Bcrklcc - Berklee College of Music

Fall 1995
Bcrklcc
t o ct a y
A Forumfor Contemporary
Musicand Musicians
14
HarvieSwartz"70: At the top of the fist
of NewYork’s bottomliners
19
Banddissolutions anddisillusions
FALL
¯
1995
VOLUME ° VII
NUMBER
°
2
Contents
LEADSHEET
by Lee Eliot Berk.
BERKLEEBEAT
Honorary degrees for Alan Silvestri ’70, Marilyn and Alan Bergman,
newfaces, faculty notes, visiting artists, and more.
THE SAXOPHONECORNERSTONE
Joe Viola recounts his 49-year affilation
ON THE COVER: Ace jazz
bassist Harvie Swartz ’70
speaks about the highs and
lows of the jazz life. Story
on page 14. Cover photo by
Gene Martin.
12
with Berklee
THEBOTTOM
OF HIS HEARTby Mark k. Small ’7.3
Bassist Harvie Swartz ’70: One of NewYork’s busiest acoustic
pIayers shares personal career insights and tips for sidemen
14
BREAKING
UP IS HARDTO DO by William O’Neal ’84
Howhaving a legal band agreement can save friendships
and fortunes whensuccess finds you
19
VOICINGCONCEPTS
by Anthony Germain ’69
Controlling the flow of color in your voicings
22
ALUM NOTES
News,
quotes,
and
CODA:by Bill Gordon ’75
Ear and Now
recordings
of
note
............
24
36
LEAD SHEET
Berklee t 0 d
The Pages
of History
A Publication
of theOfficeof institutional
Advancement
Editor
Mark
L. Small
"73
Copy
Editor
Stephen
Melisi
EditorialBoard
President
RobHayes
Director
of Public
Information
JudithLucas
Director
ofPublications
Lawrence
McClellan
Jr.
Chair,
Professional
Education
Divisioo
LarryMonroe
"70
Chair.
Professional
Performance
Division
Donald
Puluse
Chair,
Music
Technology
Division
Joseph
Smith
"75
Chair.
Professional
Writing
Division
Officeof Institutional
Advancement
John
Collins
Dean
of Institutional
Advancement
MarjorieO’Malley
Director
of Development
Beverly
Tryon
"82
Director
ofCoroorate
Relations
PeterGordon
’78
Director
oftheBerklee
Center
in Los
Angeles
SarahBodge
Assistant
Director
of Development
forAlumni
Relations
Laura
Lynn
Kulba
Assistant
Director
forthe50th
Anniversary
Leaoersnip
Executive
Committee
As the alumni-oriented mtlslc 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 events, alumni activities and accomplishments, and musical topics of interest, t3erklee
today serves as both a valuable forum for our family
throughout the world and an important source of commentary in contemporary music.
Berklee today(ISSN1052-3839)is publishedthree times a year
by the BerkleeCollegeof MusicOfficeof Institutional Advancement. All contents ©1995by BerkleeCollegeof Music.Sendall
addresschanges,pressreleases,letters to the editor, andadvertising inquiries to Berkleetoday,Box333,BerkleeCollegeof Music,
1140BoylstonStreet, Boston, MA02215-3693,(6171266-1400.
extension325.Alumni
are invited to mailin details of activities
suitable for feature coverage.Unsolicitedsubmissionsaccepted.
2
Berklee today
Lee Eliot
Berk
~
s we ceIebrate our 50th anniversary year, the need
has intensified for a legacy publication that shares
information about Berklee’s many achievements through
the decades and the people responsible for them. Berklee:
The First Fifty Years has been my personal 50th anniversary project and one designed to meet this need.
Working with jazz writer Ed Hazell, about 300 pages
of period photographs, connective narration, music industry timelines, and two compact disc recordings have
been developed as a unique memento of our college’s
history. It is a sketch of a half-century of events, accomplishments, and personalities
that transformed a small
teaching studio into a world-class college; and it is a
remarkable story of commitment and creativity
which
has few, if any, parallels in higher education.
Along the way, the lives of many students, faculty,
and staff were endowed with a meaning that transcended
any other available experience. A legitimacy in education
that had previously not existed was extended to studies
in contemporary music, and the musical accomplishments of Berklee alumni were widely acclaimed in many
settings for their artistry and benefit to humanity.
Today, when our college is so well established,
it is
difficult
to imagine the uniqueness of founder Lawrence
Berk’s vision of wedding America’s popular jazz music
with the organized educational approach found in classical conservatory training.
Many were the obstacles to
acceptance and recognition in the academic, financial,
and other communities which had to be overcome. The
international
college which Berklee is today reflects the
power of the original vision, has had an unprecedented
impact on contemporary music education, and has helped
students from around the world realize their dreams of
contributing to society through music.
Berklee: The First Fifty Years comes at a time when
our community still
interacts
with many of the major
figures who were there from the beginning and to whom
we owe so much: Lawrence and Alma Berk, Herb Pomeroy, Joe Viola; and when the memory of others such as
Robert Share, William Leavitt,
John Neves, Alex U1anowsky, and Lennie Johnson is still actively treasured.
Every period in the life of the college has had its major
contributors,
and seeing this creative panorama renews
our sense of appreciation for what our entire community
has accomplished and our future potential
as we head
toward Berklee 2000.
Fall 1995
Berklee b e a t
HONORS
FORTHE
BERGMANS
AND
ALANSIEVESTRI
andmanyother accolades.
The Bergmarts
have
pennedlyrics
Asthe cool of early Sep- for hit songs
tember confirmedthat an- recorded by
other summerhad passed, FrankSinatra,
Berklee’s Class of 1999 and collaboushered in the school year rated with
News of note
Filmcomposor
AlanSilvestri"70
at the annualEnteringStu- Quincy Jones
dent Convocation. On and Michel
hand for the occasion were Legrandon award-winning proud of these days. Donot
the lyricist teamof Mari- movie theme songs. Their be satisfied with the stale,
lyn and Alan Bergmanand 1973 smash hit, "The Way the mediocre,the amateur.
film composerAlanSilves- We Were," earthed them See yourselves in a world
tri ’70. Eachreceived an and cowriter Marvin Ham- "wherethereare absolutes-honorary doctor of music lisch two Grammysand a something’seither in tune
degreein the ceremony.
Golden Globe Award. In or it’s not, it either swings
Introducing Marilyn 1983,they becamethe first or it doesn’t, and beauty
Bergman, the evening’s songwriters to have their matters, harmonymatters.
music industry speaker, songs receive three of the The superhighwaysof the
President Lee Eliot Berk Academy Award nomina- future await you... I wish
described the husbandand tions out of the :five titles you Godspeed."
wife lyric writing teamof in the running.
"Sinceleaving Berklee,"
Marilyn and Alan Bergman Marilyn Bergman was ]?residentBerkstated in his
as "twoof the mostrespect- the first woman
elected to introduction, "AlanSilvesed figures in the musicin- the Boardof Directors of tri has becomeone of Holdustry today." They have the American Society of lywood’stop film composwon three
Academy
Composers Authors and ers with 44 scores to his
Awards, three People’s Publishers (ASCAP),and credit. His score to last
Choice Awards, two is nowpresident and chair year’s Forrest Gurnpwas
Grammys, two Golden of the board at ASCAP. another triumph in a caGlobe Awards, two Era- Alan Bergmanis currently reer that has seen an Ace
rays, a Cable Ace Award, the first vice president of Award, five Grammynomthe Boardof Governorsof inations, and Academy
the Academy of Motion Award and Golden Globe
Picture Arts andSciences. nominations."
In her address.., Marilyn
Silvestri told the class,
Bergman
spoke of the hun- "I haven’t been back to
dredsof newoutlets for the Berkleesince I left in 1970.
workof creativeartists, and The place has gotten bigthe challengesnewtechnol- ger butthe spirit of it hasn’t
ogyposesfor the artist. She changed. You are in the
told the entering students, best environment you
"Youare beginninga jour- could be in to exploreyour
1995Convocation
honorees
(right) AJanandMarilyn ney. Pursuingexcellencein life andyourpassion.I wish
Bergman,
andAlanSilvestri(left) withLeeEliotBerk. music is something to be you good fortune."
from about
town and
around the
world
Fall19~5
Berklee today
3
HONORS
AROUND
THE WORLD
This summer,word of Berklee’s the Puerto Rico HeinekenJazz iFest
50th anniversarywasheard in divers Band,directed by Morales,then with
places. Honors were bestowed upon Tito Puente and the Golden Latin
the college, andin turn, the college Jazz All-Stars. Saturday’s program
honoredfellow music professionals wasdedicatedto Berklee’s50th anniat jazz festivals andclinics in both versary, as proclaimedby Festival Executive ProducerLuis Alvarez,a 1983
PuertoRicoand Perugia, Italy.
This Mayin SanJuan, PuertoRico, Berklee graduate. After performancBerklee presented a four-day "On es by Perez and Scofield, and before
the Jazz Fest Big Band,PresidentLee
the Road"workshopand paid tribute to Tito Puenteat the PuertoRico Eliot Berk took the stage and beHeinekenJazz Fest. Areciprocal trib- stowed an honorary doctorate of
ute was paid to Berklee whenan en- music degree uponLatin jazz bandtire evening’s programof music at leader, composer,and percussionist
the festival wasdedicatedto the col- Tito Puente. Thousandsof fans stood
lege’s 50th anniversary. Even away and cheeredduring the presentation,
fromthe workshopand festival sites as Puente muggedand boxer Hector
Berklee’s presence was in evidence "Macho" Camachoran across the
flag.
around San Juan as green T-shirts stage wavinga Panamanian
announcingthe college’s visit became Thenext day, Puente spoke at an
a secondskin for associated friends alumni luncheonhosted by President
and Susan Berk. Assistant Director
and workshopparticipants.
of Development for Alumni RelaThe On the Road crew--Larry
Monroe, Sharon Glennon, Orville tions Sarah Bodgeand President Berk
Wright, Jim Kelly, Oscar Stagnaro, presented plaques of recognition to
and John Ramsay--set up a mini- Alvarez, Puerto Rico Conservatory
campusat the Puerto Rico Conser- of Music director Dr. Raymond
vatory of Musicfor "Berklee in Pu- Torres Santos, and Jazz Fest coproerto Rico," a four-day workshop ducer and master of ceremoniesJoey
attended by 90 youngjazz musicians. Sala. In his remarks, Puentemadean
Like other On the Road programs, appeal for support of public school
the days were intensive, filled with music programs through establishing scholarships and makinginstrutheory classes andlots of playing.
Berkleewasrepresentedat each of ment donations. He also thanked
the Jazz Fest’s four nights. Alumni Berkleefor forging partnershipswith
performers included John Scofield youngPuerto Rican musicians.
Acrossthe Atlantic in Perugia, It’73, BobbySanabria ’77, Jose Rios
aly,
Berklee College of Music has
’87, Luis Marin ’86, Mariano Mobeen
as
muchof a fixture as gelato.
rales ’81, and DaniloPerez ’88. Berklee AssociateProfessor and handper- EveryJuly since 1986, as musicians
cussion master Giovanni Hidalgo and jazz fans descend on the town
performedon two nights, first with for the UmbriaJazz Festival, as do a
teamof Berklee’sbest teachers, armed
with instruments, music, course materials, computers,and other equipmentnecessary to conduct an intensive two-week jazz education
program.
Heldin the ConservatorioStatale
di Musica,in Perugia, Berklee Summer School at UmbriaJazz Clinics
provides a taste of the Berkleeprogramin Boston, with instruction in
vocal and instrumental craft, music
theory, jazz history, blues analysis,
jazz improvisation,and ensembleperPresident
Berkpresented
anhonoraryformance.In addition, several iazz
doctorate
to percussionist
Tito Puentegreats--Ray Brown,JohnnyGriffin,
4
Berkleetoday
Johnny
Griffin(left) wasoneof four
honorary
degree
recipients
in Perugia
Milt Jackson, Jim Hall, Joe Zawinul
’59, John McLaughlin,and Berklee
Dean of Curriculum Gary Burton
’62--presented master classes during
this year’s program.Brown,Griffin,
Jackson, and Hall also gavea special
concert for clinic students in Perugia’s picturesque Teatro Morlacci
opera house.
This stellar lineup participated in
the jazz clinics to help Berkleecelebrate simultaneous anniversaries-the 10th anniversary of UmbriaJazz
Clinics and the 50th anniversary of
Berklee’s founding. The celebration
of the college’s 50th, whichincluded
two "Berklee Night" concerts during the UmbriaJazz Festival, reached
its peak in Perugia’s 700-year-old
town hall, Sala Dei Notari, on July
10. President Berk bestowedhonorary doctorate degrees on Brown,
Griffin, Hall, andvenerablejazz journalist and critic Pino Candini.
Beforea throngof jazz fans, journalists, musicians,students, and Perugians in the Sala DeiNotari, Berklee also presentedawardsto Jackson,
Zawinul, Carlo Pagnotta, Giovanni
Tommaso,
Sauro Peducci, and several Italian government
officials.
The UmbriaJazz Clinics annually
attracts about 250 music students
from Italy and other parts of world.
Manysuccessful musicians have attended the UmbriaJazz Clinics over
the years, includingpianist Salvatore
Bonafede;bassist MattGarrison, and
pianist RenatoChicco. All three are
also Berkleealumni.
by Allen Bush and Rob Hochschild
Fall1995
SUZANNE
HANSER
NAMED
MUSICTHERAPYCHAIR
Professional Education Division
Chair Lawrence McClellan has announced the appointment of Suzanne B. Hanser, Ed.D. as chair of
Berklee’s new music therapy major, to be offered in fall 1996.
