havereceived
if I had followed the traditional
route manyluthiers take."
~
Berklee today
15
Lots
of Monke1~
Busy composer, arranger, producer, and sessio
Rob Mounsey’75 sees his work more as a car
A
by" M’ark
Small
16
"73
tiny elevator chugs up eight floors to
deliver y,ou from the street into Rob
Mounseys Flying MonkeyStudio in
Manhattan’sFlatiron District. (Thecompany’s
Flying Monkey
monikercomesnot from the airborneapes in the Wizardof Oz, but fromChinese
mythology,
accordingto the outfit’s principalprimate.)Here,surrounded
byan array of digital and
analogrecorders,soundprocessinggear, samplers,
and Mac-basedediting equipment,Mounsey
has
workedon projects for ArethaFranklin, Carly
Simon,TonyBennett, and Gloria Estefan, and
with producerssuch as Russ Titelmanand Phil
Ramone.
This is wherehe produced
his latest disc;
YouAreHere,his fifth as a leaderandsecondouting withguitarist SteveKhan.
Awall of gold andplatinumrecordstestifies
of Mounsey’s
successes elsewherewith artists
like Paul Simon(Graceland), Natalie Cole
(Stardust), Billy Joel (The Bridge), Steve
Winwood
(Back in the HighLife), JamesTaylor
(Hourglass), and Donald Fagen (Nightfly).
Grammynominations for various projects
(includingLocalColor,his first disc with Khan)
and an Emmy.&ward for composing theme
musicfor the "GuidingLight" soap opera share
a nearbyshelf with a pile of ethnic instruments
Mounsey
has acquiredover the years.
Withcharacteristicwit, Mounsey
saysit is safe
to say that he has workedon "less than 1,000
albumsbut morethan 12" duringhis 23 years as a
Berklee
t 0 d ay
top New
ducer, and
number o
extent of
knownto
Last year
winningp
the NAR
Startin
readin all
he inherit
overMoz
determine
"There w
couldn’t,s
the time h
BM[[youn
Yorkfor t
reception
WilliamS
jazz and c
to NewY
ouschart-t
adaptabili
swinginga
the music
Thereis
delight fo
PHOTO
BY
GENE
MARTIN
PRODUCTION
ASSISTANT
DAVIDSMITH
1l of the technologyis a big
help, but if youdon’t keepyour
earsandyourtastes alive, it is easy
to go seriouslyastray. Youneedto
step back,see the big picture, and
take in the wholegestalt°
Howdid you end up coming to Berklee?
In high school, I had started to becomeinterested in jazz and popular music and was losing
interest in classical or serious music.I had heard
about Berklee from some musician friends and
wantedto go to school there.
I liked the idea of improvisation or spontaneous composition and was also interested in
jazz composition. That is kind of an arcane
world, but it wasso exciting to me.I was listening to music by Gil Evans, Stan Kenton, Tadd
Dameron,Claire Fischer, and Duke Ellington.
They were constantIy stretching the idiom this
way and that, expIoring the European, African,
and Latin musical heritage.
only two weeks, I gave mynotice. I couldn’t take
it. Travelingon a bus doingone-nightersis a very
youngman’sjob. I was only 21, but I was already
too old for it. The band was a bunch of kids in
their twenties with a leader whowas 75 and a few
guysin their forties. Theolder players had beenon
that bus for 20 years. I knewI didn’t want to do
that, so I stayed aroundBoston playing gigs and
doing copy work.
Ralph Graham,a singer I was working with,
got signed to RCAin 1976. I becamegoodfriends
with Leon Pendarvis who produced Ralph’s
album. I commuteddownto NewYork to the old
RCAstudio on 44th Street that summerfor the
sessions. I played keyboardsand endedup writing
some string and horn arrangements too.
Afterwards, Pendarvis told me he thought I
should moveto NewYork. He said he’d book me
to pIay second keyboardon his dates, so I moved
downin the fall, on my24th birthday.
Howlong was it before things started to
open up for you?
Through Leon and a few other people I met,
I started workingquite a bit. I was lucky to get
here at that time because there was a big boom
happening in the record business. Everyonewas
making a disco record. Weused to just crank
them out. I have a few gold records on mywall
from that era for working with Ashford and
Simpson and the Michael Zager Band.
Back then production teams were putting
out an album each month. There was a large
pool of players who always worked. There
wouldbe a lot of players in a roomwith a bunch
of mikes. An arranger would come in and put
Were there any courses or teachers you had out the parts, and someonewouldturn on a tape
that were particularly influential?
machine. The recording business hadn’t signifiThe material Herb Pomeroytaught was very cantly changedin 30 years.
mind expanding. There are many peopie who I
The scene that existed in the late 1970s was
rememberalmost daily for the things that I got all turned upside down by MIDI, drum
from them. Phil Wilsonis one of those. I used to machines, and sequencing by the mid-1980s.
play in his Dues Band. WhenI won Berklee’s Technology turned the whole business into
Richard Levy CompositionPrize, I had to write somethingelse. I amnot saying that is all bad,
a whole concert programthat was played by the but the work I do today is very different than
Dues Band.
what I did then. The scene is nowcompletely
I had Gary Burton for a small band ensem- fractured. Yourarely work with a large group
ble. Hehad very little to say, but it was extreme- except for film work.
ly pithy, concentrated wisdom. He taught us
howto piay in a small group to makethe whole
As a keyboard player, it must have been
soundbetter, not to makeyourself sound better.
easier for you to join the technological revoluThat is somethingthat I still try to do all of the tion than it was for other instrumentalists.
time. I also loved analyzing Beethovenstring
It was. I didn’t really want to get into decquartets in John Bavicchi’s classes. He got some tronic music originally, but it was unavoidable.
young kids who were very green about that
Myfirst synthesizer was an Arp 2600 with all
kind of musicto really concentrate.
those spaghetti patch cords. I’d bring it to the
studio, and people would say, "You knowhow
Howdid your career unfold after Berklee? to workthat thing?" After a half-hour of foolI took a semesteroff before graduatingto go on ing around with it, I’d makeit go "doink" and
the road with the TommyDorsey Band. After everyone would say, "Wow,it went doink!"
18
Berkleet o d a y
Spring1999
Were you working mostly as a keyboardist
on sessions when things started changing?
Primarily, but it was a hard adjustment as an
arranger and producer too. There were some
momentsof serious vertigo. I produced three
albumsfor MichaelFranks starting around 1982.
ThePassionFruit albumstill stands up musically.
Wedid that one the old way, wherewe had a band
for a week. I did simple overdubs on myRoland
Jupiter 8 synthesizer, and Michaelsang. A lot of
people liked that record. On the next two, we
werestruggling to incorporate all of the newelectronic technology. Wewanted to use the new
tools--it was fun to makemusic with them--but
there was a momentwhen we wondered where to
start. It is a little easiernow.
There are so manywaysto build a recording.
All of the technology is a big help, but if you
don’t keep your ears and your tastes alive, it is
easy to go seriously astray. Youneed to step
back, see the big picture, and take in the whole
gestalt. You can get too obsessed with tiny
details today because the technology allows you
so muchcontrol.
I have always loved music, but I have especially loved recording. Thesedays, you can play
these crazy tricks on a recording. If you want to
write a piece whereall of a sudden2,000 flutes
start playing at the chorus, you can do that. You
can create all of these illusions of things happening that didn’t happenthat way.
maydo a lot of TVcommercialsto pay tlhe bills.
I alwaysget calls to write an arrangementor just
to be a player--whichis a lot of fun. Playing on
a session is pretty low pressure compared to
writing an arrangement and feeling the responsibility for howwell a session turns out.
It had been quiet, but all of a suddenI started producinga lot of records at the end of last
year. I did one with T. Monkand have another
coming up with Bobby McFerrin. He wants to
do another record with a choir. He improvised
all of these pieces to multitrack tape, and myjob
will be to organize them and arrange them for
the choir. After he makesthe record, he wants
to take the music around the country and performit with college choirs.
Can you give me an example of a project
I also recently released myown record You
whereyou’ve done somethingillusory like that?
Are
Here on Siam Records with Stew. ~ Khan.
With Phil Ramone, I worked to create a
recording of Tony Bennett and Billie Holiday Siam has also asked me to produ¢e a CDby
bassist Bakithi Kumalo. He is from South
singing a duet on "God Bless the Child." It
came flora an old film Billie had done with Africa and played on the Graceland album with
Paul Simon. I expect I will end up cowriting
Count Basle and a septet four rhythm section
players and three horns. Wetook this noisy, low someof the material and playing on it too.
I am also reaching out into tlhe film music
fidelity recording and got it to sound pretty
world
again. I have worked on a few films,
clean with multifrequency noise gates. I took
that and built a new click track all the way Working Girl with Mike Nichols and Bright
Lights Big City with Donald Fagen. I did some
through, setting every click manually. I tranepisodic TVlast year. The show"Central Park
scribed the whole arrangementexactly as origiWest,"wasterrible but it was a lot of fun.
nally played and then the musicians played it
along with the old track. The final tape had the
When you are asked to wriite something
old track, the new instrumental tracks, and
like
the great arrangementsyou did for Sinead
Billie’s vocals, whichwe could fade up or down.
O’Connor’s
AmI Not Your Girl CD, are you
Then Tonyadded his vocals.
given parameters, or can you just let your
It is amazing that it really works.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t credited on the album. imagination go ?
I ampretty flee. That project was also proHowwould you describe that credit anyway?
duced by Phil Ramone. He has been a good
friend and supporter over the years. Weall met
How does your work go these days--bow
much arranging, how much playing, and how and talked about things and I told them my
ideas. Wewent over the road mapof tlhe song,
much producing do you do?
It is hard to say. I tell everyonethat I don’t howlong it should be, and what lyrics Sinead
havea career; I havea careen. It all changesfrom was going to sing. Wealso made some minor
week to week and year to year. Sometimes I changes on the session. Whena lot of nuances
Spring1999
"Playing a sessionis prettylow
pressure comparedto writing
an arrangement
andfeeling the
responsibility
for
howwell a sessionturnsOUt."
Berklee
today 19
are written out for everybody,there is a limit to
what you can change on the session. Sinead really wanted to make an old-fashioned sounding
record with big band and, in somecases, strings.
According to Gary, there were at least a dozen
edits between the various takes. Oncethey had
done that and they had this two-inch analog tape
with all the cuts, they erased everythingbut the
drums! All of this was to get a drumperformance
It must have been a very different approach that: they really liked. Waltercamein and replayed
when you wrote charts for James Taylor or the bass part and I cameback in and redid the
Donald Fagen.
acoustic and electric piano tracks. Steve Khan
Donald will usually have one really strong camein and redid the guitar tracks, and they were
line that he knowshe just has to have in the on their way.
song. He will sing it to you. Elsewherehe would
tell mejust to fill it in. It wasreally nice to get
That soundslike such a painful wayto makea
called for the JamesTaylor albumbecause I love record.
his music madly. MikeBrecker was on that sesVery painful. After Gaucho and Nightfly,
sion. James had asked him to improvise some Donald took a long break. This process was the
lines and then harmonizethem. Miketold James only waythat he could satisfy himself, but it was
he should call mebecauseI could do it faster. So so painful to go throughthat he couldn’t stand it.
