Bcrklcc - Berklee College of Music

Bcrklcc
Spring1998Vol, 9, No.3
A Forumfor Contemporary
Music and Musicians
14
PaulaCole’90: She’snotso ordinary
19
MusicEducators:Re~zching
the young
SPRING
¯ 1998
VOLUME ¯ IX
NUMBER ¯
3
Contents
LEADSHEET
by James Zafris
BERKLEE
BEAT
BerkeeGalanets $150,000,a gig at the WhiteHouse,faculty notes,
visiting artists, andmore
ONTHECOVER:
Songwriter
PaulaCole’90 talks about hit
records and her future ambitions. Cover photographyby
Frank Ockenfells III. Story
beginson page14.
COUNTERCULTURE
by Jim Sullivan
HowMike Dreese became cofounder of the NewburyComicsrecord
stores and whyhe is a Berkleetrustee
11
SHE’SNOTSOORDINARY
by Mark Small ’73
Hit songwriterPaulaCole’90 talks abouther rise to fame, the realities of
platinumrecords, and her future ambitions
14
REACHING
THEYOUNG
by Mark Small ’73
A roundtable discussion with alumnipublic school musiceducators
makinga difference in the lives of youngpeople
LIVEBANDS
ANDOMNIMICSby Car/. Beatty
An MP&E
professor shares newlessons about recording large ensembles
learned at the Summa
CureJazz sessions
ALUMNOTES
News, quotes,
and recordings
ALUM
PROFILE
by Mark Small ’73
Joe Mardin’85 .
CODA
by David and Elsa Hornfischer
First Inspirations
of note
..........
23
LEAD SHEET
Berklee t 0 d ay
A Publication
of the Officeof InstitutionalAdvancement
Editor
Marl<
L. Small
’73
Copy
Editor
LisaBurrell
Graphics
Consultants
DaveMiranda,
Mich~leMalchisky
C, onstancy
Amid
James ,G.
EditorialBoard
RobHayes
Director
of Public
Information
JudithLucas
Director
of Publications
Lawrence
McClellan
Jr.
Dean,
Professional
Education
Division
MattMarvuglio
’74
Dean,
Professional
Performance
Division
Donald
Puluse
Dean,
Music
Technology
Division
Joseph
Smith"75
Dean,
Professional
WritingDivision
Officeof InstitutionalAdvancement
MarjorieO’Malley
Interim
VicePresident
for Institutional
Advancement
Beverly
Tryon
’82
Director
of Corporate
Relations
PeterGordon
"78
Director
of theBerklee
Center
in LosAngeles
SarahBodge
Assistant
Directorof Development
for Alumni
Relations
ChikaOkamoto
"87
Assistant
Director
of Institutional
Advancement
Kassandra
Kimbriel
Assistant
Directorfor Annual
Fund
Asthe alumni-orientedmusicmagazineof Berklee
Collegeof Music,Berkleetodayis dedicatedto informing, enriching, and serving the extended Berklee community. By sharing information of benefit to alumni about
college matters, music industry issues and events, alumni activities and accomplishments,and musical topics of
interest, Berklee today serves as both a valuable forum
for our family throughout the world and an important
source of commentary on contemporary music.
Berklee today(ISSN1052-3839)is publishedthree times a year
by the Berklee College of MusicOffice of Institutional Advancement.All contents ©1998by Berklee Collegeof Music.
Sendall addresschanges,press releases, letters to the editor, and
advertising inquiries to Berklee today, Box333, BerkleeCollege of Music,I140 Boylston Street, Boston, MA02215-3693,
(617) 747-2325,or via e-maii: [email protected].
Alumniare
invitedto sendin details of activities suitablefor featurecoverage. Unsolicitedsubmissionsare accepted.
2
Berklee
t od ay
Change
Zafris,
Trustee
Emeritus
whatwasthen BerldeeSchoolof Music
Wywasfirstin thevisit1ateto1950s.
I walkedthroughthe entranceof
284 Newbury
Street, turned right, andwasin Larry Berk’s
office. Thebuildingseemedto humwith energy.
Larrysat at his desknext to the window,
unperturbedby
the organizedclutter in his midst.BobShare,Larry’srighthandman,sat at a deskon the other sideof the room.Together
theyswapped
kteas, counseledstudents,and, in a very informalway,developed
the blueprintfor today’sBerklee.
It is worthremembering
that Ber!deewasnot conceived
in a single stroke. It is the productof Larry’swillingnessto
test newideas, experiment,and acceptrisk. His unwavering
focus in those early years wason creating a school that
wouldprovidethe kind of musiceducationthat wouldallow
its graduatesto earna living doingwhattheylovedmost.
In the 1960s,after the acquisition of the 1140Boylston
Street propertyandBerklee’sconversionto nonprofitstatus,
Larry invited meto become
a charter member
of the boardof
trustees. I remember
the first meeting.Therewasnoagenda,no
minuteswerekept. Thenewboardfaceda steep learningcurve.