Hanser completed postdoctoral
studies at Stanford University, and
received her doctor of education
degree from Teacher’s College of
Columbia University. She comes
to Berklee from the Greater San
Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the
Alzheimer’s Association, where
she had worked as program director since 1992. She also held the
position of president of the National Association for MusicTherapy from 1992-1994, and previously chaired the Departmentof Music
Therapy at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where
she developed their undergraduate
program and founded graduate
curricula in music therapy and
music in special education.
Starting in August, Hanser began developing the curriculum for
Berklee’s music therapy major. The
major will be unique in its use of
contemporary music as the primary medium.A motivating factor in
Hanser’s coming to Berklee was
the opportunity to develop a curriculum utilizing popular music.
"It is important to know the
music of the people," Hanser stated, "Berklee is an ideal place for a
music therapy program because of
its focus on contemporary music
and its technological resources.
Berklee’s programwill be an exciting new developmentin this field."
Hanser’s vision for music therapy at Berklee is far reaching. "I
hope Berklee-trained music therapists will be creative, sensitive musicians, nonverbal communicators,
empathetic listeners, keen observers, and insightful helpers and
problem solvers," states Hanser.
Four aims of the program are:
1. To enable music therapy majors
to integrate musical and interpersonal talents with the latest technology and a world view of today’s music.
2. To build careers devoted to helping others achieve their goals regardless of their personal limitations or challenges.
3. To become savvy professionals
in an interdisciplinary clinical team
which can serve people through the
life cycle from infancy to older
adulthood.
4. To apply the art and science of
music: therapy in assessing the efPresidentLeeEliot Berktoaststhe fectiveness of therapeutic intervenarrival of Suzanne
Hanser,chair of tion with every individual with
Berklee’sMusicTherapy
Department. whomthey work.
O’MALLEY
IS DIRECTOR
OF DEVELOPMENT
Marjorie E. O’Malley
joined the Berklee College
of Music staff this summer
as director of development.
She will be directing and
overseeing the fundraising
and alumni relations activities for the college.
O’Malley had worked
previously at the Massachusetts Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to
Children as the acting director of development,
concentrating on corporate
and foundation support.
O’Malley earned a master of arts degree in city
planning from Boston University, and a second master of arts degree in public
administration
from
Northeastern University in
Boston. She earned her undergraduate degree in poFall 1995
litical science fromthe University of Pittsburgh.
"Berklee’s reputation in
is widely known," says
O’Malley. "I am excited
about raising funds for
scholarships to provide
young musicians the opportunity to study here."
ARRIVEDERCI
BERKLEE!
The conclusion of the spring semester saw some
of the college’s most: illustrious and long-serving
faculty and staff membersend their Berklee careers. Professors John Bavicchi, Les Harris, and
Herb Pomeroy, and longtime staff members Rosemary Russell, Dave Matayabas, and Catherine
Christy took advantage of an early retirement package offered by the college to faculty, staff, and
administrators over 6.0 whohad completed at least
15 years of work at the college.
Representinga collective 172 years of service at
Berklee, their presence at the college covers a large
portion of our history. The contributions of John,
Les, and Herb in the Composition, Ear Training
and Jazz Composition departments respectively,
are immeasurable. As well as developing muchof
Berklee’s curriculum, they were the teachers and
mentors of many of our current faculty members.
RosemaryRussell served as switchboard operator for 19 years, DaveMatayabas, director of payroll and personnel systems, was here 33 years, and
Catherine Christy was front desk supervisor for 21
years. Best wishes to all six in their new endeavors.
MarjorieO’Malley
Berklee today
5
STRUM
A Sax. TONGUE
A DRUM.
I--IrI
Mold and shape up to
256 sounds and 128
combinations per bank.
IT
JUST
MAY
SIGNIFICANT
SOUND
BE
SYNTHESIS
Control where you strike the drum
surJhce, determine the mouthpiece
angle on a flute, etc., in real time.
TECHNICS
MODELING
THIS
IN
TECHNOLOGY.
THE
ACOUSTIC
YOU’LL
MOST
BREAKTI-IROUGI-{
INTRODUCING
WITH
THE
,~YNTHESIZER.
AMAZING
INSTRUMENT,
ACTUALLY
CREATE
NEW
Maximumof 64-note polyphony gives
you./hll MIDIorchestration capability.
MUSICAL
THE
DRIVER
SOUNDS
OF
BY
ONE
COMBINING
INSTRUMENT
-
A TRUMPET.ANDBLOWYOURMhND.
AS
SUCH
;,
THE
A
RESONATOR
OF
-
ANOTHER
THE
EVEN
TUBING
OF A SAY.
INVENT
INSTRUMENTS
THAT
CAN’T
EXIST
IN
REALITY.
THE
NEW
TE
Imagine
creatin,g
your own
ACOUSTIC MODELING
C H N I C S
WAY
YOU’LL
How does a
SYNTHESIZER.
Real-time expression lets
you control sounds us you
would physically, such as
bendi~gst~qngs.
WITH
PICK
GUITAR
YOU
IT
CREATE
WILL
MUSIC
CHANGE
THE
FOREVER.
Proud
Sponsor
of the il El A
Thescienceof sound
ANNIVERSARY
GIFTS
Twovery generous gifts to the college have helped to make Berklee’s
50th anniversary commorative book,
entitled; Berklee: T/Oe First Fifty
Years,a reality.
EMCOPrinters of Everett, Massachusetts, whohas printed the book,
madea gift valued at $25,000 to the
college. The print portion of Ber/elee:
Fifty Years capsulizes Berklee’s history in a chronological, visual time
line. Hundreds of photos of people
key to the growth of the college, and
a verbal description of historic events
are featured.
The KAOInfosystems Company
of Plymouth, Massachusetts, has also
made a generous gift of 5,000 CDs
which will be packaged with the
book. The CDportion of the history
is a two-disc compilation of selections drawn from tapes of student
performances recorded over the past
30 years and features manyof Berklee’s most distinguished alumni.
The House of Blues
re uegf~¢he l~sure of
youe~:napany
as.the, y:honor
and
Lawrence Berk,
Founder and Chancellor
on Berklee’s 50th anniversary
Featuring performances by
Oleta Adams, Alan Broadbent
and Ernie Watts, Gary Burton and
Makoto Ozone, and many more.
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, November8, 1995
Los Angeles House of Blues
8439 Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, California
Dinner/Concert Tickets: $150
Concert Tickets: $100
Special Berklee alumn~iconcert tickets: $50
Proceedswill establish the Houseof Blues
ScholarshipFur!dat Berklee.
For tickets and further information,
please call the MusiCares Foundation
at (310) 392-3777.
8
Berklee today
THEL.ASTPROMISE
I first learned that Bill Leavitt,
chair of Berklee’s Guitar Department for 25 years, had a deep love
for the lap steel guitar whenI took
up the pedal steel guitar in 1975.
He showed more than a passing
interest in my development and
began telling meabout his studies
with the Oahu School of Hawaiian Guitar as a youth. He only
gave it up after realizing he would
have a more lucrative musical career playing the standard electric
guitar. As he neared retirement,
he returned to his former interest.
MikeIhdewithBill’s lap steelguitar
The catalyst was a student who,
after hearing Bill describe what his
first lap steel lookedlike, saw one ise to him that if anything hapat a yard sale fitting his descrip- pened to him I would make sure
tion and bought it for him as a the world heard about his creation.
joke gift. It didn’t have a finger- That was a Thursdaynight; he died
board, strings, or a case, but to the following Sunday.
Bill, it was like meetinga long lost
It’s taken me a few years, but I
friend. He began working with the finally got comfortable playing in
instrument once again.
Bill’s tuning and felt ready to give
He began a quest to invent a a performance. I got in touch with
new tuning that would be more DeWitt "Scotty" Scott who orgaversatile than the standard tunings. nizes the annual International PedSomelap steel players would use al Steel Convention in St. Louis,
three or four necks in order to get Missouri. I sent him a tape of mydifferent chord voicings. Bill be- self performinga few of Bills’ arlieved he could devise a single tun- rangements. He loved it and inviting that would make most chord ed meto comeand present a clinic
types available. He said the un- and performanceat this year’s conconventional tuning came to him vention.
in a dream. He woke up that mornAt the Labor Day event, the
ing and wrote it down. The notes clinic and concert attracted a tot
(from low to high) are: C sharp, of attention amongthe 2,000 atE, G, B flat, C natural, and D.
tendees. Steel guitar luminaries
Before long, he had written over Speedy West, Buddy Emmons,
70 arrangements for the tuning.
and Jimmy Day were amazed at
His choice of material ranged from the rich harmonies available in
"Moonlight in Vermont" and Bill’s innovative tuning. Mel Bay
"Have You Met Miss Jones" to
Publishing and DeWitt Scott each
"MyLittle Grass Shack" and "Blue expressed interest in publishing a
Hawaii." If you stopped by his
bookof Bill’s arrangements. It was
office early any morning you a great moment,I felt as if I had
would find him with the steel in finally made good on that last
his lap and pencil in hand.
promise I made to Bill. He would
Bill was hoping to see a book have loved to have been there ....
of his arrangements published
and I truly believe he was.
when he became ill and was diagnosed with leukemia in 1990.
Mi/ee I/ode, an associate professor
WhenI visited him in the hospi- of guitar, has beena mernberof t/oe
tal, I :found him still workingon faculty for 23 years, and enjoyed a
his arrangements. I made a prom- 19-yearfriends/oipwit/o Bill Leavitt.
Fall 1995
SUMMER
VISITING ARTISTCLINICS
Berklee’s Visiting Artist
Series routinely brings to
the campusa diverse roster
of top music industry professionals and performers.
This summer’s series was
no exception, with clinics
and concerts by songwriters, instrumentalists, engineers, educators, composers, and many others who
shared their wealth of experience and talent with
students and faculty.
MIDI and electronic
music guru Craig Anderton
came for a residency in
which he discussed many
aspects of desktop production and studio techniques.
Multi-instrumentalist
and vocalist Markkedford
of the Pat Metheny Group
shared anecdotes and insights with the students.
PattyLarkin’74
Singer/songwriter Patty
Larkin"74, a WindhamHill
recording artist, presented
her perspectives on performing, and played several of her songs at a July
Performance Center clinic.
DrummerZ0r0 "82, a Los
Angeles-based sideman,
gave a drumclinic during a
Boston tour stop. He was
on the road this summer
with Frankie Valli and the
Four Seasons.
Jack Renner, chair and
cofounder of Telarc International Corporation,
Fall 1995
shared tips and insights on
the art of recording classical musicdigitally.
JohnAbercrombie
’67
John Abercrombie"67
was among the guitarists
participating in the Guitar
Department’s
weeklong
SummerGuitar Sessions.
Abercrombie, RonnieEar~,
MichaelFath, Larry Mitchell, andMichaelAir gave
clinics and performed.
Larry Oppenheimer,a
sound designer for LucasArts Entertainment, a
leading interactive games
company, gave advice on
how the margin between
competence and personal
excellence decides whowill
land the best jobs.
Lydia I~utchinson and
Cliff Goldmacher,
publisher
and assistant editor, respectively, of PerformingSongwriter magazine gave a
seminar on the methodsfor
makingit as a songwriter.
Concert promoter and
former road manager for
Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie
Lake’54, shared his experiences traveling with Dizzy
and the dynamics of producing jazz concerts.
Vocalist Jeannie
Deva’75
spoke on capturing great
vocal tracks in the studio.
DebhieDeForest
"87 gave
the inside story on production for commercials.
Woodwinds sideman
ThornPastor’68 discussed
survival techniques for the
professional musician.
DUESBANDREUNIONCONCERT
Acclaimedas both jazz artist and educator, Phil
Wilsonhas taught classes and led ensemblesat Berklee for three decades. The International Dues Band,
which he directs, began as one of manyclassroom
ensembles at Berklee, but earned an enviable reputation as one of America’s premier college jazz
groups. The band’s members have always been
amongBerklee’s finest instrumentalists--the alumni roster of past International Dues Band members
reads like a who’s who of contemporary music.
An International Dues Band Reunion concert is
slated for December9 in tlhe Berklee Performance
Center. It will be an all-star alumnitribute to Phil’s
educational legacy and will feature new and old
selections from his catalogue of compositions.
Dues Band alumni who will perform include:
Terri Lyne Carrington ’83, Carol Chaikin ’80, Cyrus
Chestnut ’85, Hal Crook ’71, Joe Giorgianni ’72,
Christopher Hollyday (student), Christian Justilien
’90, Jan Konopasek’78, Abe Laboriel Jr. ’93, Tony
Lada ’72, Keith O’Q~ainn’73, Ernie Watts ’66, Dennis Wilson ’74, and Yusuke Yamamoto’93.
Proceeds from the ticket sales will establish a
Phil Wilson EndowedScholarship. For ticket information, call (617) 266-1400, extension 8454.
Yo~lr Sour~ee for the
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Musical Instruments
The"Hubof Musicin Boston"
263 Huntington Avenue
Boston,MA0211,’5
Tel. (617) 266-47;>.7
FAX(617) ;!66-1517
Next to Symphony
Hall
Contact: Lee WalkowichC/ass of ’81
Berklee today
9
LOOKING
BACK,LOOKING
FORWARD
This year marksthe 10th anniversary of the unveiling of the Music
Synthesis Department.In 1985,Berklee wasthe first :o offer a collegelevel majorof this typein the nation.