I came in and sang James some lines and then Maybethere is somethingwrongwith the picture
harmonized them in two or three parts. Mike whenit gets to that point. I don’t think it is supplayed all three lines on tenor sax; we called him posed to hurt that much.
the three tenors.
Do you have any thoughts for young people
WTaatwas one of the most memorablesessions wantinga career in the music business?
you have been on?
The best advice I can give is to keep the most
When I worked on Steely Dan’s Gaucho open mind you can. Youshould realize whenyou
album, I was just getting used to the idea of com- go into it that the musicbusinessis nevergoingto
pletely obsessive-compulsivestudio guys making makeany sense. It is totally unpredictable and
themselves crazy in pursuit of perfection. We completelyillogical. Youhave to be able to work
were trying to do the title track. Mostof it was well with people whoare brilliant and somethat
written out by Donald. I was playing piano,
need a lot of hand-holding because they don’t
Victor Feldmanwas playing electric piano, Steve know which end is up. Sometimes those who
Khan was playing guitar, AnthonyJackson was don’t knowwhat they are doing won’t listen to
on bass, and Jeff Porcaro played drums. We you. Someof the brilliant ones are really toughto
workedon that one song for about 12 hours startwork with. Youjust accept it because they are
ing at noon. The track is complexand long--six great and you knowthey have the stuff.
or eight minutes. Wehad gotten four takes.
Thereare a lot of musicianswhoare really giftTothe players, all four takes soundedperfect; ed thoughnot educated whoreally have a 1or that
none of us could hear anything wrongwith any of you can learn from them. They are going to be
them. Donald and Walter were sitting in the comingfrom a very different place than someone
booth Iooking like they had just tasted a rotten whostudied at Berklee.
egg. Theyfelt it wasn’treally working.It wasfrusWhenI was younger, I had to learn to have
trating to us. All of the players lovedSteely Dan’s respect for people whodidn’t have the education
musicso much.Wewere really happy to be on the ~ had, but whogenuinely had a lot to communirecord and were working very hard and being so cate. Youcan learn so muchfrom people like that.
patient. At midnight, Becket and Fagen said,
If youhaveskills that they don’t have, youcan be
"We’rejust not goingto get this one. We’regoing a tremendoushelp to them. It doesn’t necessarily
to throw out the song." Thenthey split.
matter that someone doesn’t knowhow to read
The players were depressed because we hadn’t musicor can’t tell youwhatkey the songis in. If
made them happy. [Producer] Gary Katz stayed they can do something beautiful that communiand Victor went back to his hotel. The engineer, cates with a lot of people, they havesomethingfor
Khan, Anthony, Porcaro, and I stayed from mid- you to absorb.
night until 4:00 a.m. Wedid seven moretakes, and
Conversely, there are people who knowall
all seven soundedperfect to us. Wewere exhaust- about scales and chords, but what they do does
ed and went home.
not communicate. That is missing the whole
Becket and Fagen cameback a few days later
point. They might not be playing any wrorlg
and listened to all of the takes. Theycalled us to notes, but their music feels like a trigonometry
thank us for staying and doing all of the extra textbook. If you are not communicatingan emowork and said, "I think there might be something tion, the joy of makingmusic, or the rhythmic
here that we can use." They sat with Gary and excitement, whatis the point? This is a goodlife
started cutting the two-inch multitrack tape.
lesson. It took mea while to learn it.
~
20 Berklee
today
Spring1999
An Appredation
of Duke
A century after his birth, DukeEllington occupies a place in
history as one of America’smost important composers.
I
by Jeff
Friedman’79
t’s a greattimeto be,, into ,D, ukeEllington.
Edward Kennedy Duke Ell!ngton is
rememberedas one of Americas greatest
composers.This year marksthe Duke’scentennial and seemsan appropriate time to reflect
uponthe manand his music.
It’s hard to talk briefly about Ellington
becausehe wasso multifaceted and musically
gifted. In his dayhe wasa culturalicon,today,he
remainsa vital part of our cultural continuum.
Hewasa musicalpioneerfor morethan 50 years;
his music,and the mannerin whichhe madeit,
set the standardfor his contemporaries
andfor
all of the generations
that havefollowed.
Ellington had two self-described careers,
those of bandleader and composer.Whilehis
orchestra servedas his primaryinstrument,one
mustneverloosesight of the fact that he wasalso
a greatpianostylist. It is estimated
that duringhis
long career, Ellington gaveas manyas 20,000
performances.
His musicreachedtens of millions
of peoplethroughoutthe Americasandin places
as far-flungas Europe,Africa,the NearEast, the
MiddleEast, andAsia.
Ellingtondescribedhimselfas undisciplined
anda great procrastinator,yet he wasthe author
of thousandsof compositionsand arrangements.
HewroteTin PanAlley pop songs, moodpieces,
Jeff Friedman
is an associateprofessorin the Jazz
CompositionDepartment
at Berklee and teaches
a courseonthe life andmusicof DukeEllington.
Spring1999
dancepieces, concerti, showmusic,film music,
through-composed extended compositions,
suites, tone poems,and every mannerof blues
imaginable.Asidefromwriting for his 16-piece
big band,he "wrotefor solo piano, pianotrios,
small groupswith horns, andsymphonic
orchestras. Among
his manymusicalinnovations were
new approaches to form, melody, harmony,
rhythm, orchestration, and performance. He
swungbefore there was swing, and he bopped
before there was bop. Hewas fourth stream
beforethere wasa third stream!Andhe did it all
with trend-setting style, personifyingelegance
andsophistication.
Despitethe scope, depth, and complexityof
his creative output,Ellington’smusichas always
Duke
Ellington
satin~withHerbPomeroy’s
(right)
student
ensemble
during
a 1957visit to Berklee,
Berklee today 21
with which we understand his musical intentions, Ellington, man
and musician, remains
something of a mystery. Ellington’s image
as an enigmatic character and the elusive
nature of his methodology were very much
to his liking. Indeed,
Ellington himself cultivated this image.
Ellingtonfelt that in
been accessible. As WyntonMarsalis matters of art something should
said, "He liked simple songs with always be left unknownand/or unfincomplicated developments and pretty
ished. The element of mystery chalendings." His work never sounds selflenges our natural humandesire to figconscious or pretentious. Although ure things out, and keeps us wanting
motivatedby a personal need to satisfor more. EIlington knewthat there is
fy his owncreative urges, Ellington’s no magic if the audience knows how
musicnever comesacross as self-indul- the trick is done. He abhorred those
gent.Likeall great artists, he madeit all behind-the-scenes
documentaries
seemeffortless. His musicrolls out like showing how movies were made. He
fruit falling froma tree.
woulddeflect direct queries concerning his musical techniques and methExamining
Ellington
ods with characteristic wit, saying that
Ellington is arguablythe moststud- that kind of talk wouid"stink the place
ied jazz composer of all time. His up." Whileit is an achievementin and
music and ideas have been the subject of itself that Ellington was able to
of college courses across the world. maintainthis air of mysteryduring his
Herb Pomeroy’s Ellington course at lifetime, it is no small measureof his
Berldee, started in the late 1950s, was legacythat it continuesto this day.
one of the first. The courses deal with
the entire range of the Ellington expe- The"Ellingten
Effect"
rience, fromhis rich and varied history
Muchhas been written about ~vhat
to his arranging and compositional Billy Strayhorn termedthe "Ellington
techniques.
Effect." Despite all sorts of technical
There have been countless articles
analysis, research, and scholarly dispubIished in magazines and newspa- cussion directed at pin-pointing the
pers, and papers on Ellingtonia are exact elements necessaryto create the
routinely presented at conferenceslike "effect," it’s essence remainselusive.
the annual conventions of the Duke Manylists of Dukish devices have
ElIington Society and the International been made based on studies of his
Association of Jazz Educators. There work. These lists describe his use of
is a chat group on the Internet where triadic voicings in the trombonesecexperts and novices alike, fans one and tion, diminished and parallel harall, exchangeinformation and opinions monies, plunger mutes for the brass,
about every imaginable aspect of cross-sectional orchestration, color
Ellingtonia. (Makingfun of the level of coupling, etc. Somepoint to his voicminutia the group is capable of, some- ings as the key; others emphasizehis
one jokingly asked what color socks orchestration.Still others insist that it
Ellington wore on a certain date. In wasthe individuals in his bandand the
short order, he’d received multiple way in which he utilized them. While
answers!)Additionally, there are thou- these are all valid observations about
sands of student and professional
the elemental aspects of the Ellington
ensembles worldwide dedicated to
sound, they don’t add up to Duke.
performingthe Ellington repertory.
Ellington’s developmentand appliYet despite the manyyears of sus- cation of a bodyof distinct techniques
tained academicinquiry and the ease was the result of a need for practical
llington could make
bracedwhile holding,
themat armslength. In
this way, he maintained
22 Berklee t o d a y
solutions to specific problems concerning the expression of his individual artistic vision. His writing was
never about technique for its own
sake, but rather technique in the service of his ideas. Dukecreated and
applied technique on an as-needed
basis for each composition. Since his
techniques were born from an aesthetic motivation, his music was always
extremely well integrated. Wedon’t
hear him thinking. With Duke, form
definitely follows function. This
speaks volumesabout the fundamental
directness and honesty of Duke’sart.
Again, quoting WyntonMarsalis, "He
wasa slave to no systems."
A Puzzle
Thereare aspects of Ellington’s persona that remainenigmatic. It has been
said that he wassomewhatof a puzzle.
Each person whoknewhim got a small
piece of that puzzle, while no one--not
even those closest to him--possessed
the entire picture. Everthe master psychologist, Ellington could makepeople
feel fully embracedwhile holding them
at arms length. In this way, he mainmineda part of himselffor himself,a private part wherehe couldretreat to distill
his life experience
into his art. It is this
private Ellington that frustrates our
efforts to completely knowhim and,
like his music, leaves him unfinished,
keeps him interesting, and keeps us
wantingfor more.
Becausehe was a complete original
in everythingthat he did, it shouldnot
be surprising that Ellington had an
eccentric side. It is widely knownthat
he was a hypochondriac. It’s also
knownthat he was extremely superstitious. He thought it unlucky to wear
any garment with a loose button. The
story has it that band members,aware
of this particular quirk, wouldsometimes help a button to becomeloose in
hopes of receiving the damagedgoods.
Even in the area of superstition,
Eilington was an original. Consistent
with his penchantfor goingagainst the
flow of conventional wisdom, he
regarded the number13 as lucky, and
considered Friday the 13th to be the
luckiest dayof all.
While there are arguably many
events of consequence in his long
career, Ellington scholars point to
three mainperiods as havingthe greatSpring1999
est impact. The first period begins in
1927 when the Ellington orchestra
landed an extended engagement at
NewYork’s prestigious Cotton Club.
"Jubilee Stomp," "Black Beauty,"
"Yellow Dog Blues," "Awful Sad,"
"The Mooche," "Oklahoma Stomp,"
"Cotton Club Stomp," "Mood
Indigo," and "Rockin’ in Rhythm."