Berklee, like othe.r schools, had an
electronic music department over a
decade earlier, but Berklee’s music
synthesis curriculum pioneered
teaching performance, MIDI, and
contemporarymusicstyles. It wasa
departure fromthe esoteric, art music applicationsbeingexploredin classical musicdepartmentsat other colleges, universities, andconservatories.
Berkleepurcha:~ed
its first synthesizer, a monophonicARP2500, in
the summerof 1970, and offered an
electronic music course that fall.
MichaelRendishinitiated the electronic music programat Berklee in
1971and serveda.’; departmentchair
for about a dozenyears.
Duringthe Ren.:lish chairmanship,
the need for a bona fide musicsynthesis major becameapparent. With
the advent of polyphonic,touch sensitive instruments with programmable memory,digital Sampling, and
MusicalInstrumentDigital Interface
(MIDI)features, the use of synthesizers for live performance
increased
dramatically.
With this as backdrop, Berklee
Administrator BobShare approached
DavidMashin 19132to help develop
a performance-oriented programin
music synthesis. Mashbecame Coordinator of PerformanceSynthesis
to assist the collegein developingnew
curriculum and in workingwith the
14 studentsthen enrolledas electronic
music majors. As the performance
side of the department blossomed,so did the student enrollment. Rendish grew increasinglymoreinvolvedin film
scoring and was namedassistant chair of the FilmScoring
Departmentin 1984, and Mash
became Music Synthesis Department chair in May1985.
Thesynth major wasofficially
offered in the fall of 1985,and
108 students enrolled. A year Faculty
member
ChrisNoyes
(left) works
with
later the figure balloonedto 332. a student
in a current
department
facility
"After we decided to make
it a full-fledgedmajor,"recalls
Mash,"I was worried that wemight ist, TomRhea and Michael Brigida
be throwing a party and nobody are sounddesign experts, and myarea
wouldcome. But the growth was ex- is underscorefor broadcast media."
plosive. Wehad no idea it wouldbe
TheMusicSynthesisfacilities have
so popular. Studentscamein so fast, grown tremendously over the past
soon we needed more faculty, more decade. In 1985, there was a single
equipment,andlarger facilities.
room in the 1140 Boylston Street
"Back then, one other faculty building which housed 12 workstamember,MarkMinter-Smith, and I tions and a mixtureof synthesizers,
taught all of the courses. Erik Han- drummachines, basic MIDIsequencson wasour lab monitorand Jennifer ers, and a single AppleIIe computer.
Smith the receptionist. The whole
Tenyears later, the department’s
departmentwasrun by four people." facilities includethree lab/classrooms
The first music synthesis majors with 35 computer-equipped worktook courses in sound design, MIDI stations, a recital hall/classroom,and
sequencing,performanceskills, com- two performance/ensemblerooms.
position, and orchestration. Three
Graduatesof the programare tourtracks--performance, production, ing and recording with numeroustop
and sound design--were developed acts, workingfor multimediaproducas areas of specialization within the tion companiesand jingle houses, and
major. Therewerefewelective cours- creating soundeffects for Hollywood
es at first, but with continueddevel- films and video games. Alumniare
opmentof digital synthesis technol- also designing factory presets for
ogies and a wider range of computer synth manufacturerslike Kurzweil,
applications, the curriculumhas kept Korg, and Roland.
expandingwith additional electives.
Future directions are hard to preA new multimedia studies offering dict. However, Music Technology
wasadoptedin fall 1994,andhas been Division Chair DonPuluse’s vision
enormouslysuccessful.
includes taking advantageof the comMaslhis nowassistant deanof cur- monground between this department
riculumfor academictechnology, and and the MP&E
Department by sharKurtBiederwolfis the acting chair of ing facilities andcourseofferings.
MusicSynthesisas a search for a perBiederwolfstates, "Onething is
manentchair continues.
certain, after 10 years, ours is a de"Today, the department has five partment whosefaculty, curriculum,
full-time, three part-time, and five andfacilities are unparalleledworldadjunct faculty teachingin their ar- wide. Weupdate to keep up newadeas of specialization,"states Bieder- vances.It takes a lot of workto keep
wolf. "Nell Leonard covers multi- on top of these changes, but welive
media,ChrisNoyesis a digital audio or die by our ability to lead in the
DavidMash
instructsanearly music production expert, Richard Bou- area of musicsynthesis education.For
synthesis
class,circa1985.
langer is the computermusicspecial- 10 years wehavebeenliving well."
10 Berklee today
Fall1995
FACULTY
NOTES
Professor Bill Pierce has released The Complete William the
ConquerorSessions for Sunnyside
records with bassist John Lockwood ’77, drummer Keith Copland ’73, and pianists James Williams and James "Sid" Simmons.
Professor Hal Crook has published a new book, Howto Cutup:
A Study in Jazz Accompaniment.
It presents a methodfor accompaniment of improvised jazz solos.
Associate professors Scott McCormickand AnthonyGermain
produced a software package called
Harmonic Hearing. The program
assists the developmentof skills
for determining chord quality, notating bass lines, and improvising
over various chord progressions.
Associate Professor of Guitar
GarrisonFewell did a clinic and
concert tour of Europe this summer, and played with his trio at
New York’s Blue Note club in
September.
String Department Chair Matt
Glaser will be concertmaster and
contractor of the string section for
the JimmyPage-Robert Plant Boston and Hartford Connecticut
tour dates this fall. He will also
appear at the Metropolitan Museumof Art with Renaissance music
specialists, the Waverly Consort.
His jazz group, 103 Strings, was
amongthe featured acts at the annual Jazz Fest at the DeCordova
Museum on Labor Day.
Professor Emeritus John LaP0rta released the CDPlaying for
Keeps, which showcases his composing, arranging, and clarinet and
tenor sax playing. Also featured
are Joe Wilder (trumpet), Britt
Woodman(tombone), and Ed and
George Schuller (drums and bass).
Assistant Professor Yumik0
Matsuoka
and Instructor PaulStiller, membersof the a capella group
Vox One with Jodi Jenkins ’93,
Paul Pampinella ’90, and TomBaskett ’91, are heard on the group’s
recently reissued debut CDin Japan on VAPrecords. The quintet
recorded a second CDfor the laFall 1995
bel, and tours Japan in October.
Assistant Professor of Piano
Laszl0Gard0ny
and his quintet performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September17.
Associate Professor of Guitar
Charles Chapman
contributed an
article to the June issue of Guitar
Shop magazine, and is among the
20 top educators and performers
queried about equipment preferences in the October issue of
Acoustic Guitar magazine.
Assistant Dean Of Administration/Director of Information Systems Fred Miller has released the
CDLong Time, his second album
for the DMClabel. The disc is
also a CD-ROMfor Macintosh
computers, which contains photos, bio information, and video to
accompanythe audio tracks.
Assistant
Chair of MP&E
Stephen Webberengineered the
CDWorks of the European Masters for the Mark Small.Robert
Torres Guitar duo. The disc is due
out in November.
Associate Professor of Percussion Jon Hazilla released The Bitten Moon.The disc contains compositions by Hazilla, as well as
compositions by John Coltrane
and Jimmy Garrison. The album
was released on the Cadence Jazz
Records label.
Associate Professor of Percussion Joe Huntplayed drums on the
recording For Good by trumpeter
KatsumiMichishita ’91. Also featured were guitarist Christian
Rover ’93, vibes and percussion
player Yusuke Yamamoto’93, and
bassist Masa Kamaguchi.
BassInstructor Anthony
Vitti released The Slap Bass Bible, an instruction for contemporary bass
styles with a cassette demonstration tape for DaadooMusic.
Assistant Professor of Guitar
Jack Pezanelli released the CD
Pleasured Hands on the Brownstone label. Also featured are Assistant Professor of Piano JohnArcar0, bassist Michael Moore, and
drummer Jimmy Madison.
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FACULTY
PROFILE
The S~xophone
Mark
L.
Cornerstone
Small
"73
~
any musicianswill tell youthey haveplayedgigs for to BerkleeJoe begantaking lessons fromhis older brothand on
peanuts, but Joe Viola’s first professional job back er on a $25 alto saxophoneboughtat a pawnshop
in 1933literally yielded a bagof peanutsfor his pay. An clarinet. He began playing ballroom dances and funcinauspiciousdebut for a 13-year-oldMassachusettsyouth tions in the mid-’30sin a bandwith two of his brothers.
whowouldlater be regarded as a master saxophonistand After graduatingfromhigh school, he took his first road
gig. That banddissolved in Calteacher by two generations of
ifornia but Joe stayed on workBerklee woodwindplayers.
ing as lead alto player with the
Joe has been associated with
BenPollack Band. Withina year
Berkleefor 49 of its 50-yearhisJoe was back on the East Coast
tory, andstill teachesthree days
and ultimately settled in New
each week. Thoughhe nowenYork
around 1939.
joys emeritusstatus, for years
"New
York was the place to
he held the busy position of
go
in
those
days," remembers
WoodwindDepartment chair,
Joe.
"After
you
got proficient
andthroughprivate lessons, theon yourinstrument,the next step
ory classes, and directing enwas to go to NewYork. There
sembles, he wasa guide to hunwas no problem getting work
dreds of musiciansranging from
there--if you could play you
Quincy Jones ’52 to Antonio
would work. Youhad a choice
Hart ’91.
of workingin townor going on
In presentingBerklee’sPresthe road, it just dependedon
ident’s Awardto Joe in 1994,
what band you wanted to play
President Lee Eliot Berk charwith. I went on the road with
acterizedJoe as "oneof the corRedNorvoand other groups but
nerstones upon whichthe colalso did a lot of workin town."
lege’s reputation for excellence
Joe earned an enviable repuhas been built," and cited his
tation in NewYorkfor his jazz
achievements in teaching and
clarinet and lead alto playing
publishingas being"intrinsic to
duringthe swingera. Bythe ’40s,
the developmentof instruction
the country wasin the middleof
Woodwind
master
Joe
Viola:
An
educational
force
at Berklee."
at
Berklee
for
most
of
its
50-year
history.
a warin Europeand the Pacific.
Manyyears before he came
12 Berklee today
Fall1995
Joe’s NewYork days were cut short 1982, Crewhenhe was drafted. He was sta- ative Reading
tioned at CampCroft in South Caro- Studies. Vollina where he played in the Army umeII of his
band for about three years. Musical method,
duties kept himstateside until the whichfocuses
end of his hitch. Hevividly remem- on arpeggios
bers hearing Charlie Parker and Diz- and chord
zy Gillespie for the first time when, scales, proved
as membersof the Billie Eckstine to be so uniBand,they performedat his base.
versallyappli"Wehad been steeped in the Army cable that it
band music," says Joe, "and in came has
been
this band--it was wonderful. This transposed
was the beginning of bebop. Themu- and published
Jerome
Sal~bagh
"96."I’ve always
been
sic didn’t soundstrange to mehar- for trumpet, JoeViolaandstudent
in whattheyoung
people
aredoing,"
Joestates.
monicallyor otherwise; I could hear vibes, trom- interested
where it was going. The speed was bone, flute,
the thing. After that, weall wanted electric bass, andviolin. It has also. Berklee studios nowmakesthat seem
to knowmore about bebop and try beentranslated into Japanese, Ital- a little ridiculous."
to playit too.
ian, and German.
It is not unusual for Joe to hear
"WhileI wasin the service, I had
At the same time, Joe was noted fromstudents he taught as long as 30
heard and read about the Schillinger around Boston as a top performer years ago. He forged lasting bonds
methodof composition, but was un- whodoubledon all saxophones,flute, witlh hundreds, of themthrough his
able to do anythingabout getting in- oboe, and English horn, and was genuineinterest in their development.
struction then," remembers
Joe. (Mu- comfortableplayingin jazz and clasBill Pierce ’73, a formerViolastusic theorist and composer Joseph sical situations. Hekept a busy and dent, says, "There is nothing like
Schillinger’s notablestudents includ- varied performing schedule playing studyingwith a master--Joeis a vired Benny Goodman,Glenn Miller,
behindartists like LenaHorn,Frank tuoso player and teacher. He can
Tommy
Dorsey, Lawrence Berk, and Sinatra, and TonyBennett. He also point out the flaws in your technique
George Gershwin. His method of played with the Boston Symphony just by listening, andthen give a logcompositiongained acclaim for be- Orchestra, the BostonPops, and pit ical approach for fixing them. His
ing the basis of Miller’s "Moonlight orchestras at Boston’sSchubert, and bookscan help players of any level.
Serenade" and Gershwin’sPorgyand Colonialtheaters.
His Creative Reading Studies is so
Bess, and his variations on "I Got
In the latter part of the ’60s, Joe hard, even the most advancedplayer
Rhythm.")
formed the Berklee College Saxo- will haveto really study it. MyexpeAfter his dischargefromthe army, phone Quartet together with John rience with him was very positive.