Cotton
ClubStint
The remarkable "Creole Rhapsody,"
The Cotton Club offered an
which comprised two sides of a 78
unprecedented
level of public visibility
record, marked Ellington’s first
for the Ellington organization. The attempt at extended composition.
club was a prohibition-era speakeasy
The second great period of
renowned for presenting the best
Ellingtonia begins in 1939 with the
black entertainment available. Its
addition to the band of writer/pianist
white-only clientele represented a Billy Strayhorn, tenor saxophonist
who’s who of New York’s rich,
Ben Webster, and bassist Jimmie
famous, and powerful. Additionally,
Blanton. This period produced many
there were regular radio broadcasts
masterpieces including "Concerto for At tlhe 197’1commencement
exercises,
from the club, enabling Ellington’s
Cootie," "Ko-Ko," "Harlem Air
DukeEllingtonreceivedthe first honmusic to be heard by a much wider
Shaft," "In a Mellotone," "Bakiff,"
orarydoctorateBerkleeawarded.
audience. By 1931, when the Cotton
"Mainstem," and "What AmI Here
Club engagement ended, Ellington
For?," to namebut a few in a very long
and his orchestra werestars.
list of classics.
audience exposure garnered from
The run at the Cotton Club providradio broadcasts could limit his public
ed Ellington and his orchestra with an TheStrayhorn
collaboration
exposurethus threatening his popularideal opportunityto perfect their craft
The music from this period, known ity.
and build upontheir earlier experiences. as the Blanton/Websterera, has a disNeeding an entirely new band
Theconstant challenge of writing music tinctly different character from what book, Ellington turned to Strayhorn
of a programmatic
nature for the club’s camebefore, owingin large part to the and his son MercerEllington. As nonexotic song and dance revues gave
influence of Billy Strayhorn.
ASCAP-affiliatedwriters, they could
Ellington a chance try new ideas and Strayhorn inspired Ellington with
composemusic that wouldnot be subtechniques. Dueto to the character of new ideas in melody, harmony, and ject to the broadcast ban. Mercerprothe musicthat he producedduring this
orchestration. Morethan a collaboraduced some wonderful music includperiod, the orchestra cameto be known tor in the usual sense of the word, ing "Things Ain’t What They Used to
as the "Jungle Band." His "jungle"
Strayhorn became his full musical
Be" and "Moon Mist,"
but
musicwas often characterized by jarpartner. As Ellington described it,
Strayhorn’s contributions had the
ring intervallic angularity, abrupt mood "Billy Strayhorn was myright arm, greater impact. Amongthe manymaschanges, and the growling plungermyleft arm, all the eyes in the backof terpieces Strayhorn produced during
mutedwails emanatingfrom the horns myhead, mybrain wavesin his head, this period were "Takethe ’A’ Train,"
of trumpeter Bubber Miley and trom- and his in mine."
which became the band’s new theme
bonist Joe "Tricky Sam"Nanton. The
Originally hired by Ellington as a song, "Chelsea Bridge," "Raincheck,"
band was also capable of makingmusic lyricist, Strayhornsoon found himself and "Johnny ComeLately."
of great subtlety and emotionalintroassisting the maestro with the band’s
spection.
writing chores and occasionally play- Webster
andBlanton
During the Cotton Club period,
ing piano. Initially he was responsible
BenWebsterwasthe first great tenor
Ellingtonexpanded
his orchestra, enlistfor overseeingthe series of small band saxophonesoloist in Ellington’s band.
ing manyof the players that would sessions that began in 1936, and for
This increased the size of the woodwind
becomecentral to the Ellington sound handling the vocal arranging for the
section to five, a numberthat Ellington
for decades to come. This period saw band. Ellington, recognizing that
maintained thereafter, setting a new
the addition of Harry Carney, Johnny Strayhorn had "cracked the code,"
standard for other bands. The 30-yearHodges, Barney Bigard, Juan Tizol,
soon had him contributing to the
old Webster, who had previously
Wellman Braud, Fred@Gu3q Freddie
band’s regular book.
worked with Cab Calloway, played
Jenkins, and Cootie Williams (who
Strayhorn’s big break came in
with an intensity that infused newlife
replaced BubberMiley), to Ellington’s January
1941 when ASCAP,
into Ellington’s saxophonesection.
original core band of Otto Hardwick, embroiledin a dispute over royalties
Websterwas also capable of soft-spoken
Arthur Whetsol, and SormyGreer.
with the major radio networks,
introspection: playingthe lowend of the
The Cotton Club orchestra’s addideclared a ban on the broadcast of horn with a breathy sub-tone sound
tional instrumentation, high caliber of music by its membership.Ellington,
that equaledthe emotionaldepth of his
musicianship, and overwhelming
an ASCAPmember since the midtenor peers Coleman Hawkins and
degree of individualism provided
1930s, was dependenton his broadcast Lester Young.
Ellington with the palette from which royalties to subsidize the sizable payInspired by the new hue that
he created early masterpieces like
roll of his band. Further, the Ioss of Webster added to his orchestral
Spring1999
Berklee t o d a y 23
palette, Ellington created new compositions featuring the great tenor
player, including "All Too Soon,"
"CongaBrava," "Cottontail," "Just
a-Settin’ and a-Rockin’," and "What
AmI Here For?"
While Webster was an important
new voice in the Ellington organization, it was20-year-oldbassist Jimmie
Blanton who exerted a more farreaching influence. Blanton possessed
a huge sound and technical facility
unheardof at the time. Ellington was
so taken with his playing that he
recordeda series of now-classic duets
with the bassist. For the orchestra,
Ellington wrote "Jack the Bear,"
which showcased Blanton’s soloing
and even featured him playing unison
lines with the ensemble.
Ellington proclaimed that "Jimmie
Blanton revolutionized bass playing,
and it has not been the same since."
Besideshis melodicsoloing, his greatest contribution was his approach to
walking bass, which emphasized
strong accents on two and four. This
for the first time syncopatedthe foundation of the groove, creating great
tension and driving forward motion.
Although he died from tuberculosis in 1942at the age of 24, Blanton’s
innovations inspired the generations
that followed.Oftencalled the "father
of modernbass," he has been cited as
the primary influence on Oscar
Pettiford and Charles Mingus.
The last of the three periods of
Ellingtonia is marked by the Duke
Ellington Orchestra’s appearance at
the NewportJazz Festival on July 7,
1956. This era was defined not by a
particular musical advancement, but
by the performance of his 1937 twopart composition "Diminuendo and
Crescendoin Blue." It featured a sensational, crowd-pleasing 27 choruses
of blues by tenor titan Paul Gonsalves.
Some
Major Setbacks
The period following the successes
of the early ’40’s and preceding
Newporthad seen major setbacks for
Ellington. WorldWarII and changing
musical tastes conspired to bring the
swing era to an end. A 1942 ban on
recording
by the American
Federationof Musicianswith its resultant loss of royalty incomeand public
exposure only served to exacerbate
24 Berklee t o d a y
the
the
his
his
situation. Ellington’s was one of
few big bandsto survive, owingto
ability to support his payroll with
composingroyalties.
Ellington also lost key players like
Cootie Williams, Arthur Whetsol,
Otto Hardwick, Ben Webster, Barney
Bigard, Tricky Sam, and SonnyGreet.
Perhaps the greatest blow was the
departure of JohnnyHodgesin 1951.
There were personnel gains as
well, though. RayNance, Clark Terry,
Cat Anderson, Jimmy Hamilton,
Russell Procope, SamWoodyard,and
the hero of Newport ’56, Paul
Gonsalves. In 1955, Johnny Hodges
returned as well, giving the band. a
tremendousshot of inspiration.
Ellington biographer John Hasse
has said that the Newport performancewas "more a triumph of showmanship than music." Nonetheless,
the sensational success of Newport
and a subsequent Time magazine
cover story helped Ellington sustain
his orchestra and career through his
most challenging times. The recording
of the Newport show became his
best-selling record. Ellington was
onceagain in the limelight.
In the years that followed,
Ellington hit some of the highest
peaks of his career and, with Billy
Strayhorn, produced some of the
most ambitious music yet. Highlights
include A Drum Is a Woman,Such
Sweet Thunder, Suite Thursday, The
Queen’sSuite, The FarEast Suite, and
his sacred music.
Lawrence Berk remarked that "there
is no aspect of modern American
music and jazz that has not felt the
impactof his uniquetalent."
One award that eluded Ellington
was the Pulitzer Prize for Music. In
1965, after being rejected for the special prize for whichhe had been nominated,
67-year-old
Ellington
responded by saying, "Fate is being
kind to me. Fate doesn’t want meto be
famous too young."
A Pervasive
Influence
Duke Ellington passed away in
1974at the ageof 75. Sincehis passing,
his influence has remainedas pervasive
as ever. Virtually all of his important
recordings,and a great deal of the lesser ones, are currently available. Since
his death, there have been hundredsof
hours of unreleased recordings made
available--many containing previously unpublished compositions.
In 1988, MercerEllington released
his private collection
of Duke
Ellington
memorabilia to the
Smithsonian Institute in Washington
D.C. Containing scores, concert programs, photographs, correspondence,
writings, travel records, business
records, and hundreds of personal
items, this collection has becomean
invaluable resource for Ellington
research.
Additionally,
the
SmithsonianInstitute has sponsored a
touring Ellington exhibit called
BeyondCategory.
As Ellington’s scores have become
increasingly available (from the
archive and the manytranscriptions of
Awards
andAccolades
During his lifetime, Ellington
David Berger), there has been an
explosion of repertory bands at both
received hundreds of awards and honors. They included plaques commem- the academicand professional levels.
orating wins in music polls, awards Notable professional ensembles are
the DukeEllington Orchestra (led by
from professional associations, keys
to cities, state proclamations,and even Mercer Ellington until his death in
1997), NewYork’s Lincoln Center
a papal blessing from Pope Paul IV.
Jazz Orchestra directed by Wynton
Notable among the many me&is he
Marsalis, and the Smithsonian Jazz
received was the Presidential Medalof
Masterworks Orchestra led by David
Freedom,America’s highest civilian
Berger and GuntherSchuller.
honor. Richard Nixonpresented it to
With 1999 being Ellington’s cenhim at the White House in 1969 to
tennial year, we can expect manypermarkEllington’s 70th birthday.
Although he never studied music
formances, productions, publications,
formally, Ellington received 17 hon- lectures, scholarly panels, and tributes
honoring the life and times of this
orary doctoral degrees, including
great Americancomposer.
Berklee’s first in 1971. Speaking of
Indeed, it’s a great time to be into
Ellington in that year’s commenceDuke Ellington.
~
ment address,
then-president
Spring1999
T~ps
Somepractical advice on howto start building a
national audience on a small budget
side from the romantic attraction musicians feel for going on the road, many
have discovered that it is a proven
method for increasing their reputation and
developing new markets for their music. Here
are somebasic tips to help with planning a tour
for those who haven’t done it yet. The first
steps shouId be taken about four months in
advanceof your trip. Onceyou get into it, you
will learn that successful touring requires the
coordination of many elements. The key elements that must be attended to are financing,
booking, promotion, and tour management.
Let’s look at themone at a time.