Joe returned to Boston and went to LaPorta, Harry Drabkin, and Gary Joe teaches his students howto beLawrenceBerk’s studio on Massa- Anderson. Their concert programs corrte the best players they can be."
chusetts Avenuein the spring of 1946 of jazz andclassical selections show"I’ve alwaystried to equipmystuto study the Schillinger method.At cased their high-calibermusicianship, dents to play all kinds of music,"Joe
the same time, he began studying impressingcritics as they represent- says. "I stress all aspects--developoboewith FernandGillet of the Bos- ed Berklee to audiences around the ing a goodtone, reading, doubling,
ton SymphonyOrchestra.
country.In 1972,the quartet released improvising.I teach that doublingis
Joe deliberated on whetherto re- an album featuring manyworks by really important for a woodwind
turn to NewYork, Lawrence Berk Berklee faculty composers.
player. If youcan’t play those instruofferedhima job teachingat his newJoe has seen manychanges at the ments, you just won’t work."
ly opened school, the Schillinger college and in all aspects of music
-~s saxophonestyles haveevolved
House, on NewburyStreet, and Joe makingover the past five decades.
over the past 49 years, Joe has kept
took the offer. His first responsibili"I rememberback in the 284 New- up. Helists a numberof contempoties involved teaching saxophone, bury Street building whenwe worked rary players he admires. Hehas also
clarinet, andflute, andleading a ma- with a wire recorder--they didn’t new~’rlost any of his enthusiasmfor
jority of the ensembles.
havea tape recorder then," he states. working with new students.
Asthe schoolgrew,ultimately be- "To makea recording studio, they
":Some of these young players
comingBerkleeCollege of Music,Joe brokedowna wall of a rehearsal room frighten me--they are just marvelcould see clearly the educational and put in a plate glass window.The ous,:" he states. "I’ve alwaysbeenvery
needs of his saxophonestudents. He band was on one side, and in the interested in what the youngpeople
penneda three-volumemethodin the middle of the other room was this are doing--I think that is oneof the
’60s titled TheTechniqueof the Sax- little wire recorder. Seeingthe kind thint~s that has kept mearoundhere
ophone, and an additional book in of recordingequipmentthat is in the for so long."
~
Fall1995
Berklee today 13
m of His Heart
Ace bassist HarvieSwartz ’70 is at the top
of his form handling the low end chores
by Mark L.
Small
"73
from sets by Coltrane, MinT~"1
Tarvie,Swartz
’70,oneof Newfaded
gus, Monk,Miles, and other greats.
York s hardest working jazz
.,L .1. men, has always resisted the
temptation to play the music that was
in vogue if it wasn’t what was in his
heart. Thoughhe came of age musically during the British rock invasion
of the ’60s, the alluring sounds from
Liverpool and the Mersey Beat had
little impact on his direction. Since
he was 15, Harvey has stayed his
course with jazz as the lodestar.
Growing up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Harvie began his musical
odyssey as a pianist before discovering the bass. There was little sustenance in his surroundings to nourish.
his growinghunger for jazz. His high
school band director disliked America’s only indigenous art form, as did
all but a few of his friends. Nonetheless, while stilI a teen, Harvie became
a fixture on Sunday afternoons at
Boston’s [now defunct] Jazz Workshop. Frequently making the trip
alone with only enough money for’
bus fare, admission, and one Coke,
Harvie wouldstay until the last note’.
PHOTO
BYGENE
MARTIN
PRODUCTION
ASSISTANT
DAVIDSMITH
Ignoring the advice of a high
school guidance counselor to pursue
trade school, Harvie opted to study
composition and arranging at Berklee. Even though his keyboard work
was strong enough to earn him the
pianist’s (:hair in Phil Wilson’s Dues
Barid, he switched to bass after a few
semesters and immersed himself in
ma..~tering that instrument. After
graduation, he spent a summerroaming across Europe and got a glimpse
of the player’s life by backing several
renowned American jazz expatriates
at festivals and clubs in Denmark.
Returning to the U.S. in the dead
of winter 1971, Harvie found the jazz
scene in Bostonas bleak as the weather. A promise of gigs in NewYork
soon lured him to Manhattan and he
never left. Bass in hand, he has traveled throughout the world as a jazz
emissary. The number of albums featuring his bass work tops 100. The
long and varied roster of musicians
he has worked with includes Stan
Berklee
today 15
Getz, Phil Woods, Pacquito D’ Rivera, Jim
Hall, A1 DiMeola, Michael Brecker, Jimmy
Heath, Chet Baker, Toots Thielemans, James
Brown, Jean Pierre Rampal, Ben Verdery, David Sanborn, Jane Ira Bloom, and many more.
He has recorded 5(3 of his own compositions
and released seven albums under his ownname.
A packed schedule kept him touring for
seven months last year. His days in NewYork
were divided between recording sessions, club
work, and his teaching position at Manhattan
School of Music. Wespoke during some of his
HarvieSwartzand rare downtime at his home in Westchester
DeanEarl ata 1985 County, a peaceful outpost along the Hudson
Berklee
clinic.
north of Manhattan..
You became interested in jazz at 15 when
most kids your age were listening to the Beatles.
Whatattracted you to jazz instead?
I liked what I heard on the radio, but I was
drawn to other kinds of music. I liked the
Motownartists. I found out later that James
Jamersonwas the bassist on that stuff. He was
a great innovator on the instrument. The blues
hooked me though--the blues fed was it. When
I was 15, I heard "Bag’s Groove," and immediately loved the jazz style of blues.
Howdid you end up coming to Berklee?
Quite truthfully, Berklee was about the only
place to study jazz at that time. I entered as a
pianist and studied with DeanEarl. I was not
really serious whenI was younger, to meit was
just fun to play. Maybeif I had stayed with
piano I might not l’Lave gone anywhere.It is a
rhetorical question, but what if Miles played
drums, would he have reached the heights he
did?
WhenI was in high school I picked up the
Waltz For Debby album by Bill Evans with
Scott LaFaroon bass. I had a terrible stereo,
and I could never hear bass on other record16 Berklee today
ings, but on this one Paul Motianand Bill Evans
played very gently so Scott could be heard. On
that record the bass came out beautifuliy--I
still think it is one of the best recordings of a
bass. After I heard what the bass could do, it
stuck in my mind. He had wonderful time, a
nice sound, great notes. I was drawnto the bass
after that.
Werethere any courses or instructors at Berklee that had an impact on your direction ?
I have to mention Herb Pomeroy--it was
amazing to work under him. John Bavicchi was
another. WhenI started his composition course
I was working hard at it, and he would compliment me on what I wrote. To get a compliment
from John was a big deal. John LaPorta was
also great.
The summerafter graduation from Berklee,
you went to Europe and connected with some
major jazz expatriates like Dexter Gordonand
Johnny Griffin. Howdid that happen?
By the time I was finishing at BerkIee, I was
the bass player in the recording band for a year-George Mraz had already left. Herb Pomeroy
asked me to go to Europe and play at the Montreux Festival with the M.I.T. band which he
directed at the time. Their bass player said he
couldn’t go. I had no work, so I said yes. Herb
called back to say that now their bass player
said he could play the gig, and Herb really had
to use him. He told me he’d get me a ticket
anyxvay, and I went.
After the festival, I hung around Switzerland
and went into a music store and started playing
a bass. The store owner camerunning up saying
"maestro, maestro!" The next thing I knew, I’d
bought the bass. I ended up in Denmark and
began playing with Jimmy Heath and Dexter
Gordon. I began getting recommendedfor other gigs. Mybiggest thrill over there was playing
with Art Taylor, Kenny Drew, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, and Drew Moore.
What was your next move?
As it got to be winter, I was running out of
moneyso I got a ticket home. I came back to
Boston, and jazz was dead there--this was 1971.
I got a gig in a rock band playing electric bass.
For about a year I didn’t play any acoustic. I
started getting calls to play acoustic bass at clubs
like Lennie’s on the Turnpike backing up [saxophonists] Zoot Sims, A1 Cohn, [trumpeter]
Charlie Shavers, [pianist] MoseAllison, and others. I met MikeAbene, pianist for singer Chris
Connors, and he invited me to NewYork for
somegigs. I was petrified. The thought of going
to NewYork was something I’d never dreamed
of doing. But things were so slow around BosFall 1995
ton that I started doing gigs in NewYork. I
had to be pushed though. I’m the kind of guy
who thinks he can’t swim, but when I get
pushed into the pool, I swim.
What made you pursue acoustic bass at a
time when electric bass was more popular?
Early on I had gotten somevery good offers
to play electric bass for somebig namegroups.
I turned them downbecause I just didn’t want
to go into it full time. Don’t get mewrong, I
think electric bass is a phenomenalinstrument
and is as demandingto play as acoustic bass. I
just really wantedto play acoustic.
Wasit discouraging then when acoustic bass
amplification systems were not great and leading artists like Miles Davis ’group and Weather
Report were using electric bass?
I just decided to tough it out. I had a lot of
bad years financially. I workedaround the city
playing duo gigs when NewYork had the cabaret law which didn’t allow clubs to use drums.
I went as long as six or eight months without
working with a drummer. I did those duo gigs
for years and learned a lot.
I never had it easy, and if things did seemto
be getting easy, I would make them hard. I’m
always trying to push myself to get into something new without being trendy. I tell people
I’ve never been in, but I’ve never been out. I’ve
carved myownlittle niche in the business. I’ve
always gone for the sounds in myhead that I
wanted to hear. Over the years I’ve been involved with someinnovative groups that never
got really famous.
here are manybassists
whocan do a lot on the bass
but I don’t feel they are adding muchto the music.
Well, it is not just the instrumentation or
that I love the soundof just bass a.nd voice. It is
working with Sheila specifically because she is
a master in that setting. Manyare skeptical
about what we will do all night with just bass
and voice, but we always end up getting encores and a standing ovation. People love it
after they hear it. Somethingmagical happens,
we don’t even know what it is--and don’t try
to find out. I try to be a bass orchestra by
bowing, playing double stops, counter melodies, and scat singing.
At one point, you considered yourself a composer, bandleader, and bassist in ~hat order. Do
you still prioritize them like that?
I don’t know now. WhenI said that I was
really trying to get myband Urban Earth going [circa 1988]. Theobstacles becametoo great.
It wasn’t that the people didn’t like the music,
the business wasn’t too kind to me. That soured
me on being a band leader. I just consider myself a musician now. A few labels have made
offers for me to do records, but I’m enjoying
Can you name a few?
I was in one of the original fusion bands, doinga lot of different music. I get to play in so
salsa, Brazilian,
Silverlight, with [keyboardist] Barry Miles. We many styles--avant-garde,
were playing that kind of music when no one straight-ahead swing, and post-bebop jazz.
was doing it. I did two records with him.
What do you think has enab,C~ed you to beFrom 1974-76 I was in Double Image with
come such an in-demand sidem~n ?
Dave Friedman and Mike Di Pasqua. We reI come into a band and give 100 percent to
corded for the Enja and then ECMlabels and
the music. If I don’t feel I can do that, I turn
toured all over the world playing major festivals. People used to think that the unique thing downthe job. I really try to add to the music-about that band was that it had both vibes and whatever the style. Sometimes people don’t
Those who
marimba. The instrumentation was kind of a knowwhere to put me stylistically.
heard
me
with
Barry
Miles,
Double
Image,
or
gimmick; what made the band special was the
Steve
Kuhn
didn’t
know
I
could
play
bebop.
compositional approach.
Kind of by accident ~[ got on a gig with
I played in Steve Kuhn’s band with Sheila
Jordan. That was an unusual group--it had a Derrick Smith, a swinging, straight-ahead piasinger who wasn’t the leader of the group and nist. I knewI wasn’t his first choice, but when
we played he loved it and I have been playing
whose voice was used as another instrument.
on and off with his quartet for 12 years. He
Aroundthat time, Sheila and I began rehearsjokes about it saying he’d thought of meas an
ing our bass and voice duo.
avant-garde player who would play all this
weird
stuff. He was surprised that I was into
You’vesaid that the bass andvoice duo is one
Duke
Ellington
and the roots of jazz.
of your favorite combinations to work with.
Berklee
t oday
Fall 1995
17
A sax player, who will go unnamed, came
and heard my duo with Sheila, and now will
never call me. He thinks that I wouldplay that
way in his jazz group. But I always try mybest
to play whatever the musical situation demands.
Marvin "Smitty" Smith [’81] on drums--which
was great because I had been playing a lot with
him. Theysaid I could pick any two guitarists,
so I chose Mick Goodrick and John Abercrombie because they have played together for
25 years but had never recorded together.
Whatwould you tell those who want a career
I wrote a bunch of material because the
as a sideman?
record companydidn’t want standards. I wrote
First, you have to be open to a lot of styles-- very open and free tunes because I wanted
understand funk, Brazilian music, rock, differJohn and Mickto retain their personalities and
ent jazz styles. Whenyou come into a situanot to just comein and read a lot of notes.
tion, you should identify what it is that the
leader does, and figure out how to fit your
Howdo you think the future looks for acousplaying in. You want to figure out how you tic bass since pickup systems are improvedand
can make the band sound better. If you come young players like Christian McBrideare chamin thinking of howyou can make yourself sound pioning the instrument?
better, you will be a crummysideman. SomeAcoustic bass is going crazy--all the electric
one I played with told me she thought I had a bassists want to double on it now.It is incrediway of playing with a band as if I were looking ble howmanyyoung bassists are really serious
at it from an overview. If someonenods for me about playing it. I have heard some new playto take a solo, I maypass on it if I have just
ers really playing somestuff. I rememberplaysoloed on the three previous tunes. Myattitude
ing with Pat Metheny before I had a good
is to makethe music go well overall, not to try pickup system. He kept telling me to turn up,
and dazzle everybodywith lots of solos.
but I couldn’t get any louder. Nowthe bass
can really blast, volumeis not a problem.
So you are most interested in sticking with
the primary role on the bass?
Howvaried is your schedule?