A
b y Deb
Pasternak "92
Financing
It is important to knowthe financial cost of
your tour before you start; otherwise, you may
not be able to fulfill your obligations. If a promoter offers you a travel date that you might not
be able to afford to play, ask him to hold the date
for as long as is comfortablewithout a contract,
and then take that time to find financial support.
To figure the moneyyou need, add travel costs
(food, transportation, hotels) with promotional
costs (mailingpress kits, phonecalls, posters, and
CDs), and then add in the cost of maintaining
your household bills while you are gone. For
estimated costs of a three-week tour by a solo
performer, see the chart below.
60 press kits:
$100
CDsfor press kits: $240
Press kit posta,ge:
$96
Phone:
$100
Car rental/gas:
$450
Hotels ($40/night): $800
Food ($20/day):
$400
Home expenses: $1,000
Total expenses= $,3,186
DebPasternak:
"Thiscouldbeyourchance
to see
thecountry."
Spring1999
Costs may be higher or lower depending on
manyfactors [like airfare, whether you will be
staying with friends for part of the tour, how
manyof you are traveling, etc. In three weeks’
time, you should figure that there are probably
20 possible nights for you to perform.
Although, quite honestly, if you are traveling
alone, the most you might want to play could
be closer to 16. nights.
To raise moneyfor your tour, you often have
to be creative. Sponsorship could come from
Berklee
today 25
your record label or from companies
whose products you endorse if you
have these kinds of affiliations. Any
company that can spare the money
necessary to makeyour tour work is
a potential sponsor.
Another proven way to make your
tours workfinancially is to target some
college dates along the way to compensate for the less-lucrative club
dates. Colleges often pay well, may
hire you on off-nights or afternoons,
and give you free lodging. Another
way to earn moneyon tour is through
product sales. CDs,T-shirts, and other
items can often bring in substantial
income. However, since you cannot
guaranteethese sales aheadof time, it is
best not to factor this revenue into a
pretour budget.
the region. Melange hails from
Boston, where they have earned
three Meedawards, etc." Remember
that frequently your press release
will be printed verbatim, so be clear
and concise in representing your
music.
Whenworking with people in the
press, understand that they get
flooded with information, but that
they are looking for material to write
about. Treat them with respect and
always follow up on their terms. For
example, ask how often they would
like you to call back and/or contact
them by email. Remember, even if
you do not get a lot of coverage on
your first tour of an area, you have
started your relationship with the
press that you can build on for the
next tour.
Booking
Tour Management
Once you anchor your tour with
dates in a few key areas, try to find
Venues, merchandising, accomother venues en route. Ask vendors
modations, and travel arrangements
about other clubs on their circuit,
comeunder this heading. If you are
talk to other touring musicians, and going to a town where you will
search the Internet, the Musicians need to stay in a hotel, ask the club
agent or other musicians where to
Guide, and various other sources.
stay. They can recommend hotels
Namesand contacts are not hard
to find; the difficult part is booking and restaurants that they think are
the gig. Youare selling yourself, and good and cheap. Rememberto keep
receipts for all of your expenses as
that is not easy. A club agent’s perthey can be written off when you
spective often centers around the
itemize your deductions at tax time.
bottom line. So be patient, and try
not to take any rejection personally.
Youalso need to have someoneto
Most agents will treat you well once handle your merchandise sales and
they see that you are serious about your paymentafter the gig, and to be
performing and promoting your
your liaison to the promoterand sound
show at the dubs that they book.
crew. Do your homeworkwith a map
ahead of time to make sure that the
drive betweenshowsis manageable.
Promotion
A club owner gives you a venue
Workas hard as possible to make
your shows successful,
but give
to work in, but unfortunately, it is
often up to you and those you work yourself time off when the schedule
with to attract people to your show. permits. I once performed on three
different radio shows and did an
Get a press list fromthe club at least
outside teaser at a public fair presix weeksbefore the date of the performance. If you knowmusicians in
ceding a full-length performance-the town you are going to, ask them all in the sameday. If I have to book
for namesof people at the local radio myself at locations requiring longer
stations and newspapers that do
drives in between shows, I always
interviews and feature stories.
try to balance that with a day off
where I can do somethinga little bit
Makesure when you send a press
release to these media outlets that
special like seeing the part of the
you provide a clear angle that gives country that I am lucky enough to
them the story. For example: "In
be traveling through.
support of their national release
Last spring I did a tour in the northXCD, Melange is coming to
western states, and, although I ihad
Smokey’sTavernin their first tour of obligations almost every day, I found
2.6
Berkleet o d a y
myself with eight hours in which to
make a three-hour drive one day. I
took my time going down the
ColumbiaRiver Gorge and stopped to
hike in a couple of national parks on
the way. Remember, this could be
your chanceto see the country. If you
get picked up by a big label, your touring schedule maynot afford you this
kind of freedom.
Traveling as an up-and-coming
artist gives invaluable experience and
manyother benefits. You will meet
people whowill be helpful each time
you come through their region. Try
to tour in areas where you knowyou
will be able to stay at least one night
with a good friend. Spending time
with a grounded friend can be helpful when you are rushing around
performing and promoting.
Conclusions
Obviousiy,this brief article could
not possibly cover all of the issues
involved with touring, but it should
get you thinking. Whenyou try to
book your first tour, start with
shorter trips that are close to home
while you are learning the ropes. If
you are fortunate enough to be
working with a group, divide the
work load, and then makesure to see
that the band members who were
assigned to ai1 of the various details
actually took care of them.
Booking and managing a successful tour is tough workand is a fulltime job for the professionals who
work with established artists.
Onelarge benefit of doing all the
workyourself as you start out is that
you will understand a lot about the
business and will know what to ask
for when the time for you to hire a
competent agent, road manager,
and/or publicist comes along.
~1
Singer/songwriter Deb Pasternak has
toured extensively throughoutthe U.S.
She won a 1996 Boston Music Award,
and her critically acclaimed CDMore
was released nationally
on the
Signature Sounds label in March of
1997. She is currently shopping her
band’s newderno/ep to labels. Her email address is <[email protected]>.
You can check out her Web site at
<www.de bp asternak,corn>.
Spring1999
Alum n o t e s
Saxophonist
Roger ’69 of Mt. Pleasant, SC, is
Aldridge
"68of Olney, MD, the president of a global
hada selection of his com- manufacturer of plastic
positions performedin the processing equipment.
In November,pianistsixth annualbenefit concert
Randy
Klein’71 of
for the Chesapeake Bay composer
Foundation. He is also NewYork City played two
coordinating a composers’ programs at the John and
Bendheim
and poets’ collective to Maxine
sponsor monthly concerts Performing Arts Center.
and promote publications He played with Harvie
Swartz ’70 and Leonard
by members.
Drummer
StanleyEllis Hochmanfor one program
"68 of WestFalmouth,MA, and with Barbara Lea for
is music director at Old the second.
PianistCharles
Mymiit
’71
Hammondtown
Elementary School. His of Rego Park, NY, was
in
the
Old HammondtownJazz interviewed
13, 1998issue of
Bandis the top elementary December
jazz bandin Massachusetts. Newsday in an article
GuitaristCarlA. Caldeirachronicling his work as
pianist at the Nordstrom
departmentstore.
Saxophonist
IVlarc
Elbaum
"70 of Meredith,
NH, and his trio ~[D2
released the CDNewEdge
¯ . . Old Souls on the New
Sheriff label. Elbaumalso
played on Christmas is a
State of Mind with Joe
Droukasand the Bombers.
Saxophonist
]’odd
Anderson
"73 of NewYork,
NY,is performinglive and
playing studio sessions in
NYC. He also recently
completed a music-minusone album entitled Tenor
Jazz Jam with pianist
KevinHayes.
Singer/guitarist Scott
Appel’73 of Boonton,NJ,
has released a newalbum
PianistDanilo
Perez
’88 hasreleased
theCDCentralAvenue
for the Impulselabel. Tammy
LiPuma
producedthe CD entitled Parhelion, on the
OneManClappinglabel. It
which
hasreceived
critical acclaim
andwasnominated
for
features folk, newage, and
a Grammy
Award.
Onit, Perezblendsjazz, Panamanian
folk,
Celtic music.
blues,andMiddle
Eastern
elements.
Compiled by
Mike Cameron "00
Spring1999
Ken
Hatfield’74
Last fall, guitarist John
Carlini "73 of Berkeley
Heights, NJ, released a
Christmas album called A
ChristmasGift.
Vocalist CathySegalGarcia’74 of To]uca[Lake,
CA, appears on three
recent CDs. She recorded
duos with pianists Phillip
Strange of Arizona and
Ross Tompkins of L.A.,
and with guitarist Joe
Diorio. See her Website,
<www.cathysegalgarci~,com>.
Composer/guitarist Ken
Hatfield"74of Astoria, NY,
released a CDtitled Music
for Guitar and Bass with
bassist Hans Glawischnig
andhas publisheda folio of
the music.See his Website
<www.kenhatfield.com>.
Electric bassist J0e~
Shaw’75 of Brighton, MA,
has beenworkingprimarily
as an importer of Egyptian
and Moroccanclothing and
handicrafts. Healso ownsa
vintage clothing store and
operates a homerecording
studio¯
Berklee today
27
CLASSCONNECTIONS
Alumni Chapter
Presidents and
Coordinators:
New York
TomSheehan ’75
Consultant
(212) 712-0957
Scandinavia
Christian
Lundhohn’96
(454) 295-3083
Martin
Fabricus ’96
(453) 583-1679
Chicago
Doug
Murphy ’90
The Star Store
(Z08) 343-1750
TomCastonzo ’87
(708) 488-1208
Nashville
Pamela
Dent ’95
(615) 662-9112
Mark
Corradetti ’87
(615) 365-8052
Boston
Jeannie Deva’75
The Voice Studio
(617) 536-4553
San Francisco
Dmitri
Matheny ’89
Penumbra
(510) 428-2328
Los Angeles
Leanne
Summers’88
Vocal Studio
(818) 769-7260
Puerto Rico
Ralina
Cardona ’91
Crescendo
(809) 725-3690
Whilethe search continues for a newdirector of Alumni
Affairs (see page36), alumnievents are continuingto be held
in various parts of the country. OnSeptember28, 1998,
brothers Stephen
andLarry Oppenheimer
"77 were honored
and presented with distinguished alumni awards at Clouds
Restaurant atop the MosconeCenter in San Francisco.
StephenOppenheimer
is the editor-in-chief of the personal
recording industry’s top publication Electronic Musician
magazine.His brother, Larry "the O.," is a sounddiesigner
for Lucas Arts Entertainment. Dean of the Music
TechnologyDivision DonPuluse presented the awards and
described the contributions each of the Oppenheimershas
madeto the musicindustry.
The gathering was hosted by NorthernCalifornia alumni
chapterPresidentDmitriMatheny
’89, andwastimedto coincide
with the 105thAudioEngineeringSocietyconventionheld that
same weekend.Berklee faculty membersCarl Beatty, Rob
Jaczko, Bill Scheniman,and Stephen Webberof the Music
Technology
Divisionwerealso on handfor the event.
BostonAlumniChapterPresident JeannieDeva’75 welcomed
nearly 100 Boston-areaalumnito a late-Octoberevent in the
David Friend Recital Hall in the GenkoUchidaBuilding.
Berkleeprofessor and art historian HenryAugustineTate presenteda slide showandlectureas a preludeto a group’sself-guided tour of the Monetexhibit at the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston.
Tate, oneof Berklee’smostpopularinstructors, madethe exhibit
comealive with his insights andhumor.Spottedamongthe alumni attendingthat eveningwereProfessorJimKelly"73fi’omthe
Guitar Department
and Assistant Professor Wayne
Naus’76 from
the HarmonyDepartment.
In response to alumnirequests for events about the music
business that are educational in nature, the Boston. Alumni
Chapterwill hold a special event from noonto 6:00 p.m. on
March28 at the Uchidabuilding. Trustees DonRose, Mike
Dreese, TimCollins, and other prominentfigures in the music
businesswill discussthe latest trendsin musicretailing, technology, marketing,recording, and more.Seminarson a widerange
of topics and time for mentoringsessions and networkingare
planned. Watchyour mailboxand this columnfor information
on this andfuture alumnieventsin yourarea.
Keyboardist
Charles
Tobermann
’75 of Chabris,
France, recorded and mixed
La Petite Laurencine,a collection of traditional songs
from central France, by
artists Solange Panis and
Willy Soulette. Healso wrote
an audio processingsoftware
tutorial for the Wavescompany.
Guitarist GarySolt ’76 of
North Hollywood, CA, is a
faculty member at the
Musicians Institute
in
Hollywood, and has performed on TV soundtracks
for "DeepSpaceNine," "Star
Trek: The Next Generation,"
and"National Geographic."
DrummerDavidS. Albert
"77 of Raleigh, NC,is band
director at Leesville Road
High SchooI in Raleigh. He
also leads the DaveAlbert
All-Stars. Both groups have
recent CDreleases.
ComposerdayneCritelli
’77 of Greenwich, CT, was
selected to participate in the
prestigious BMI-Lehrman
Engel Musical Theatre
Workshop.
Guitarist JackDowdell
’78
of Bellevue, WA,is director
of the Half Note Studio
which provides private
instrumental
and vocal
instruction to over 90 students.
SaxophonistKenField’78
of Cambridge, MA, performed in Tokyo with
Japanese musicians Yuji
England
Lawrence
Jones ’80
44-1273-701833
Rome
Claudio
Zanghieri ’93
06-7184053
Greece
Mike
Acholadiotis ’84
016-926019
Stephen
Oppenheimer
(left) receives
a distinguished
alumnus
award
fromDonPuluse,deanof
Berklee’s
MusicTechnology
Division.
Jayne
Critelli
28 Berkleet o d a y
Spring1999
L.A. NEWSBRIEFS
I send best wishesto one and all
for a successful and prosperous
1999, and hope that 1998 was a
memorableyear for everyone for
all of the right reasons.
The Los Angeles Alumni
Chapter’s annual holiday social
was, once again, a great success.
This time the attendance was over
120, an increase of almost 50 percent over the previous year. The
location, Rive Gauche Care in
Sherman Oaks, provided a perfect
setting for this event. The chilly
weather, the glowingfireplace, and
a room packed full of alums, no
doubt reminded manyof their days
in Boston. The age range amongthe
alumni in attendance was also
impressive. NickWatson
’49 wason
one end of the spectrum and several recent grads whohad arrived in
Los Angeles within the previous
weekwere at the other.
The annual alumni brunch was
held again in conjunction with the
NAMM
Show on January 31st,
and, as is customary,several awards
were presented. Distinguished
alumni awards were given to Bill
Berry’58 andVinnieColaiuta’75.
Berry has had a long and distinguished career as a trumpeter, big
band leader, and educator. His
playing and recording credits
include
work with Woody
Herman, Maynard Ferguson, Thad
Jones and Mel Lewis, Bing Crosby,
Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Louis
Bellson, and Rosemary Clooney.
Berry was also featured on 13 Duke
Ellington recordings.
Colaiutahas beena first-call studio drummer for manyyears. His
credits read like a "Who’sWho,"
with a diverse roster of artists that
includes Frank Zappa, Chick
Corea, Joni Mitchell, A1 Kooper,
Jewel, TomScott, Madonna,David
Sanborn, Ray Charles, and Barbra
Streisand. From 1990 to 1997,
Colaiuta was also a member of
Sting’s touying and recording band.
At this event, the second annual
Golden Clef Award, honoring contributions to music education, was
Spring1999
Fromthe left, Sally Clausen,All Clausen
’66, PeterGordon
’78, andShie
Rozow
"95at the Societyof Composers
andLyricistsholidaydinner.
presented to Bill Schultz, chair and
CEO of Fender
Musical
Instruments Corporation.
In the last edition of Berklee
today, it was noted that Chris
Klatman
"80andAIf Clansen
’66 had
received
Emmy nominations.
Other nominees included Tom
Snow
’69, EdAlton "75, andChris
Brooks’80. Clausen was a winner
in the category of Outstanding
Music and Lyrics
for his
"Simpsons"
tune
"You’re
Checkin’ In (A Musical Tribute to
the Betty Ford Center)." Snow
also won an Emmyin the category of Outstanding Main Title
Theme Music for Fame L.A.
Congratulationsto all.
As for someother alumni in the
news. . . Clair Marl0"80 recently
wrote and produced, with Alex
Baker, 10 feature songs for the new
character Eve on "Melrose Place."
Marlo and Baker also composedthe
music to an upcoming Dennis
Hopperfilm Tycus, and scored the
new movie Valerie Flake, which
premiered at the Sundance Film
Festival in January.
Jazz guitarist TerryW011man
’80
has just reieased a new albumentitled Say Yes on Sonic Images
Records. This album also features
performances by vocaIist Michael
McDonald,pianist Joe Sample, sax-
ophonist Gerald Albright, bassist
AbeLaboriiel ’72, drummerJ.R.
Robinson"75, and percussionist Luis
Conte. Hummie
Mann’76 scored the
December Showtime movie Naked
City: A Killer Christmas. Recent
movies scored by KevinEubanks
"79
include The Dinner and The Week
that Girl Died. DarylKell ’88 served
as music editor for What Dreams
May Come, Lethal Weapon 4, and
Dancezvith Me. Pl~ilip Giffin ’76
composedthe music for two television movies: Before He Wakes,starring Jaclyn Smith and Like Father,
Like Santa, starring Harry Hamlin.
Both aired on December1, 1998.
SnsanNlarder’75 has been scoring the television show "Any Day
Now"starring Annie Ports, and has
written the theme and underscore
for I ABC’s "Leaving L.A."
Fredance audio engineer and record
producer IVlick Stern ’85 writes a
recording technology column for
the nationally-distributed monthly
Film Music magazine. His engineering credits include the moviesLiar,
Liar and Paulie as well as television
shoves "Seaquest" and "Welcometo
Paradox."
That’s it for now.Stay in touch.
Pete’,~ Gordon78, Director
Berklee Center in Los Angeles
Berkieet o d a y
29
Sirabhorn
"Ti" Muntarbhern
"80
received positive reviews in Billboard
and other publications.
Guitarist
Sirabhorn "Ti"
Muntarbhorn"80 returned to her
native Thailand two years ago. She is
gaining a reputation as Thailand’s
premier female jazz guitarist and is
actively playing sessions and gigs.
She also hosts a radio show at a
Bangkokstation.
Oboist Caris Visentin "80 of
Stroudsberg, PA, can be heard on
Meditations, the new David Liebman
release on Arkadia Records. The live
recording is based on her complete
transcription of John Coltrane’s original composition, and also features
drummer damey Haddad ’73 and
trumpeter Tiger 0k0sbi’15.
Guitarist Kevin Barb0ur "81 of
Hudson, NH, won the Best Guitar
Solo award in a contest held by
WGIRRock 101 and juststrings.com
online store. He recently signed an
endorsement deal with Seymour
Duncanpickups and released the CD
First Steps.
Sc01IFishkind’81 of Nashville is a
songwriter for Air Deluxe Music
Group. He composed and programmedmost of the music for the
song "Real Love" in the Showtime
movieMr. Atlas.
MarcoContreras’82 of Altampa,
Mexico, is managing his own nightclub and has worked as a composer
and arranger for BMG
recordings.
Engineer David Robinson’82 of
Nashville is currently production
managerfor artist Leon Russell, and
he also worksas a freelance producer
and engineer.
BenSmeall’82 of GreenBay, WI, is
playing guitar and violin, and singing
with the world music group
SongCycleS.
Vibraphonist Cecilia Smith’82 of
Brooklyn, NY, performed at the
MontreuxJazz Festival in September
1998 with drummer Terri Lyne
Carrington
"83.
Trombonist Dave Twiss ’82 of
Hubbardston, MA,is the director of
music for the public schools in
Shirley, MA.A concert version of his
opera, The Furys, will be performed
this spring.
Electric bassist MikeWoods’82 of
Bloomington, IN, played in a production of the show Five Guys
NamedMo at the Riverside Theatre
in Florida. The Midland [Michigan]
Symphony Orchestra
performed
Woods’ four-movement cantata
War, Peace, Anger, and Love on
January 18.
Electric bassist ClydeCortright"83
of Hyde Park, MA,wrote an article
for the Septemberissue of DownBeat
magazine.He is also scoring an independent film.
Woodwindsplayer Jenny Hill ’83
of Brooklyn, NY,released her debut
CD Liquid Horn in January.
Musicians on the disc include Ira
Coleman
"82 (bass) and Nilda Richards
’83 (spoken word).
Pianist DuncanMillar ’83 of
London has released Duncan Millar:
Dream Your Dream on Instinct
Records. The album features 12 jazz
originals and reached the Top 40 on
the Gavin Jazz/Adult Contemporary
charts.
Katui, Natsuki Kido, and Kazuto
Shimizu. His compositions for alto
sax and percussion were played at the
1998 Bumbershoot Festival
in
Seattle, WA.
Guitarist DouglasOsborne
’78 of
Culver City, CA, is national sales
managerfor Pro Solutions at Miller
& Kriesel Sound Corporation.
DrummerGeorgeCorreia "79 of
Warren, RI, has been performing
with the Rhode Island-based band
Steve Smith & the Nakeds. The
group has toured with former E
Street Band saxophonist Clarence
Clemons.
Trumpeter Joe Leary ’79 of
Haverhill, MA,is director of bands at
Haverhill High School and vocalist
Joe G0ri ’79 of Quincy, MA, is
Haverhill High’s director of choral
studies. The two performed together
at a combined band and choral concert in December.
Guitarist Paul Bettencourt’80
(a.k.a.
Paul Gabriel) of West
Warwick,RI, is playing with the classic rock band Hot Vynyll.
Bassist Michael Dimin ’80 of
Averill Park, NY, a columnist for
Bass Frontiers magazine, published
his first book The ChordalApproach.
Composer Frank Macchia’80 of
Burbank,CA,has released Little Evil
Things, Volume II, a CDfeaturing
horror stories
accompanied by
Macchia’sorchestrations. This is the Fromthe leR: drummer
George
Correia’79, guitarist Nils Lofgren,andPete
sequel to his first volume which Quintalmeetafter a set by Correia’sProvidence-based
band.