Well, I’ll take the spotlight and I’ll give my
Well, this past summer,I did a little tour of
solo 100 percent, but myobjective is to balance Europe with Sheila Jordan, then I played on
the band over the evening and play with the and produced a CDfor saxophonist Leonard
right feel. It takes a lot of thought and experi- Hochman,I produced a Brazilian record which
ence. There are manybassists whohave a lot of featured Michael Brecker and Toninho Horta.
technique and can do a lot on the bass, but I Pianist Randy Klein [’71] and I finished our
don’t feel they are adding muchto the music.
duo album called Love Notes from the Bass. I
recorded a trio CDwith Haru, a fine guitarist/
You have done a lot of records with guitarcomposer from Japan and Danny Gottlieb, and
ists. Is there something about the combination the following day I played on a children’s alof guitar and bass that attracts you?
bum. I was also playing Tuesday nights with a
I never was that into guitar until I started
very good salsa band.
playing a lot with Mike Stern. I would have
him play a jazz tune in his own way on my
Given your experiences, are you quick to
early records. I encouraged him and he gave recommend
the jazz life to your youngstudents ?
mea lot of great musical things in return. That
~ can’t recommendor not recommendit. I
got mereally excited about the guitar.
say look into your heart, and ask yourself if
There is kind of a "Boston guitar sound" you want to do this or not. If you have to think
that I wanted to explore. Pat Metheny, Mick more than two seconds, you should do someGoodrick [’67], John Scofield [’73], John Ab- thing else. I don’t have a choice, I can’t do
ercrombie [’67], MikeStern [’75], Jay Azzolina anything else--I don’t want to do anything
[’76], and WayneKrantz [’76] all come from else. I spent a lot of years "livin’ off nickels and
that style. I wanted to documentit on myIn a dimes" as Joe Lee Wilson used to say. I was
Different Light CD.. ~ wanted to have some of willing to get marrieda little later in life, to not
these guitarists play in a context that they hadn’t have a family, to be broke and not owna car
been heard in before. The record has the only for manyyears to do mymusic. I didn’t quesrecorded bass and guitar duets with Scofield to tion it. I did it becauseit is me.
date. I had Stern really stretch out--something
I never regretted doing music. I amstill pickhe doesn’t do on recordings. It was a very ing up new things and will never come close to
exciting project.
learning it all. I feel like I am looking at the
After hearing that, the Japanese BMG/No- grains of sand on a beach, and so far I only have
vus label asked me to do a quartet album, Ar- a handful. That is how it feels to me every
rival, with two guitars. They told me to use morning when I wake up.
~]
18 Berklee
today
Fall 1995
Breaking
Up
Is Hard to Do
Muchcan changeafter a group finds success. Having
a written agreementbefore you disagree is wise policy.
T
by Willam
0 "Neal
"84
he annals of pop music history are replete with accounts
of well-known and not so
well-known groups that have disbanded over the inability to resolve
internal differences. While individual musicians may go on to achieve
fame as soloists or as members of
different bands, sadly, break-ups often end musical careers and long-time
friendships.
Many disputes, however, can be
resolved or avoided if band members
take the time early on in their relationships to formalize business conditions with a written agreement.
Recently, I negotiated the partial
break-ups of two well-known musical groups. Despite their monetary
success and acclaim, neither had any
formalized agreement. The result was
that the individual musicians spent a
lot of moneyon legal fees, long-time
friendships were lost and, ultimately,
nobody was satisfied with the final
resolution.
Agreements take different forms
and depend upon whether the band
conductsits business as a general partnership or as a corporation (often
referred to as a "loan out company").
If a~ banddoes not incorporate, it will
be viewed under the law as a general
partnership. Differences between a
corporation and partnership exist on
isslaes of tax planning and limitations
on principals’ personal liability. The
costs for setting up a corporation are
not substantial but are more expensive than establishing a general partnership. Statutory formalities must
Sadly,many
ban~fl be followed.
splitsendcreative
If a band forms a corporation, a
partnershipsas shareholders’ agreement should be
well asIong-tim,B executed between the corporation
friendships.
and members as shareholders. Each
William O’Neal ’84 is an entertainment attorney in the Phoenix, AZ,
office of Ouarles & Brady, and can
be reached at (602) 230-5584.
Fall 1995
Berklee
today 19
band member also
should have an employment agreement
with the corporation.
If the musical group
organizes as a general
partnership, a partnership agreement should
be executed by the
members as individual partners. Each of
these agreements contain substantially similar provisions which
are outlined below.
While there are manyissues that
should be addressed in a band agreement, the most important involves
the right to use the band namein the
event of a break-up. In manyinstances, the namewill be one of the band’s
most valuable assets. Thus, disputes
over the name are commonand can
arise for a number of reasons. For
example, lead vocalists, principal
songwriters, or other key members
may decide they can no longer work
with the remaining membersbut have
a desire to carry on with new personnel under the original name.
Without an agreement among
memberson this issue, the namelikely wouldbe viewedas an asset of the
partnership or corporation. Each
partner or shareholder could claim a
right to use it or, in the alternative,
could assert a claim for compensation for relinquishing his or her interest in the name.
If a dispute arises, value must be
placed on the name. As with many
intangible assets, this will probably
be difficult to establish, and the law
provides little guidance.
There are many ways to resolve
such disputes, but, under manyband
agreements, the nameis not valued as
an asset for purposes of a buy-out of
a member.Additionally, the nameremains either with a majority of the
remaining members, with the lead
vocalist or instrumentalist, or with
the principal songwriter. I have encountered band agreements that prohibit any member from using the
nameif the group breaks up. It is not
important what band members agree
upon--as long as they agree on something and put it in writing.
A band agreement also should ad-
be equal. For example,
the musicians of a
four-member
band
may have a 25 percent
profit participation,
but the lead singer
may have two votes
for each of the other
member’s one vote.
There are many
ways to address this
issue, but it is critical
to establish a mechanism for breaking a
deadlock if voting
dress each member’s percentage incontrol is shared equally amongan
terest of income derived from the
even number of members. And many
group’s activities. A successful reagreements provide that, in the event
cording group should have income of a deadlock, a third party such as a
from a variety of sources including
manager or agent will cast the tierecord royalties, publishing income, breaking vote.
mechanical royalties,
performance
Another important issue to be adroyalties, merchandising income, and dressed in a music group’s agreement
personal appearance monies.
is how ex-band members are to be
In some instances, the group may treated after they leave the band. Orshare equally in such income--if
dinarily, ex-membersare entitled to
members contribute equally to the
continue receiving a percentage inband’s songs and sound. More often
terest for past projects in whichthey
than not, however, bands have one participated. Rarely are ex-members
or two key members who compose entitled to incomefrom future activand arrange the majority of the songs, ities. Bandagreements often provide
or whosevocal or instrumental style
for a buy-out of the departing memdefines the group’s sound. In the latber’s interest.
ter case, such membersmaybe justiA buy-out price generally is based
fied in demandinga larger share of on the departing member’s percentband’s income.
age interest in the value (as opposed
To elaborate, a principal songwrit- to cost) of the group’s tangible assets
er maybe allocated a greater share of --such as cash, equipment, and inmechanical and performance royalstruments. As mentionedearlier, typties, but each member may share
ically no value is assigned to certain
equally in income derived from per- intangible assets--such as the band’s
sonal performances.
name, or to contracts of which the
In other instances, the musical band is a party. Buy-outs can be
group may be controlled by one or structured as one-time cash payments
two individuals whoretain all profor as partial paymentsover time.
its, and the other membersare salaIf partial payments are made, the
ried employeeswith or without a per- departing membershould be entitled
centage participation, serving at the to interest on the unpaid balance.
will of the controlling members.Ar- Such arrangements should be strucrangements differ with each band.
tured as a "non-recourse" obligation,
The key is to agree on something-which simply means the departing
and put it in writing.
membermay only look to the assets
An issue closely related to perof the corporation or partnership, and
centage allocation is that of decision- not to the personal assets of the reraaking control. While voting rights
maining members.
often are allocated in the same proBreak-ups typically occur when a
portion as a band member’spercentmusic group encounters internal
age interest, it is not unusualfor key problems and one or more members
membersto have greater voting rights
wants to leave. Or a musician may
--even though percentage splits may decide to leave a group to pursue a
t is not important what
band members agree upon
as long as they agree on something, andput it in writing.
28 Berklee
today
Fall 1995
solo career. If a band is under contract with a record company,restrictions are in the contract regarding a
member’sright to leave. For example, a musician usually will not be
permitted to leave a band in the middle of a concert tour. Also, the band’s
agreement should address this issue.
Often, limited non-competition provisions are incorporated into a band’s
agreement, restricting a departing
member’sactivities in the musicbusiness for a certain period of time.
A band agreement mayspecify that
all or part of the departing member’s
solo earnings must be paid to the
corporation or partnership if a member leaves to pursue a solo career.
Such provisions can serve as disincentives to a musician contemplating
such a move.
There are basic issues which
should be addressed at the formation
stage while musiciansare still speaking to each other. [See sidebar above.]
Situations and attitudes often change
after a music group experiences success. While each membershould seek
independent legal counsel with respect to the terms and conditions of a
Fall 1995
band agreement, as a practical matter
most groups also look to a single at-torney--usually the band’s attorney-for assistance in this area.
This presents a conflict of interest
for the attorney because the attor-ney’s client is the organization--not
its individual members.While there
is no substitute for separate repre-sentation, the attorney can discus,,;
issues to be decided by the group, so
long as he or she does not negotiate
for or otherwise act on behalf of any
individual member.
Once the band is aware of this,
memberscan resolve the issues among
themselves. After members reach an
agreement, the attorney can act as a
scribe to prepare the band’s written
agreement.
.As Neil Sedakaonce sang, "Breaking up is hard to do." That may be
true, but having a written agreement
between a music group’s members
before problems arise mayhelp avoid
the disputes that lead to a break-up.
If a break-up is inevitable, it is less
costly--economically and emotionally--if a mechanism
for handling dissolution already is in place.
=~
Berklee
today 21
Voicing
Concepts
A few tips for keyboarddoublers andpianists
seekingto add color to their voicings
I
think a lot of pianists forget
that "comp"is an abbreviation for accompany,
and that
compingcomprisesa significant portion of their role as instrumentalists.
Manyworkhardest on their soloing,
but in the final analysis,there is proportionately more compingthan soloing in a pianist’s musicallife. What
follows are a few ideas on creating
interesting vertical structures.
Since piano teachers are unlikely
to showstudents every great voicing
they know,most pianists are taught
the basic compingand voicing techniques and then they are on their
own.Thepersonal workethic of going above and beyond what you absolutely needto knowis required or
you will be drawing on voicings
learned by rote andplayingthemcontinually until the creativity and musicality is pretty muchgone.
Changingmusical situations and
styles should dictate what you use
for voicings. Thinkof using voicings
as an artist woulduse a palette; try to
paint different tonal settings to best
accompanythe style of music you
are currently performing. In other
words, try not to use the samevoicings for everything from country to
heavy metal.
In a jazz setting, the pianist needs
to be able to comptwo-hand voicings behindthe melodyand for soloists, and then compleft-hand voicings for his or her ownimprovisation.
Examplesla and lb are typical II-V
/1 thoughtfulap- structures that are almost genetic to
proachtovoicings most pianists--simple four-wayclose
will infuse your constructs with tension substitutions.
compingwith an Withinstrictly four-waystructures,
arrayof c01ors. substituting tensions results in the
Anthony Germain’69, an associate
professor of ear training, coauthored
the harmonicdictation softwareHarmonic Hearing, and plays piano on
the CDUntil Further Notice with the
Steve RochinskiQuartet.
22 Berklee today
Fall1995
replacement of chord tones by the (examples3a-3c), and building those
tensions.Withthe availability of more samebasic structures into two-hand
than four voices, you can add dou- voicings by adding tensions and/or
blings, or use chordtones with ten- doublings with the right hand as in
sions in the samevoicing. Try mixing examples3d and 3e.
natural and altered tensions in the
Playingsolo piano or in duositusamestructure (as in examples4a and ations with various instrumental
4b). Most of the examples, labeled combinationsdictates that two-hand
for either the left-handor bothhands, voicingsrequiringthe root in the bass
are for use in groupsituations where and a strong chord sound be used[
there is a bass player. Whencomping (see examples4a-4e). Thebasic elewith both hands, use your right hand mentsneededin these structures are
to add doublingsand/or tensions (see the root, third and seventh on the
examples2a and 2b). Tensionscreate bottom, and doublings and tensions
a variety of textures. Thenumberof on the top.
tensions you can get awaywith dePractice these voicingsin different
pendson the musicalsituation. There key areas and then create your own..
are things I wouldplay in the studio The examplesin this group drawon.
that I wouldn’tplay at a wedding. principles taught in arranging and.
If youare playingwith a bass play- harmonycourses. Poly-chords, up-.
er, mostof the time youwill use more per-structure triads, voicings in.
of the left-hand voicings withoutthe fourths, hybrids, and so forth can.
root in the bass than other types. Try help you create your ownversions.
creating your ownsounds by startI have given you a few freebies,
ing with either the third or seventh but ultimately you will haveto make
of the chord on the bottom of the further discoveries by yourself. Of
voicing. Youmight also try using coursethere is a lot moreto this topthree notes or less in yourleft hand ic, but this is a start.