30
Berkleet o d a y
Spring1999
Jenny
Hill "83
MN, works as a composer, arranger,
and pianist in the TwinCities area. He
has worked with Lena Horne, Doc
Severinsen,
and the Minnesota
Orchestra, and is on the faculties of
the University of Minnesota and
Music Tech of Minneapolis.
Songwriter/guitarist Chris Corley
’86 of West End, NJ, composedmusic
for three CD-ROM
projects (including one by author AnneRice), and has
written for industrial videos, commercials, and dance-related productions.
Vocalist DawnLabenow
’86 (a.k.a.
Donya Lane) of NewYork, NY, has
been performing and acting in productions including Exactly Like You
and American Royalty, coproduced
with husband Rich Lamb"88. Lambis
house engineer for the BottomLine.
Guitarist Damon
La Scot ’86 of New
York, NY, played with Meat Loaf on
his 1998 promotional tour for The
Very Best of Meat Loaf, including
appearances on "The Tonight Show"
and "VH1Storytellers."
Guitarist
John Paul "86 of
Merrimack, NH, and his John Paul
Group, featuring SteveMichaud
"83,
DavidWiesner’89, andDanWebster
’74, released a new album titled
Weaveworld. Some of the proceeds
will to go to breast cancer research.
Engineer Angela Piva ’86 of New
York, NY, mixed a double platinum
album and single for the Arista
Records group Next. The single,
"Too Close," hit number one on the
top 100 Billboard chart.
Saxophonist Andr~Woodvine
’86 of
Barbados, West Indies, released a CD
called Citronella. He has played
numerous jazz festivals
in the
Guitarist Steve Stanley ’83 of
Dedham, MA,has released a new CD
with Steve Stanley & the Beatniks,
entitled Lost Love. The band played
at the U.S.S. Constitution’s bicentennial salute in July1998.
Acoustic bassist Mahmut
Yalay"83
of Istanbul, Turkey, is freelancing
aroundIstanbul and will release a CD
this spring.
Guitarist ChrisFlorio"84of Boston,
MA, debuted his one-man multimedia showat the Boston Center for the
Arts in October.
Guitarist PeterHuttlinger’84 of
Nashville, TN, a session player, has
played with artists like Americaand
Louise Mandrell, and on John
Denver’s last CDColors in Time.
Guitarist/vocalist
Pascal B0kar
Thiam’85 of Carlisle, MA,has performedat jazz festivals in Houston,TX,
Mobile, AL, Vail, and Glenwood
Springs, CO, and elsewhere.
Saxophonist Darryl Brenzel"85 of
Laurel, MD,has released a jazz disc
titled Pentasphere featuring four of
his originals, some standards, and
more.
Flautist Karen
Larseo’85 of Jamaica
Plain, MA, is a producer and
announcement editor
for the
GenderTalk radio show on 88.1 FM
WMBRin Cambridge, MA.
Saxophonist MonaWong’85 of
Minneapolis, MN,and the alternative
r&b band Curbfeelers, have released
a CDentitled Look at You.
Adi Yeshaya"85 of Minneapolis, Andr~Woodvine
’86
Spring1999
Berklee today
31
PeterHuttlinger
’84
Caribbean and has shared
the stage with Bobby
Watson, Roy Haynes, and
the late DizzyGillespie.
Electric bassist Edward
Broms"87 of Roslindale,
MA, is performing with
the rock/inspirational band
Broms
and
recently
released a solo albumentitled
The Origin
of
Consciousness.
DrummerChris De Rosa
’87 of NewYork, NY, and
the Chris De Rosa Group,
released a CDentitled Live
in Miami with Peanut’s
Broad Records. Visit his
Website at <www.chrisderosa.com>.
Guitarist Chris Jentsch
"87 of Miami, FL, released
the CDMedia Event with
the Chris Jentsch Trio.
Jentsch will complete his
doctor of musical arts
degree in jazz composition
this
spring
at the
University of Miami.
Drummer
Keith
Kavanaugh ’87
of
Independence, MO, has
appeared on the albums
Town Topic and Night &
Day: Musings on the Cole
Porter Songbook with the
Doug Talley Quartet.
Kavanaughis also ownerof
BauWauDesign, a full service design and promotion
companyfor musicians.
Electric bassist Vincent
Leffler ’87 of Memphis,TN,
played with contemporary
32
Berkleet o d a y
Christian artist Jamie
Baker on his debut release
on BigJam Records.
Drummer Kenny Lewis
’87 of Middleton, MA,
recently engineered and
played on Truth, an album
by Michael Sweet. Lewis
has also played with guitarist
Rob Ketch, CBS
recording artist
Gigi
Abraham, and the bluegrass band Northern
Lights.
DrummerScott McLean
"87 of Butler, PA, recently
released his debut CDIn
the Glow of the Moon.
McLean has also worked
with local bands the
Immigrants and Harvest.
Tenorsaxophonist Dennis
I~itcheltree"87 of Brooklyn,
NY,performed at the Renee
Weiler Concert Hall in New
York for the Jazz Times
Conventionin October 1998.
Youcan visit his Website at
<www.pipeline.com/-dengor>.
Vocalist Riccardo
Perotti
’87 of Quito, Ecuador, is
recording his second CD,
and was voted Best Artist
of the Year in Ecuador.
Perotti has also been music
producer for the campaigns of two winning
Ecuadorian presidents.
Trombonist
Walter
SappJr. "86 of Bridgeport,
CT, is working on his
debut
jazz
CD for
Sweetheart Records.
Pianist JonSarta’88 of
Clermont, FL, played on
the CDsLifejourneys and
Friends
Peace
of
Orphanage.
Guitarist ScottTarulli
’88 of Plainville, MA,is
workingas a session player
in Boston. He recently
inked an endorsement
agreement with Ernie Ball
Products.
Guitarist TonyDec"89of
Southampton, NY, is currentiy studio managerfor
World Cottage Digital
WalterSapp
Jr. ’88
Post & Recording,
in
Bridgehampton,
NY,
which does audio and
video production for film,
television, and radio.
Jazz flugelhornist Dmitri
Matheny"89 of Berkeley,
CA, performed at the
Weill Recital Hall at
Carnegie Hall, NY,to support his new CDStarlight
Monarch
Care,
on
Records.
Guitarist
Gernot
Wolfgang ’89 of Los
Angeles, CA, recently
arranged soundtracks for
the movie Rounders and
assisted with the movies
Judas Kiss and Urban
Legend. Wolfgang also
performs with the quintet
Double Image.
Pianist HelloAlves’90 of
New York, NY, has been
playing
with
Joe
Henderson’s
Double
Rainbow Quartet since
1995, and played on the
Grammy-winning CD Joe
Henderson’s Big Band.
HelioAlves
HelloAlves"90
Alves
also
recently
released a solo CDfeaturing A1 Foster and John
Patitucci.
DrummerEric Kalb ’90
of Bridgeport, CT, has
been touring with the
funk/rock
band Deep
Banana Blackout to support their CDLive in the
Thousand Islands. Kalb
also played with acid jazz
guitarist MelvinSparks.
Composer Hide.0ri
0chiai ’~9 of Tokyo,Japan,
has had 10 of his compositions
premiered
at
Carnegie Recital Hall, and
was the first Japanese composer to premiere and
record a piece with the
Leningrad Philharmonic.
The Boston-based
a
cappella group
Five
O’Clock Shadow (currently featuring
Paul
Pampinella’90,
David
Stackhonse
"91, OrenMalka
"96, andBenniChawes
’96)
sang with the Boston Pops
Orchestra
and Aaron
Neville on a televised
broadcast in December.
The group also released a
new CD titled So There
for the Primarily A cappella label.
Vocalist PaigeScott’90
of Hermosa Beach, CA,
was recently featured in
the Dance Artists
and
Musicsection of Billboard
magazine. Scott has just
completed a demo.
Spring1999
THEWORK
IS THEREFORTHOSE
WHOHUSTLE
That alto saxophonist GregAbate
’71 occupies a unique spot in the jazz
spectrum was noted by one admiring
critic from the ChicagoTribune who
observed that Abate is too youngto
be called a seasoned master but too
old to be called a younglion. Abate
has paid enoughdues to arrive at an
expansive middle ground in jazz. He
plays all over the U.S., Canada, and
Europe (frequently with top jazz
musicians), but keeping his career
moving forward involves a constant
hustle for gigs.
Along the way; Abate has learned
that steady artistic and professional
growthcomeonly to those with a blend
of talent, determination, and persistence. This concepthas not beenlost on
writers from such publications as the
New York Times, the Wall Street
Journal, andJ~zz Times, whosearticles
have mentioned Abate’s hard-driving
alto style and his equally hard-driving
work ethic. Chasing downgigs is an
aspect of the profession with whichhe
has becomevery comfortable.
"I cameout of Berldee in myearly
20s and really wantedto play," Abate
said. "I learned the business through
trial and error." Someof that learning
took place during stints touring with
Ray Charles and later with the Artie
ShawBand. Since 1987, Abate’s business has been to increase his own
stature as a jazz artist.
Onthe dozen or so titles in his
discography, Abate has workedalongside players like KermyBarTon,Rufus
Reid, Ben Riley, Red Rodney,Claudio
Roditi ’70, Richie Cole ’67, Harvie
Swartz ’70, and manyothers. He plays
and composeswith a postbop sensibility that showcases
his energeticalto lines
in up-tempo, harmonically complex
tunes. It is the kindof musicthat he says
leaves him and his bandmateswornout
after a show.
Early on, Abatelearned that useful
contacts can comefrom chanceas well
as professional encounters. "WhenI
got married in 1987, mywife Denise
and I went on our honeymoon to
QuebecCity," said Abate. "I brought
myhorn along. Onenight, I sat in at a
club up there and ended up getting
invited to come back as a featured
artist. I have played there manytimes
Spring1999
GregAbate’71
now,and that has led to other gigs." At
a subsequent appearance in Rimouski
(80 miles northeast of QuebecCity),
pair of influential audience members
were impressed with his music enough
to book his group at a festival in
Vienne, France. "I have gone back to
Vienne since then, and another door
openedfor a bookingat a festival and
a band campin Toulon," Abate said.
"Onething leads to another."
Abate spends about 50 percent of
his time performing and that means
100to 150 nights on the road annually.
Being an educator is another important aspect of his career. Hehas a roster of private students in Providence,
but frequently maximizeshis efforts
and profits on tour by arranging for
clinic stops at high schools and colleges. "I really like doingclinics," he
says. "I get letters backfrom the band
directors saying the kids really
enjoyed myvisit. I guess I am doing
somethingright there."
Abate is makinga living for his
family exclusively in jazz, and that
feels goodto him. Like manyin business for themselves, Abate has a
demandingboss. With his 1999 calendar filling up withtours, recordingsessions, andclinics, he is pushinghimself
even harder to break new ground. He
is working at getting more festival
dates in Europeand at publishing his
compositions and the educational
materials he has developed.
"Mymusic is really important to
me," he says. "You have to love the
musicand just keepit all going. There
is work out ther~if you know how
to market yourself."
~
Berklee t o d a y 33
Guitarist
Shaun
Dougherty
’91 of Malden,
MA,completed his first
CDwith the alternative
rock band Janke for
Drama Queen Records.