31
Examples
la-b (left hand)
Din7(9)
G7(9,13)
6
Dm7(9) G7(9,13) CMa7(9)
-:4
(#’1 ~,~ 3)
Dm7( 9,1 1) G7(~9,~3)
c7(b13)
Examples
3d-e (both hands)
~ ~:~9(~ll, 13)
"-~ ~
Examples
4a-e (both hands)
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The GuideTo Twentieth-CenturyGuitar:
Praxis takes a strikingly newand refreshing
approach~:o learningguitar, andir is carefully
designed~o guaranteeefficient practice with
rewardingresults.
CMa7(9)
~
Examples
3a-c(left hand)
c9
c7(~9)
TECHNIQUE* IMPROVISATION * MUSICIANSHIP *
THEORY
Establish YourOwnMusicalDirection:
Whetheryour playing falls under one of the more
traditional conventionalstyles, or whetheryou’re
a composerand arranger or exploring newmusical regions and establishing your ownmusical
direction or personalfusion of musicalideas and
influences, Praxis has what you nee&
Examples
2a-b(both hands)
Dm7(9A~
HOWARDROBERTS/GARRY HAGBERG
GUITAR COMPENDIUM
07{alt)
,Havingworkedwith H. R. for man). dedadesin
andout of the studios I cantell you that be is one
of ti~e mostrespectedandthought-afterguitarists
in this century Andbeyondthis he has for years
beenone of the best thinkers in musiceducation
in the world. NowRoberts and Hagberghave
producedthe mostintelligent real instruction
booksI’ve seen - an incredible body of work. An
absolutemustfor everyguitarist. ~,
(QuincyJones)
HowardRoberts and Garry Hagberg~have
completeda lifetime achievementwith th~ Guitar
Compendium.
I was amazedwhen¢ began:.to go
~hroughthd books andrealized Whatdn inc~8dible
wealth’of informationtbese volumes:consfst of.
Thanksfor all the in~spiratio~!
(Lee Ritenour)
Published by Advance Music
fixailable fromyour favorite musicsupplier
or write to:
Fall1995
ADVANCE MUSIC
Maier~ckerstr. ~8 7zxo8 Rottenburg N ,Germany
Phone(o747z) z832 * Fax (o747z) z46z/
Alum
Tony
La, velli ’50 of Laconia,
NH,
hopes to makehis
Alex Ball "96
song "Take Pride in the
and IVegui
U.S.A.," become the national anthem. Tony was a
Capriles
"96
member of the Boston
Celtics in the ’50s.
CharlesKeliikian ’54 of
Revere, MA,has been stage
hand for t-Ierb Pomeroy,
Woody l~Ierman, Count
Basle, and BuddyRich, and
was road manager for Sarah Vaughan and Dizzy
Gillespie. He is currently
an entertainment booking
Saxophonist
George
Garzone agent and a travel agent for
"72released
alone,a tribute Adventureland Travel.
PaulCouch
’60 of Averill
to StanGetzonthe NYClabel. TheCDwasproduced
by Park, NY, is teaching at
Sound
in
Chuck
Loeb’76 andfeatures Drome
Schenectady
and
playing
in
vocalistLuciana
Souza
’88.
Compiled
24
by
Berklee today
the Joey ThomasBig Band.
Howard
Rowe
"63of Fairport,
NY, was named
1995’s Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Music
Educator of the Year for
his band director work. He
has also had over 30 compositions and arrangements
published for school jazz
and concert bands.
Stephen Gould ’66 of
Winchendon, MA, is writing music for young people, film scores, and composing and arranging for
"Saturday Night Live." He
is an elementary school
principal in Ashburnham.
Bassist RickPetrone"69
has been playing with the
Joyce Di Camillo Trio for
15 years with drummerJoe
C0rselJ0’66. The group is
recording their second CD
to be released in late ’95.
Woodwinds player
James
L. Dean’70 is living
in Haledon, NJ, and performs frequently in New
Jersey and NewYork with
various jazz acts. He will
release his fifth CDfor the
Cextonlabel later this year.
Peter Hazzard’71 of
Groton, MA,is the Director of Music at Lawrence
Academyand has just finished his 12th season as the
conductor of the Melrose
(MA) Symphony which
concluded last season with
a performance by Gary
Button’s quartet.
Pianist/composer Randy
Klein ’71 received a nomination for a 1995 Southern
Regional Emmyfor "Out-
Randy
Klein"72
standing Collaborative
Achievement for Composers" for the Tick Tock Minutes educational pub!ic service announcements. He
has also released the CD
Love Notes from the Bass
with HarvieSwartz’70.
ChuckMymit’71 of Rego
Park, NY, received the
New York University
Tisch School of the Arts
award for best original
score for a student film at
the 53rd annual NYUFilm
Festival.
Bill Rossi’71 of Seattle
recently started Youth Advancement Through Music,
a nonprofit corporation
providing music instruction through scholarships
to at-risk youth.
Bob Summers’71 of Canoga Park, CA, plays trumpet on the new Chicago album Night and Day and
on the new Frank Capp
JuggernautalbumIn a I-Ieffti Bag. He wasalso the first
trumpeter with the Horace
Silver Brass Ensemble at
Fall 1995
James
L. Dean"70
the 1995 Playboy Jazz Festival.
Remy
Filipovitch "74 of
Germany had his concerto
Baltic Song for Tenor Sax,
Big Band and Large Orchestra premiered and recorded by the Cologne Radio Orchestra.
01trier
Peters ’78 wasthe soloist.
KimCascone
"75 of San
Francisco is President of
Heavenly Music Corporation and had a track from
his Lunar Phase CD used
in the film The Shooter.
Jeff Davis’75 of Copenhagen will represent Denmark as lead trumpeter in
the annual
European
Broadcasting Union Big
Band concert in Prague in
November 1995.
MichaelHatfield ’75 of
San Francisco,
penned
songs, performed on, and
producedthe children’s al-
bum Rainbow of Friends
with vocalist Pilar Montaine. Michael also performs with the Fabulous
Bud E. Luv Show.
Saxophonist
Allan
Namery
’75 of Old Tappan,
NJ, just received his fifth
major NEA grant
to
present concerts at libraries in NewJersey and New
York. He recently released
the album The Time Is
Right.
Film composer Misha
Segal "75 has been invited
by the University of Redlands School of Music to
conduct a master class on
composingfor film as part
of their 1995-96guest artist Series in February1996.
Woodwinds player
Steve Houben
"77 works as
a jazz musician in Belgium.
DeniseManginardi
’771"91
of Bailey, CO,has released
a CDtitled Fine Tuning on
her own Crow Hill label.
Eight of the disc’s 11 selections are originals. The
players include pianists
MikePellera ’75 and Eric
Gunnison
’77, guitaristSteve
Masakowski
’75, and trumpeterPeterOlstad"77.
Guitarist Bela Sarkozy
Jr. ’77, of Bethlehem, PA,
and his band NewKind of
Talk released
the CD
Change in Time. The band
also features keyboardist
Craig Kastelnik ’77, and
Songwriter/vocalist
DeniseMangiardi
"77/’91
Fall 1995
CLASSCONNECTIONS
Nowthat fall is here, I can look
back at what a great summer we
had[. Three alumni chapters were
added to our growing network.
The new chapter presidents include SamyElgazzar"93, Athens,
Greece; Lawrence
Jones’80, East
Sussex, Great Britain; and Ralina
Cardona
’91, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
AlumniChapter The Puerto Rico chapter already
Presidents:
held its first event on Augus
t 30,
NewYork
and
Sam),
Elgazzar
is
planning
SteveWard’87
Decemberalumni gathering at his
MuMusicInt’L
(212)929-1161 home in Athens.
At the May Puerto Rico HeiOrlando
StanKubit’71
neken Jazz Fest, alumni performOrlandoMusic
ers ILuis Marin"86, Mariano
Morales
Teachers
Inc.
"81,
Tommy
Villariny
"81,
Danilo
(407)352-9702
Perez
"88,
John
Scofield
"73,
Jose
Chicago
Rio.,; ’87, h,anMaraver
’82, andBobDamon
Booth’91
by $;anabria
’77 all participated in a
ASCAP
special four-night tribute to Berk(312)472-1157 lee’s 50-year jazz legacy.
Nashville
This fall promises a full calenRichAdams
’82
dar of alumni events. A NewYork
(615)297-8967 club social and award presentaBoston
tion. is slated for October7, coinJeannieDeva’75 ciding with the A.E.S. ConvenTheVoiceStudio
(617)536-4553 tion.. OnOctober14, in Boston, is
the Encore 50th Anniversary Gala
SanFrancisco benefit. In San Francisco October
GaryBongs’82
27, an alumni reception will be
GuitarStudio
(415)731-6455 held before the San Francisco Jazz
Festival’s salute to Berklee. In L.A.
LosAngeles
on November 8, NARAS/MusiLeanne
Cares will salute Berklee with a
Summers ’88
Vocal Studio
star-studded alumni show at the
(818) 769-7260
House of Blues. In Boston on DePuertoRico
cember 9 is the Phil Wilson RainRalina
bow Band Reunion Concert. Also,
Cardona’91
Bos~¢onalumni are planning a 50th
Crescendo
(809)725-3690 anniversary showcase in December to benefit the Berklee City
England
Lawrence
Music scholarship fund.
Jones’80
Wewould like to extend our
Brighton,
thai~.ks
to all whoprovided inforE. Sussex,G.B.
mation
to
Harris Publishing for
44-1273-707621
the
work
on
our new Alumni DiAthens
rectory.
A
record
3,000 alumni felt
Samy
Elgazzar’93
strongly enough about its net301-9451-457 working value to purchase copies.
Watch the mail for upcoming
Tokyo
Alumni
events in your area. Stay tuned!
Coordinator:
Michiko
Yoshino’90
--Sarah Bodge,Assistant Director of
042-241-4347 Dewdopmentfor Alumni Relations
Berklee today 25
bassist JimMcGee
’77.
Lee Gianangelo
"78 of South
Pasadena, CA, conducted Carmen with the 30-piece Hollywood Opera Ensemble.
Guitarist Hasan
CihatOrter’78
of Berlin has released two CDs
in Turkey on the Kent Elektronik Label, one of which will be
released worldwide by EMI.
JonathanLax ’79 of Summit,
NJ, is assistant instrumental director and jazz band director for
Bayonne High School.
’Drummer Pascoal de Souza
Meirelles’79 of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, released Consideracdes,
his fourth album. Meirelles has
recorded with Milton Nascimenlo, Antonio Carlos Jobim,
ClaudioRoditi ’70, and manytop
Brazilian artists.
Drummer DeanLopes’80 of
Woodland Hills, CA, can be
heard on the song "Crybaby"
from the new Todd Rundgren
tribute CD. He also released the
CD Big Bang Theory-Maximum
Diversity.
Anthony
J. Resta"80of Carlisle, MA,spent six weeksin London doing production and remixes
for the Thank You CD by Duran
Duran. A staff producer for Bopnique
Music, he has worked with Dale
Bozzio, Nuno Bettencourt,
Donna
Delory, the Gonzales Family, and
Sleight of Hand.
SharonSwanson-Lyew’80
of Clark,
NJ, is the vice president of PT Music,
Inc. They are responsible for reissue
projects and have recently released
albums of Woody Herman, Elliot
Lawrence and Sy Oliver from archi-
Askacoustic
bassist
Harvie
Swartz
about
Fishman
productsandthisstorycomes
to
mind:
"Backstage
aftera recent
concert,
a fellowmusician
remarked
onhow
well
thebass
projected
without
amplification.
When
I showed
himmysystem,
hecouldn’t
believe
it. That,"
explains
Harvie,
"is whyI useFishman
products."
Harvie
produces
a
pureandnaturalsound,
both
pizz.andarco,bymixing
the
Fishman
BPIO0
withthe
Pocket
Blender.
Findoutfor
yourself
whyHarvie
believes
in
Fishman
products
thenext
timeyouvisityourlocaldealer.
val master recordings.
GreglanWortman
"80 of Greenville,
ME,is currently playing guitar, writing songs, and recording with the
band Rodneyand the Refrigerators.
Trumpeter AndersBergcrantz"81
of Malmo, Sweden, recorded his
fourth CD, In This Together, in New
York with Richie Beirach’67 (piano),
Ron McClure (bass),
and Adam
Nussbaum (drums).
Stephen
Bracciotti’81 of York, ME,
completed a recording of his song
"Chasing the Wind," which will be
used as the soundtrack for Tornado
Video Classics HI, which will be re-
adena, CA, has released his debut album Storm Chaser on Barefoot
Records. He is an active studio musician who has played
on TV
soundtracks for "Baywatch," NBC’s
miniseries "Drug Wars," "Late NiLe
With Greg Kinnear," and numerous
commercials.
Pianist Diederik Wissels"82 of
Brussels, does recording sessions and
tours around Europe as well as teach-
leasedthis fall.
Jose"Mariano"
Morales
’81 of San
Juan,PuertoRico,is currentlya music professor at both the MusicCon-
Pascoalde SouzaMeirelles"79
26
Berklee today
servatory and Escuela Libre de Musica in HaLoRey. He also leads the
Latin jazz group Picante.
KevinPituch’81 of Sylvania, OH,
plays bass trombone with the Toledo
Jazz Orchestra and is an attorney
with the Doyle, Lewis, and Warner
law firm.
Guitarist D0ugJackson"82 of Pas-
DougJackson’82
Fall 1995
L.A. NEWSBRIEFS
An important 50th anniversary Clausen
’66 TVscoring seminarin
event is scheduled for November May,a third "TakingCareof Busi8th at the L.A. Houseof Blues. ness" seminarwasheld in August.
The MusiCaresFoundation, a di- Cosponsored by Apple Computvision of NARAS,
will host a trib- ers, this informativesession feaute to the college andits founder, tured a discussion/demonstration
LawrenceBerk. This event, co- of the latest in hard disk recording
chaired by Quincy
Jones
’51, H’83, and digital editing. Theattendance
Tony
Bennett
H’74,Arif Mardin
"61, was good, and, for those who
H’85,andFrances
Preston
H’92,will missed it, Appleis enthusiastic
include a dinner and concert. The about developinga series of simientertainmentroster, still evolv- lar events--look for another sesing, already includes Oleta Adams sion early next year.
H’94,GaryBurton
’62, H’89andMaThe "Berklee in L.A." program
kotoOzone
’83, AlanBroadbent
"69, was held at Claremont McKenna
JoeWilliams
H’88,andErnieWatts Collegein July. Thegrowthin at’66. It shouldbe a great evening! tendance at the programwas parIn June, the summersocial/net- alleled by increased involvement
working event was held at the by L.A. area alums. Great support
home of L.A. Alumni Chapter came from alum rhythm section
President Leanne
Summers
"88. It players whoprovided.a profeswasa big success with about 150 sional touch to the guitar ensempeople turning out. As wecircu- bles. Artist clinics featured alums
lated at this event, mywife Gloria J.R.Robinson
’75, CarlVerheyen
"75,
[Metzger
"81] andI foundourselves Debbie
DeForest’87,
Jimmy
Earl"76,
in a discussion with a group of Jimmy
Stewart’63, andSteveJoalums. She reminded me afterhannessen
"84.
wards that we had spoken to many
As for alumniin the news. . .
of themat a similar eventlast year drummer/composer
3erry Kalaf’79
and howdifferent the conversa- has just releasedhis first solo CD
tions were then. Last year they on Sea BreezeRecords.Titled Trio
were new to L.A. and eager to Music,it is a collection of mostly
begin networking.This year most originals that are reminiscent of
weretalking about their newjobs Bill Evans. Timothy
Edwards
’87,
and projects they were working a.k.a. 23 Futurists, recently peron--an encouragingobservation. formedand broadcast a set of amFollowing the successful All bient music from the Electronic
CareInternational in Los Angeles
to sites in Tokyoand Torontolive
via the Internet--soundslike this
could have implications for touring in the future! JanStevens
’81
has just scored another Hot
Wheels commercial for Mattel.
JohnN0vell0’73 is aboutto release
a new edition of his book The
Contemporary Keyboardist--he
often plays the BakedPotato with
his band Novello-Rusch. Evyn
Charles"84 and his band The Remarkal~lesare also busy playing
clubs and recordingtheir first CD.
That’sit for now.Stayin touch.
From
theleft, Leanne
Summers
"88,
PeterGordon’78,
andAIf Clausen
"66 Peter Gordon’78, Director of the
afterAIf’sTVscoring
seminar.
Berklee Centerin Los Angeles
Fall1995
Russ
Gold"84
ing at the Brussels RoyalConservatory. Hehas recently released a solo
albumentitled Hillock Songstress.
Faculty memberMill Bermejo
"84
recently recorded a live CDin the
Berklee Performance Center with
her jazz quintet. Shewasalso a member of the binational selection committee that recommendedthe four
Mexicanartists whowill participate
in the Musicians from MexicoProgramin tlhe fall of this year.
Pianist AlleDelfau
"84of Paris is
collaborating with another Berklee
grad in directing a musicschoolwith
150studentsenrolledthis fall.
Percussionist RussGold’84 has
been touring with the American
Repertory Theater’s production of
KingStag. Goldis the only on-stage
musiciar~, and accompanied the
troupe to Taiwanin September.
David
IE]ondelevitch
’85 of Hollywood,CA,is currently workingas a
recording mixerand musiceditor in
Los Angeles. Davidalso teaches at
the U.S.C. School of Cinemaand
Television.
,JeffreyCurtis’86 of Astoria, NY,
will[ be premieringthe musicalChristop,her and Stephen, for whichhe
wrotethe music,lyrics, andlibretto.
It was performed in Tacoma, WA,
in Septemberand October.
,lamesDreier’86 of IowaCity is
percussionist for Orquestade Jazz y
Salsa Alto Maiz whorecently released Azucar Caliente. The group
is a hot commodity
in Iowa.
continued on page 30
Berklee today 27
THE NETROBEAT
A prime source for the energet- interest from many sources who
ic opens and bumpers heard on use library music. It becamevery
either side of TVnews, sports, and popular."
That was 1985. Now,as he preother programming, is Metro Music Productions in New York. pares to release Metro’s 20th CD,
Milch Coodley
’75 is owner, chief half of his effort goes to custom
writing projects and half to the
composer, producer, and publishlibrary. At Metro’s 16-track stuer of the Metro Music library,
dio on West 20th Street in Manwhichcontains over 350 titles.
hattan, Coodleyand his staff-reCoodley’s music is currently
heard across the country in pro- cently-hired production assistant
’95 and intern
mos for ABCSports, HBO, Bos- Alfred Hochstrasser
extensiveRMCD4505ADD
ton’s Channel 38 broadcasts of the DannyMcKay’97--work
RARE
BIRDS
Celtics games, Manhattan’s WCBS ly with MIDIinstruments, bringNews, and the Fox Network news ing in string and horn sections and
Mick
Goodrickguitar
in Salt Lake City, to namea few. other players when needed.
Joe
Diorio
- guitar
Coodley credits the success of
Additionally, Metro produces a tot
of custom music for uses ranging Metro Music to finding a niche.
from underscore for the video por- "We don’t do every kind of music," he states. "Wespecialize in
tion of a contemporaryart instalRMCD4508DDD
urban styles, rock, and some
lation
at
the
new
Rock
’n
Roll
Hall
]’HEBREEZE of Fameto in-store videos for the jazz,
orchestral music. Wetry to proANN
I
duce with video or film editing in
TommyHilfiger stores.
IraSullivan
- flute,
A prolific composer, Coodley mind--making places in the mualtoflute,soprano
sax,
earned his diploma in composi- sic that they can cut picture to.
altosax,
percussions tion and arranging at Berklee. Also You need to get the right energy
a gifted guitarist, he studied pri- level and feel that workswith their
Joe
Biariaguitar
vately at Berklee with Pat Meth- pacing. It’s fast-paced work.I will
eny. When Metheny left Gary get a call on a Wednesday for
RMCD4514
- ODD
Burton’s group to form his own, something has to go out on the
MORE
THAN
Burton invited Coodley to play satellite that Friday."
FRIENDS
Though many New York writthe remaining tour dates. He
Steve
LaSpinabass
ers strive to crack the jingle marmoved to NewYork about 1983.
Steve
Bagbydrums
ket, Coodley’s oyster is the vast
Getting into the music library
Joe
Diorio
- guitar
business was not part of Cood- television promomarket.
"Most people don’t realize just
ley’s longterm career strategy
Also
available:
however. "When I got to New how much promotion there is on
RMCD4501
- AAD
York,"he states, "I freelanced pri- TV," he says. "Stations promote
marily as a guitarist, but also found themselves and their shows, as do
WE
WILL
MEET
AGAIN
work as a composer. I began do- the networks. The local and cable
Joe
Diorio
- guitar
channels do too. There is a lot of
ing background cues for "LifeRMCD4502AAO
styles of the Rich and Famous"in music on TV. This is a great way
DOUBLE
TAKE
the mid-’80s at homeon a 4-track to makea living; I get to do a lot of
Riccardo
DelFra- bass
things that I want to. It’s someand later on an Akai 12-track.
Joe
Diorioguitar
".After a year or so, I had a col- thing different almost every day."
lection of about 50 light
U.S.A.
distribution:
fusion, newage, and clasSPHERE
MARKETING
&DISTRIBUTION,
INC.,
sical pieces. Anengineer
Cargo
Building
80,Room
2A,
at an audio post-producJFK
Int’l Airport,
Jamaica,
NY
11430
tion house told me I had
Phone
718/656
6220
- Fax718/244
1804
the beginnings of a music
Worldwide
distribution
(except
U.S.A.):
library. I had no idea
IREC
S.p.A.
what that was at the time,
viaSan
G.B.
DeLaSa]le,
4 - 20132
Milano
- Italy
but I ultimately took his
Phone
andFax39/2/259
2326
advice and released the
Cemposer/publisher
MitchCoodley’75
AVAILABLE
AT
music on CD. I received
Joe Diorio
°SRA
M
Fall 1995
Archie
Castillo"88
TomHedden
"86 of Tabernacle, NJ,
won the 1994 EmmyAward for
"Outstanding Achievementin Sports
Music"for the original score of "75
Seasons: The History of the National Football League." Heddenshared
the award with DavidR0bid0ux’91
[see Robidoux’91 note below].
Andrew
Clark’87of Waltham,MA,
Composer
JeffreyCurtis"86
30
Berkleetoday
ArchieCastillo"88of the Philippines, is busybeinga musicdirector,
composer,and arranger and wonthe
1994 International Midnight Sun
SongFestival in Lahti, Finland, for
Best Arrangementof a Finnish Song.
He was also musical director for a
production of Greaseat the Meralco
Theater in Manila.
PatrickGinnaty
’88 of Damariscotta, ME,has just releasedhis first fulllength albumentitled To Sail Beyond
the Sunset on Beyond the Sunset
Records.
Daniel Karns"88 of NewYork
works as an independent producer
and composerand recently launched
Streetlight Music, a production and
publishing company.
DarylKell "88 has been nominated
for an EmmyAwardfor the Warner
Brothers animated "Batman"series
as a music editor. He workedwith
is currentlywritingthe "Rock’n’ Roll
Sax" columnfor SaxophoneJournal.
JasonNeSmith
"87of Atlanta, GA,
is a producer for GMProductions.
He won kudos for a song he produced in the August1995edition of
Recording Magazine.
Saxophonist Jose
"Furito" Rios’87 performedat the Fine Arts
Center in San Juan and
at the Feel the Heineken Night ’95 Pub Tour.
Healso playedas a solo
act at the Puerto Rico
HeinekenJazzFest.
Guitarist KevinFrancis Carey’88 releaseda
second CD, What You
Hearin the Dark, with
his band the Gallows
Humor. The disc was
producedby KevinKelly
’89, andfeaturesbassist
Doug
Wisniski
’88, guitarist Rob
Bailey
’91, and
drummers
Brian Tichy
’91 andKentMiller.
Trumpet
andflugelhornplayerIngridJensen
’89
Fall1995
MailCoupon
tOaddress
above
or call ~r
IMPROVE YDUR SAX HFE
¯ Brass
¯ Woodwind
¯ Strings
.Percussion
Professionaland
personalservice by
EMILIO LYONS
.Sales
.Repairs
.Rentals
Your Source
For the Finest Namesin
Brass & Woodwinds
Thomas
Eckel"91
Weymouth, MAwhich offers group and private lessons for children
and
Servingprofessionalmusicians,stud~mts,musicschoolsanduniversities since 1939.
adults.
Vocalist MichaelPowers
"91 of North Reading, MA,
is the lead singer for Sun
263 HUNTINGTON AVE.,
BOSTON,
MA 02115
Tower who recently re(NEXT
TO SYMPHONY
HALL)
617-266-4727
leased their self-titled CD
on Stepping Stone Records.
David Robidoux’91 of
fellow alumnus Chris
cently released her debut Night Orchid for UniverMount
Laurel, NJ, shared
Brooks
’80 on the film Fair CDVernal Fields for the sal Pictures. He has aIso
joined
video
game
giant
the
1994
EmmyAward for
Enja label.
AchieveTony Dec ’89 of
Terri Taylor-Satcher
’89 Konami as a composer and "Outstanding
has
gotten
his
first
deal
as
a
ment
in
Sports
Music"
for
of
Hyannis,
MA,
and
her
Southampton, NY, operates a voice-over business husband Mike had a baby screenwriter with Warner the score to the film "75
and is the local host and girl, Alexandria, on March Brothers for work the film Seasons: The History of the
National Football League"
Download, which he coproducer for National Pub- 18, 1995. Terri recently
with TomRedden
"86. Davlic Radio’s "Morning Edi- graduated from Andover wrote.
Pianist/songwriter Tho- id also won his second
Theological
tion" program on WPBX- Newton
Emmyfor Best Audio for
Schooland had her first ser- masEckel’91 of PhillipsFMon Long Island.
burg,
NJ,
released
his
eponthe Fox Network’s show
Trumpeter Ingrid Jens- mon published.
"Grunt and Punt."
Mark
Nemcoff’90
of
Chiymous
debut
CD.
He
was
on ’89 of NewYorkis a key
DrummerBrian Tichy’91
also
listed
in
the
Who’s
Who
cago
has
been
busy
this
memberof DIVA, the allsummer scoring the film
of AmericanTeachers Jour- of Los Angeles, is currentwomanbig band, and renal for 1994.
ly touring the US, Japan
Michael Masson’91 of and Europe with Guns ’N
Hingham, MA, recently
Roses guitarist Slash and
opened the Guitar Acade- his band Snakepit.
danice Colaneri-Craine
my teaching facility
in
THINKABOUTTHE BARPROGRAM
Are youbeingserved?Rayburn
Musicstaff, fromthe left,
MarkSanchez’85,Arnie
Krakowsky’70,
LeeWalkowich
’81,
RussRyan"94, JimCalandrella’93, andChrisRough
’82.