Drummer
Anders
Mogensen "91
of
Copenhagen, Denmark,
has released a new CD
entitled Taking off Again,
with his
quartet the
Anders
Mogensen
External Experience.
Bassist DanielPearson
"91 of Toluca Lake, CA,
played on "Soul Train"
with Kenny Latimore. He
has also played on commercials for "Fox Sports
News."
DrummerRobert Place
’91 of Jamaica Plain, MA,
is currently playing with
the
ska
band
the
Allstonians.
The band
won a 1996 Boston Music
Award and recently completed a new CDand their
first video.
ShigeruSakura"91 of
Kanagawa, Japan, writes
TVand radio jingles and is
producing an album by
saxophonist Sanshiro entitled the wayshe talks.
Drummer Raymond
Sautovasi ’91
of
Waterbury, CT, is a percussion
teacher
at
Naugatuck
Valley
Community College and
Pamela
York’91
34 Berklee t 0 d a ~/
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the Taft School. Santovasi
also gives clinics for
Attack 1Drumheads, Smith
Drums, and May Microphones.
Songwriter Jonathan
Stark’91 of Providence,RI,
has released an eponymous debut CD to rave
reviews in the Providence
Phoenix. You can hear
selections from it at
<www.folkweb.com>.
Electric bassist Sasha
Teuber ’91 of Hesse,
Germany,has released his
debut solo album, entitled
Bassic Colors
with guitarist
Torsten de
Winkei "95
and drummer
ChristianLohr
’94.
Pianist
Pamela York
’91
of
Escondido,
CA, was one
of the finalists
in the Great
American
Jazz Piano
Competition
recently held in
Jacksonville, FL. York has
also performed with the
San Diego Symphony
Pops.
Eric Butler’92 of Ware
Shoals, SC, owns and
operates McCordStudios,
a well regardedfacility for
South Carolina musicians.
Soprano saxophonist
RobHall ’92 of Herts, Great
Britain, has released a new
album, Heading North,
for FMRRecords.
JasonJennings"92 of
Hollywood,
CA, is a
sound effects editor for
audio postproduction for
the television
shows
"Soldier of Fortune, Inc.,"
"The Profiler," and "The
Pretender."
Saxophonist Rudresh
Mahanthappa ’92 of
Brooklyn, NY, has performed internationally
with artists such as Jack
DeJohnette,
David
Liebman, doe k0vano ’72,
and George
Garzone
’72.
Guitarist ~FoddMorton
"92 of East Dummerston,
VT, recently completed a
stint
with
the
Connecticut-based swing
and blues band Eight to
the Bar, and is now performing original material
in his band Mojoso.
Guitarist TerrySyrek’92
of White Plains, NY, was
written up in the New
York Times and Guitar
magazine, and endorses
Jackson Guitars.
Baritone horn player
Mark Drespling ’93 of
Chicago,is art director at
Market Support, Inc., in
Chicago.
Producer Corbin Neal
Miles ’93 of Fort Worth,
TX, operates his own production company which
records Christian music.
Guitarist
R. Chris
Murphy ’93 of Medina,
WA, has been working
internationally as a producer and mixer, producing tracks for Chucho
Valdes y Groupo Irakere
and mixing several albums
for King Crimson. His
Website can be found at
<www.eschatonmusic.com>.
Guitarist Earle Pughe
"93 of Concord, MA, is
featured
on the CD
Hillbilly Death Songs with
Spring1999
the band Face McCobb.
Pughe recently completed a
tour of South Americawith
a production of Grease.
Composer Rim Dong
Sung "93 of Kwachunsi,
Kyonkido, Korea, has
recently penned orchestral
scores for twofeature films.
He is also a professor of
music production
and
broadcasting at Dong-A
BroadcastingCollege.
David Thompson
’93 of
Allston, MA,and his band
the Pills (including C0urtney
Harding
’96, CorinAshley
"95,
and student JamieVaura)
won Jim Beam’s One Shot
to Stardom contest. The
prize was a three-weekU.S.
tour, studio time, and a
promo CDpressing.
Songwriters
Chelsa
Bailey ’94 of Boston and
Boris Perovic ’95 of New
York had their song "When
Love Comes Around"
included in the soundtrack
of an October CBSMovie
of the Week, Something
about Sarah.
Guitarist
Michael
Chlasciak"94 of Bayonne,
NJ, signed an endorsement
with Seymour Duncan
pickups and presented his
Shredding
with No
Apologies clinic for ESP
Guitars. He is planning
"Shredfest’99," a guitar festival to be held in NYC.
Pianist Cornelius
Claudio
Kreusch"94 of NewYork,
NY, and his band Black
MudSound recently played
justanother electric.
"The benny has a HUGEsound.
It is a superb jazz guitar."
ADRIAN [NGRAM
"It’s a pleasure to play!"
BILL NEALE
"The best feeling guitar
I’ve ever played..."
FRANK V1GNOLA
RR 1 Box 1347
E. Sfroudsburg PA 18301-9738 USA
(570) 223-0883
- FAX:(570) 223-7711
httP:ttb~nedeffo-gutars corn
e-mail:b e nedeffo@be
nedelto-guitars.corn
-(Visit our updatedwebsite for our new
at the Blue Note Jazz Club
in New York and at the
MontreuxJazz Festival.
Vocalist Akiko Uchida
Pavolka’94 of Brooklyn,
NY, released her debut
CDHouse of Illusion on
Aklovap Records
in
October. The disc also features pianist Pete Rende
’95, bassist Matt Pavolka
’94, and drummer Blake
Lindberg
’92.
Guitarist
Robbie
Pittelman ’94 of Hyde
Park, NY,scored his first
feature-length film entitled
The Dry Season. He is
working on a second film;
A Killing,
by
Alex
Klymko
and
Heal
Entertainment.
Vibraphonist
Errol
Rackipov "94 of Miami,
FL, recently completed a
tour of Europe and
AkikoPavolka’94 released recorded a CD with his
band Dream Hunter. The
theCDHouse
of Illusion.
Spring1999
~f neck af nut- lg
CDwill be released on a
Europeanlabel.
Guitarist Geoff Unger
’94 of Olney,
ME),
appeared in the April 1993
edition of Guitar World
magazine.
Guitarist
Randy
Browning
’95 of Boston is
performing
with the
acoustic guitar duo Late
Bloomers in NewEngland
and is recording a CD.
Drummer don Dowling
"95 of NewYork, NY, is
playing
with Arista
recording artist Seven, and
has been working with
Berklee alum Liz Withers
’94 on r&b projects. Visit
Dowling’s Web site at
<www.jondowling.com>.
Vocalist Cheryl Doyle
"95 of Woburn, MA,
recently
appeared on
Boston’s Bristol Studios
Mix Compilation
CD.
The disc also features
pianist James
Tootle"97.
CamaraKambon
"95 of
Baltimore, MD, has been
composing scores for
numerous television and
made-for-cable movies. TV
credits include "Living
Single" and "A Different
World." Kambon’s movie
credits include Showtime’s
The Tiger WoodsStory, PBS
special MalcolmX: MakeIt
Plain, and HBO’s Sonny
Eiston: The MysteriousEife
and Death of a Champion,
for which Kambonreceived
an EmmyAward.
Vocalist derrold Launer
’95 of Chatsworth, CA,
recently worked as sampling audio engineer/editor for Danny Elfman’s
soundtrack A Simple Plan.
Andrew Mark ’95 of
Nashville has finished his
first
CD Anything Can
Happen. His group, the
Andrew Mark Band, feaBerklee t o d a y 35
tures Steven
Byrom
"93, Luis dling foreign and domestic
Espaillat ’84, and Ari royalties and producer
Orlinsky’92. Brett Blanden accounts.
’97 andDanSerafini "77
Vibraphonist01i B0tt "96
coproduced, and Kenny of Berlin, Germany, took
Varga’90 engineeredit.
third prize at the NDRJamesMcGorman
’95 of Musikpreis 1998, a compeStudio City, CA, is playing tition for jazz orchestra
keyboards and guitar for
conductors. Bott also perthe New Radicals.
The formed his compositions
group’s CD Maybe You’ve for large ensemblewith the
Been Brainwashed Too and NDRBig Band.
hit ~ingle "You Get What
Engineer d. IKodiCarter
You Give"
hit
the
’96 of Syracuse, NY, is
Billboard charts, and they working on reconstructing
have been touring with
a live concert by Harry
Lenny Kravitz.
Chapin:recorded in 1977.
Bassist Luis Nieto’95 of
Guitarist Jason Keg ’96
Madrid, Spain, recently
of Austin, TX, recently
completed a self-titled CD founded Pinnacle Music
featuring Michael Brecker, Productions with Damon
Marc Russo, Dave We&l, De Sio ’96 and Bridgette
Mike Stern "75, and Will Card’96. Key also coproKennedy.
duced Jeff Klein ’95 on his
Composers laura Andel debut recording Put Your
’96 of Cambridge, MA,and Weighton It.
Noriko Yamaguchi’97 of
Producer Luis Gonzales
Boston, MA, had their
’96 of t-Iollywood Hills,
compositions played by CA, is currently working
the Jazz Composers Alliwith Latin Americanartist
ance Orchestra.
Juan Gabriel. Gonzales
Bassist ChristianBausch owns B.L.O. Productions,
’96 of Bostonwill be a per- and recently opened a stuformer and clinician at the dio in L.A. called the Blue
Lionel Hampton Jazz
House.
Festival in Moscow,ID, in
Vocalist
Johanna
February. He will play
Grussner’96 of NewYork,
with Herb Ellis,
Hank NY, released her second
Jones, Lewis Nash, and CDLive at Hubbard Hall,
Claudio
Roditi’10.
in May t998, and toured
Karl Frithjof Boswick
"97 Scandinavia with her 19of Boston is working as piece Manhattan Jazz
sen~or royalty accountant Orchestra as solo vocalist.
for Atlantic Records hanAnne Gurmankin"96 of
Marlton, NJ, teaches at the
Berlin CommunitySchool
in Berlin, NJ, and at a private studio in Philadelphia.
Shealso directs local choirs
and musical theater productions.
Pianist DamienSalanqon
"96 of Paris, France,is part
of the hip-hop/rock group
FACE(S), who recently
madea six-song demoentitled "Red Dolly."
Pianist Joe Sherbanee
’96 of Santa Ana, CA,
ChristianBausch
"96
reIeased a new CDentitled
36
Berkleet 0 d a y
NEWALUMNIDIRECTORSOUGHT
Berklee is accepting resumesfor a director of
~um~Affairs. Preferred candidates should possess a
bachelor’s degree, have workedsuccessfi~y in the
musicindustry, and have ~ minimum
of three years of
) enhance
alumnia:tivism in career networking,recruitment, and
tion, and build supportfor the college.
and references to Human
ResourcesDepartment,Berklee College of Music, 1140
S~., Boston, MA02215-3693USA.
The Road Ahead, on the
new Native Language
Music label[. The CDis a
mix of conte:mporary jazz,
pop, and blues.
RyanShore’96 of New
York, NY, composed the
score for a new DVDentitled Earthlight. It features
80 minutes of footage of
the earth (taken from the
Space Shuttle) accompanied by Shore’s music.