Thesealumniare creditedwith buildingRayburn
into the
largest brassandwoodwind
dealerin America.
32 Berklee
today
Berklee AlumniRepresentatives (BAR)visit dozens of high schools, conferences, and college fairs
each year, talking about their Berktee experiences
and answering questions about the college from
talented young musicians.
If you are interested in sharing your time and
talent to help us reach the next generation of music
industry leaders, call us at (800) 421-0084,or mark
the BARinfo box in the alum notes form on page
30. Wewill send you more information on the
BARprogram along with an application. Join us.
Fall 1995
Introducing an incredibly creative triad of musicians. San Francisco guitarist
Charlie Hunter and his band blur the borders between jazz and rock. He plays a
meaneight-string guitar (covering both bass and guitar) while Dave Ellis handles
saxophone and Jay lane lays down a rock-solid
beat on drums.
On his second disc for Blue Note Fareed Haque shows why he is one of
the premier guitarists in music. Equally at homein jazz or classical music,
Fareed brings a fresh perspective to the; instrument whether playing
acoustic or electric.
Nowa memberof Joe 7awinal’s new band, Fareed is recognized as one of the leaders of the modern iazz guitar movement.
30645
Ellen
Singer Kur~Elling pushesthe envelope of jazz singing to the breaking
point, cutting like a laser into modemmusic. This Chicagonative is
famousin the Windy City for wild
performances with his trio of
pianist
Laurence Hobgood,
bassist Eric Hochberg
and drummer Paul Wertico.
anne
Dianne Reeves is back where
she belongs! This fantastic
return to form is nothing short
of inspirational. Collaborating
with the likes of Joshua
Redman, Roy Hargrove,
Jacky Terrasson, Everette
Harp, producer George Duke
as well as her regular band,
Dianne stakes her claim as
America’s premier pop/jazz
singer. Includes "Country
Preacher" and
"Both Sides Now".
~
Tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson takes a bold step into
the future of jazz with For One WhoKnows. Producer
Craig Street (Cassandra Wilson) brings a breath of
fresh oxygen to the studio and helps send the music of
Javon into a stunning new direction. The band is a who’s who of creative young talent: Jacky
Terrasson - piano, Fareed Haque - acoustic guitar,
Peter Washington - bass,Billy
Drummond drums and Cyro Baptiste - percussion.
The cooking starts early on The Charm. Making hard
bop meansomething in the ’90’s, the band’s third
recording for Blue Note smokes from beginning to end.
Don Sickler - trumpet, Bobby Porcelli - alto sax
and flute, Willie Williams - tenor sax, Ronnie
Mathews - piano, Scott Coiley - bass and T.S.
Monk- drums and electricity.
GOSPEL
CHOIRREUNIONPLANNED
The Reverence Gospel Ensemble is planning a
reunion weekend February 9-11, 1996, as part of
Berklee’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The festivities will start with a reception on the evening of
Friday, February 9, and culminate with a PerformanceCenter concert on February 11, at 7:00 p.m.
Letters were sent to former choir memberswhose
current addresses are on file in the alumni office.
Choir alumni whodid not receive notification may
contact Orville Wright at (617) 266<t400extension
404, or via e-mail: [email protected].
"92 of Holly Spring, MS,
will be releasing her debut
album Dove in 1996. The
album will be feature Gospel-funk and R&B.
Keyboardist Peter Orenstein ’92 of Apopka,FL, is
currently touring central
and northern Florida with
his band Bluesberry Jam.
The band consists of Berklee alumnus DanGoore"91
on bass, t-Iillary Jovi, singer, guitarist C.J. Callari, and
Jason Peskoff, drums.
Tenor saxophonist Revin
Giles ’93 can be seen playing with James Rodgers and
Company on The Nashville Network.
"TonightShow"
bandleader
KevinEubanks
has releaseda
newalbumtitled Spirit Talk2Revelations
onBlueNote.
ALUMNOTESiNFORMATION
FORM
Full Name_
Address_
State____ZIP
City
Phone
__Country
Zt This is a new address.
Your Internet address:_
Last year you attended Berkle~
Did you receive a
~i
Degree
Q Diploma?
Please give details of newsworthyperformances, recordings, music projects, awards, recognitions,
events you wouldlike us to knowabout (please print or type, use a separate sheet if necessary):
or other
~1 Send me more information on the Berklee Alumni Representative program.
Q Send me more information on becoming a Berklee Career Network advisor.
Pleasesendthis form,alongwithanypublicity,clippings,photos,CDs,or itemsof interest to:
Berkleetoday,BerkleeCollegeof Music,1140BoylstonStreet, Boston,MA
02215-3693.
Internet address:[email protected]
34
8erkleet o d a y
Fall 1995
Seth Zowader’93 of NewYork, is
working at MPL Communications
as the in-lhouse producer/engineer.
He is producing a promotional CD
of the songs that are owned by an
MPLaffiliate.
DavidBarkley’94of Brighton, MA,
is the President of Big Vallee Music
and composed and produced music
for the feature film Jane Street. The
music featured don Finn "82 and doe
Santerre
’82.
A!la Takemura
"94 of NewYork, is
busy working as a recording engineer and production assistant at the
Power Station studio in NewYork.
Drummerand guitarist
R0bert0
"Bet0" Hale "95 of Mexico completed
a cassette of his compositions which
he performed at a concert at the
Chapultepec Amusement Park in
Mexico. Musicians playing with Beto
were: Berklee students Gerardo Porraz on keyboards, Gonzalo Arjona
on bass, and Luis Pastor on cello.
S~ott Harrison IVIcCabe "95 of
Chelsea, 1VIA,is a composerand producer at Bottom Line Productions
developing top-40 artists and creating preproduction demos.
UNDISCOVERED
TALENTAWARD
CandaceAvery’80, producer of the Boston Music
Awards, in conjunction
with Berklee College of
Music and Tweeter Etc.,
will present the first Outstanding Undiscovered Talent Awardto a young Boston-area musician at the ceremony on November
2. Onemusicianwill receive a full-tuition scholarship to Berklee’s Five-week SummerPerformance
program. The Outstanding Undiscovered Talent
award was created to uncover and foster the depth
and diversity of youthful Boston talent.
Amongthose anxiously awaiting the announcements of the other awards that evening are a number of Berklee alumni and faculty artists whogarnered a total of 73 nominations in 37 categories.
Leading the pack was Letters to Cleo (featuring
three Berklee alumni) with seven nominatons, Tracy Bonham
’88 got six, BimSkala Bim and dulianna
Hatfield ’90 netted four each. TeodrossAvery’95,
GarrisonFewell ’77, Chucklehead, and AimeeMann
’80 each received three. All five nominees in the
Latin Act category are Berklee artists.
Fall 1995
Berklee
Alumni Student Referral
Help give an interested, deserving young musician
more information on Berklee by filling out this form
and sending it to the address below.
Name
Address
City
State
ZIP
Instrument
Your Name
Send the completed form to:
Berklee College of Music
Office of Admissions
1140 Boylston Street
Boston, MA02215-3693
ETOD1095
Berklee
today 35
CODA
Ear and Now
Bill
Gordon "75
~’~hencusmusicians
think about the ear they usually foon its skill. Whileat Berklee in the early ’70s,
noise in the ear, like ringing or buzzing. The former is
worse by far, it affects everything I do--musical or not.
my thoughts about my ears were linked to a certain
The clinking of dishes, the rustle of a grocery bag, or the
terror that someone like John LaPorta (a man with ex- cry of a child can bring tears of pain. Highdecibel sounds
ceedingly big ears) would ambushme in the hall, scat like screeching brakes or a fat drumfill cause an indesomemarginally decipherable lick, and ask me to solfege scribable sensation which at times brings on nausea.
it back to him a tritone away. That fear and later studies
Every musician should have some knowledge about
with Paul Schmeling, another big ear, have kept me dilisound pressure levels, and how to gauge when you are
gent at the sonic grindstone since.
risking damageto your hearing. For reference, a quiet
The ear as an anatomical entity, however, seems often library is 35 dB, normal conversation is about 60 dB,
to be treated in a cavalier mannerby musicians. Weblast urban street traffic averages 85 dB, a jack hammerin the
it regularly long and hard, believing completely in its
street is 100 dB. Rock bands hit between 100-120 dB,
resilience. Indeed, when we are younger, we think it is
which feels really loud; 120 dB can actually hurt. Standimpervious to harm. Alas, it is not. And, unlike some ing 100 feet from jet planes or race cars can produce
body parts that can be repaired or rejuvenated, the ear is levels of 130 dB. The Occupational Safety and Health
extremely unforgiving. This shockingly tiny, hard-toAdministration (OSHA)advise that exposure to an enviget-to, and improbablydesigned inner apparatus is still a ronment averaging 85 dB for 16 hours per day poses no
largely unsolved medical riddle.
statistical risk for hearing damage.Every time the level
In a past issue of this magazine[Spring ’95] Dr. Alan goes up 5 dB though, OSHArecommends halving the
Doyle ’78 outlined several physical dilemmasmusicians exposure time. So you can take 90 dB for eight hours, 95
get themselves into--usually the result of too muchplay- dB for four, 100 for two. Theycalculate that soundlevels
ing or bodily abusive playing. He mentioned myrecov- of 120 dB are risk-free only for seven and a half minutes.
ery from a rare malady called focal dystonia. Without
Weighthe joy you find in playing loud music against
pain or warning, it prevents fingers from correctly interthe prospect of permanent hearing damage. This beast,
preting brain signals--not the dress I ordered. As a pro- this hyperacusis, often prevents me from enjoying listenfessional player, it was the worst day
ing to recorded music even at low
of mylife every day. The rehabilitavolume. MySteinway is closed and
tion was a monumentalordeaI in pawrappedin blankets. Earplugs are as
tience: work on one move for three
much a part of mydaily attire as
minutes and then stop. Through for
shoes. Repair is unlikely.
the day. It was nearly two years beMypoint is this: take care of your
fore I could play a three set gig.
entire body, including those little
That was the key of C compared
holes on the sides of your head if
to myrecent ear troubles. Decadesof
you want to be a happy musical
playing in loud bands, studio sessions
camper. Maintaining torsos and
with headphone levels cranked for
handsis fairly easy: So is protecting
feel, and marathon mixing sessions
your hearing. You’ll want those
accumulated to give me hyperacusis
skilled ears you’ve labored so hard
and tinnitus. Hyperacusis is a strikto develop working well, hearing
ing and acutely painful sensitivity to
comfortably, discerning clearly, in
even mild levels of sound. Tinnitus is
order to give you a lifetime of joy
and musical growth.
Bill Gordon,a freelance pianist living
Bill Gordon
"75:"Unlikesome
bodyparts
Treat your ears with respect-in Miami, released a CDof his compo- that canberepairedor rejuvenated,
the even reverence--for they are the only
sitions titled A Little Romance
in ’94.
earis extremely
unforgiving."
ones you get.
~
36 Berklee
today
Fall1995
B
K L.
R
T
e
Fi
r s
E
y
ears
Overthe past year, jazz writer Ed ]~Iazell has been collaborating with
President Lee Eliol Berk to produce a history of Berklee College of
Musicfor publication in its 50th mmiversaryyear. The result of their
efforts is Bertalee: 7be First Fifty Years, a 300-pagephoto history
including over two hours of music on two compact discs.
The sto Wbegins with the vision of founder and Chancellor Lawrence
Berk and contains fascinating material from the archives of Chief
Public Affairs Officer AlmaBerk. Profiles of faculty, staff, students,
and visiting artists, and photo spreads of institutional and educational milestones provide an in-depth look at Berklee and a better feel
for the people and events that makeBerklee’s story both important
and unique.Events; at the college are placed in a larger historical context through the use of concurrent time lines of important milestones
in the history of jazz, rock, pop, and musictechnology.
The photos, manyof them never before published, include some of
the world’s most oelebrated musicians and music educators. Among
Berklee’s renowned alumni whoare profiled in the book are producers such as QuincyJones and ArKMardin and jazz ~nusicians such
as Toshiko Akiyoshi and Gary Burton. Profiles of Berklee faculty
include Herb Pomeroy,Joe Viola, and John LaPorta.
The compactdiscs include selections from the 15-volumeJazz in the
Classroom series produced between 1957 and 1980 and selections
recorded in the 1990s. Notable alumni recorded as students include
Toshiko Akiyoshi, Teodross Avery, Gary Burton, Bob James,
AbrahamLaboriel, Sr., John Scofield, Sadao Watanabe, EmieWatts,
Joe ZawinuI, and manyott~ers.
Author Ed Hazell writes about jazz for the Boston Phoenix and other
publications. Heis coauthor of Jazz.. FromIts Origins to the Present
and a contributing editor to the NewGrove Dictionary qyJazz.
Funding for Bertalee.. The First Fifty Years was provided by the
Lawrence and Alma Berk Fund and the Lee and Susan Berk Fund
at Berklee, with additional support from EMCO
Printers and KAO
Infosystems.
How To Order
The book is available fo~ sale through the Berklee College of
Music Bookstore for $75.00. First-class shipping in the continental
United States is an additional $7.50. International shipping is an
additional $20.00.
To pay by credit card, phone the Berklee College of MusicBookstore
at (617) 266-1400,extension 8280. This is an automatedline. Be prepared to leave corc, plete shipping and payment information. AMEX,
VISA, MasterCard, and Discover are accepted. To pay by check or
moneyorder, send $75.00 plus shipping to:
Berklee College of Music Bookstore
1080 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02215 U.S.A..
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