Engineer Brett Blanden
’97 of Nashville,
TN,
recently opened a studio
called Brett’s
Place.
Blandenis also studio manager at Ocean Way, the
largest studio in Nashville.
Guitarist MattCadarette
"91 of Deerfield, MA,is on
a 10-country Asian tour
with the TigerStar artists
Bliss.
Pianist JoseCancela
’97
and percussionist Fausto
CuevasIII "98, both of
Bosto:n, are on a national
tour =with the Cirque
Ingenieux :for 10 months.
The tour will cover every
major city in the U.S.,
Canada, and Mexico.
Vocalist Ceydaydumaoas ’97 of Boston, MA,has
been commissioned to
write a piece for the
Rainbow Tribe Dance
Company. He also will
perform
at the CMJ
MusicFest in New Yore
with Carl Barc ’97, Jon
Berkowitz’97, andEnrique
LuisNieto’95
Gonzalez
"98.
J.C. Monterrosa
’97 is
working at Sound Kitchen
and Emerald Sounds studios in Nashville. He was
editor on Lynyrd Skynrd’s
latest album, Lyve from
Steel Town.
Engineer PabloMunguia
’97 of Studio City, CA,has
been working at Westlake
Audioas an assistant engineer. He recently engineered for artist L.L. Cool
J and has worked sessions
with Vinnie Colaiuta ’75,
Nell Stubenhaus
’75, and
Quincy
Jones
"51.
YasuoNakajima’97 of
Astoria, NY, released his
debut CD Inflection.
It
features Nakajima playing
guitar, bass, and keyboards, and engineering
the disc’s 16 original
tunes.
He also contributed a tune called
"The Soap Breaker" for a
tektbook
penned for
Advance Music by faculty
memberWayneNaus’76.
Spring1999
Guitarist
Joshua
Podolsky’97
of Los Angeles,
CA, has been working with
vocalist RobHalford (formerlyof JudasPriest), producer Bob Marlette, and
members
of
with
Testament, White Zombie,
Fight, and others. He has
released two albums with
his bandFinger.
Brian Stern ’97 of
Cheshire, CT, has been
namedsenior forecast analyst for ColumbiaHouse, a
direct marketing venture
jointly owned by Sony
Music and Warner Music.
Electric bassist Mason
Wendell"97 of Jersey City,
NJ, is currently playing
with the bands Blinder,
Prelapse, and Sigmoid
Flexure. He has performed
with John Zorn, Vernon
Reid, Anthony Coleman,
and others.
Vocalist SherylCohen"98
of San Francisco, CA, and
guitarist Rubens
DeLa Corte
"98 of NewYork have just
released a CDentitled Kick
off Your Shoes with their
group Brazz Jazz. The disc
features AlonYavnai"95,
Steve Lang0ne ’93, Jim
Stechschulte ’98, and d0ca
Perpignan’97.
De La Corte also played
with the Queens College
Jazz Orchestra for a concert
in which Jon
Hendricks and Wynton
Marsalissat in.
DrummerRevin Murphy
"98 of South Amboy, NJ,
opened Upbeat Studios
where he is offering
instruction in drums,piano,
guitar, and musictheory.
Saovanit
Vocalist
Navapan "98 of Bangkok,
Thailand. has performed 10
benefit concerts with the
Symphony
Bangkok
Orchestra.
Saxophonist
Jerome
Sabbagh
"98 of Boston, MA,
and the jazz quartet Flipside
released an album and
toured New Zealand and
Europe.
Drummer
Carlos
Ezequiel ’~ of Boston, MA,
recently toured Europewith
Brazilian artist Macleim.He
was also mentioned in the
March issue of Modern
Drummer,Brc~zil.
Wedn~ay,
February
24,1999
SaovanitNavapan
"98
Peter Ponzol, America’s numberone designer and makerof high
end saxophonemouthpieces, premiumreeds and custom necks
is proudto introduce the newM2000metal mouthpiecefor alto
and tenor saxophone.
The M2000is an innovative newmouthpiece with an adjustable
tone chamber.A specially designedmechanism
allows the tone
chamberto be movedand locked into position.
This gives the player the possibility to create a darker or brighter
soundwithout changingthe resistance in order to compensate
for personal taste andvarious acoustical environments.
This is the mouthpiece
that doesit all!
A UNIQUELIMITED PRODUCTION
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Spring1999
Berkleet o d a y
37
FINALCADENCE
Melanie
Tulchin
Michaels ’80 died on
September 12, 1998 at
home in Manhattan.
Michaels worked as a
video editor for"Court
TV" and for commercial productions.
A
fund has been established for her 10-yearold daughter Kelsea.
Donations can be sent
to the Kelsea Fund,
P.O.
Box
342,
Pittstown, NJ, 08867.
Carol AnnZimmer
’81
of McMurray, PA,
passed away in June of
1998. She succumbedto
complications following a car accident that
left her a quadriplegic
four years ago.
Bassist Masayuki
Seki
’96 died on December
22, 1998. He was killed
by a drunk driver in
Tokyo while unloading
his equipment after a
gig. Seki had recently
returned to Japan after
living in Boston to
attend Berklee.
Wordalso has reached
us of the passing of dames
Peddycord "49
of
Oklawaha, FL; Peter
Marconi’61 of Worcester,
MA;BruceTwiddy’81 of
Norfolk, VA; William
H011ier ’~ of Bozeman,
MT;Charles Taylor ’93
NewOrleans, LA; Earle
Lefave of Rockport, MA;
and Robert YoungII of
Lyons, NY.
....
Thinkingof
,Returning?
It’s easier than youmight think.
There is no readmission process
for allumni. Just contact ChristopherJones,
([email protected])
Returning
Student
Coordinator
in theOfficeof
theRegistrar,at (617)747-2242
.........
by fax: (617)747-8520.
Whether
you
wantto enrollfull-timeor havejust
a fewcreditsleft to graduate,
it only
takes
a phone
callto starttheprocess.
Returnto Berkleeandexperience
all the newandexcitingchanges!
Registration
for Fall ’99: September
8 - 1 O, 1999
Classesbegin September
13.
ALUMNOTES~NFORMATION
FORM
Full Name
Address
City
This is a new address.
State
ZIP
Countr
E
Phone
Your Internet address:
Last year you attended Berklee
Did you receive a
Q degree?
Q diploma?
Please give details of the newsworthyprofessional milestones that you wouldlike the Berklee communityto know
about. Print or type (use a separate slheet if necessary). Photos suitable for publication are welcomed.
~i Send me more information on becoming a Berklee Career Network advisor.
Pleasesendthis form,alongwithanypublicity,clippings,photos,CDs,or itemsof interestto:
Berkleetoday,BerkleeCollegeof Music,1140Boylston
Street, Boston,MA
02215-3693.
Internet address:[email protected]
38
Berklee today
Spring1999
CODA
When Ignorance
Mark Small
H
still rememberthe day that I learned to play a simple
C chord on the guitar. I just strummedit over and
oven I even placed myear against the bodyof the instrument to feel the resonance. Recently, I saw my11-yea>old
daughter Meeganhave nearly the same experience whenshe
discovered a G triad on the piano. "This sounds so good!"
she exclaimedwith an ear-to-ear grin that melted nay heart.
It wasa magical moment
for her. I coulct relate even though
the chorddidn’t amazemeas it did her.
The kicks are definitely harder to find after you have
studied musicextensively, practiced daily for years, spent
thousands of hours listening to music analytically, and
played hundredsof gigs. It is understandable,but still seems
a little sad to mewhenI meet musicians whohave devoted
so muchof their life’s energy to mastering music, yet the
bloomis off the rose for them.
Perhapsit is the rigorous discipline that musiciansendure
that can turn to discouragement and even bitterness when
certain professional goals or personalstandards in a performanceare not met. I constantly have to remindmyself that
musicisn’t only for those of us whoplay it. Althoughit is
personally gratifying to the performer (even whenhe or she
is practicing alone), music is most powerful when shared
with an audiencewilling to give its full attention.
Faculty memberMickGoodricktold meof a great lesson
he learned years ago after a concert. A youngmancameup to
say howmuchhe loved Goodrick’sguitar playing and that he
had enjoyed the show tremendously. Goodrick informed
himthat he really hadn’t playedtoo well, that he’d had an off
night. Goodrickcould tell instantly by the look in the person’s eyes that he’d just taken somethingof value awayfrom
him. Goodricktold me that he resolved never to do that
again. He wouldbe gracious about compliments,keep selfcritical thoughtsto himself, and let audience
memberskeep what they’d paid for.
I amalwaysin pursuit of that tingle up
and downthe spine that an exceptional
performance can provide. I have experienced live concerts of manymusical styles
that literally left mespeechless.I havebeen
dazzled by the elegant virtuosity of a Keith
Jarrett solo piano concert, and been
bowled over by the polished power of the
Steve Morse Group or the ferocious
groove of Weather Report (when Jaco
Pastorius and Peter Erskine were the
rhythmsection). I could have died instant- MarkSmall
#,O Berklee t o d a y
Was Bliss
"73
ly--totally satisfied with mylot in life--after hearing
AndrewDavis conduct the Boston SymphonyOrchestra in
Ralph VaughanWiIliams’ transcendent Fifth Symphony.
cameawaysimilarly edified after an evening at Nashville’s
Bluebird Care iistening to stellar hit songwriters GaryBurr
and MikeReid play someof their best tunes.
There is somethingineffable about music that drives so
manymusiciansto invest their life’s finite hours singing or
blowing, bowing, striking, strumming,or plucking pieces of
wood,plastic, ivory, or metal. Mostof us wantto participate
in creating that musical magicwe have experienced. It is a
great irony that we frequently get less enjoymentout of a
live performance(our ownor someoneelse’s) than the average audience memberwhoknowsand cares ]ittle about the
mechanicsof music.
In a recent conversation, Gary Burton told methat he
almost never listens to music at homeand very rarely goes
out to concerts. Since he performs quite a lot, he always
hears the other acts on the bill, but he said it is rare that he
will seek out a musicalexperienceat a concert hall or club.
Whenhe listens to a jazz artist, he is alwaysthinking, nice
chord substitution, or whythat note against that chord? He
said he enjoyed a string quartet concert recently and suspected that it was because he doesn’t knowa lot about the
musicthey played. There is a lesson to be learned here.
BenjaminFranklin once said that we are all ignorant...
about different things. Perhapsgoing outside of the musical
realm in which we are most comfortable is a waywe can get
in touch with the wonderwe felt at the beginning of our
musical journey, whenignorance was bliss.
In an interview I conductedwith Pat Methenya few years
ago, he eloquently described his feelings about the spiritual
essence of music. "It is a mysterious vapor that somehow
slips in the cracks betweenthis plane of
existence and some other one," he said.
"The people whoare good musicians have
the ability to conjure up more of that
vapor than others."
The manymomentsof musical rapture I
have experienced while enveloped in this
vapor are whatmotivatemeto buya ticket,
or a newCD,or to pick up myowninstrument daily. I am thankful that I know
~ enoughabout music to conjure up someof
>~ that vapor, but I amalso grateful for the
~ ignorancethat enablesmeto still feel a childlike aweat the powerof great music.
Spring1999