At regularly scheduledluncheonmeetingsin Larry’s new
office, there wereimportantquestions to answer.Howbig
could Berldee becomeand still be "Berklee?"Howshould
weaddress the accreditation process whichmandatedthat
newacademic
coursesbe offeredanda viablelibrary be created? Occasionally Larry fumedin frustration about
"bureaucrats" whowouldnever understand that Berklee
wassuccessfulbecauseit wasn’tshapedbya cookiecutter.
Thepacequickened,andsoonthe schoolbecame
a college.
TheBerldee PerformanceCenter and abutting properties
wereacquired.In the fall of 1978,Larryinvited meto lunch
andannounced
that he plannedto retire. LeeBerkwaselected presidentandnewmembers
joined the boardof trustees.
Today,Bertdeehas a solid structure with a remarkable
depthof talent. It is anchored
by an outstandingfaculty, and
supportedby art administrationanda boardof trustees who
willingly embracechangeand innovation to ensure that
Ber!deecontinues as a leader in musiceducation. A few
recent accomplishments include an expanded Music
Technology
program,the newlibrary and learning center, a
MusicTherapymajor, the Bet!deeCity Musicprogramfor
at-risk Boston youth, and the completionof the Genko
UchidaBuilding.Morewill follow.
Amid
all that I haveseenchangesince the late 1950s,a few
things remainconstant. Berkleestill humswith energyand
still keepsan eyefirmlyfixed onthe future.
JamesZafrisrecentlyretiredafter31yearsas a Berkleetrustee.
Spring1998
Berklee
b e a t
ENCORE
GALANETS
$15o,ooo
On October 18, 1997,
Berkleeheld its third armual
Encore Gala at Boston’s
Harvard
Club
on
Commonwealth Avenue. A
record-setting 705 guests
were treated to a smorgasbord of musical entertainment in nine rooms of the
Harvard Club which were
transformed into night club
settings. Over150 performers drawnfrom the Berklee
student body, faculty, and
staff showcasedtheir talents
for the capadty crowd. A
tally of receipts from event
sponsorship, the silent auction, ticket sales, andads for
the program book, revealed
that the gala netted over
$150,000--$40,000over last
year’sfigures.
Following a candlelight
dinner in the club’s main
ballroom, the
Smith
Houlihan
D
a
n
c
e
Company
performed
Irish
step
Ne7~2s of l2ote
dances. The
party hit high
gear by 8:00
p.m. and the
AIKooper sit;~ in ontheHammond
B-3,
club pulsated
until midnight
with the sounds of r&b, assortment
of musical
blues, jazz, folk, world, and instruments (including
big band music.
limited edition anniversary
Lead sponsorship came "Yamaha piano) and autofrom Newbury Comics and graphed items ranging from
BankBoston. Room sponCDs, baseballs, and footsors included
Avedis
balls, and scores for A River
Zildjian Company, Long- ,Runs ThroughIt, Air Force
wood Security Services,
,One, Contact, and "The
MBNA New England,
Simpsons." Some of the
Allan McLeanand his wife moreunusual entries includMary Ann, Miller Dyer ed a vacation in Cancun,
Spears Inc.,
Shawmut tickets
to the Grammy
Design and Construction,
Awards
and
Rosie
Siemens
Business
O’Donnell shows, and an
Communications Systems,
Italian ceramiccollection.
and W.S. Kenney Company.
Trustees Mike Dreese
The music included sets
and Craigie Zildjian coby the MaggieScott Trio, the chaired the event, and
Berklee String Quartet, Lin ]President Lee Eliot Berkand
Biviano’s Urban Outreach his wife Susan served as
Ensemble,and Phil Wilson’s honorary cochairs.
Rainbow Band. NewfaculFunds from the Encore
ty memberA1 Kooper was a Gala will support Berldee
hit playing Hammondt3-3
City Music (BCM),the colorgan with Bob Doezema’s lege’s outreach for Boston’s
Blues After Dark band.
inner city youth. Each year
The silent auction, spon- BCMprovides scholarships
sored by Daka Interuationfor local students to attend
al, wasa big drawagain, rais- the five-week
Summer
ing 50 percent morethan last Performance Program and
President
Berk(front) thanksNedRobertson
of BankBoston year’s auction. Selections four full-time scholarships
offered included a wide to its graduates.
galacochairs
CraigieZildjianandMikeDreese
lookon.
from about
town and
around the
world
Spring1998
Berklee today
3
THREE
I~AMED
"1[’0 BERKLEE
BOAR[)OFTRUSTEES
Three new memberswere added to
Berklee’s board of trustees in reccent
months. Comingfrom three different
fields of expertise, all havecontributed
to broadeningthe vision and diversity
of the boardwith their individual talents and experience.
Phoebe Zaslove comes to the
board from the world of finance.
She is managing director of State
Street Global Advisors, and previously served as CEOof Pecksland
Associates and Greenwich Global,
an asset management firm and a
brokerage firm respectively.
In
1992, Zaslove was cofounder and
CEOof London and Bishopsgate
International.
A pianist as well, Zaslove studied
at Juilliard and completedher education at the NewYork Institute of
Finance and Boston University. She
is also a trustee of the Pro Arte
Chamber Orchestra, sits on the
board of overseers for the Boston pursued a 29-year career in internal
medicine and psychiatry before decidBallet, and is a memberof the Arts
Council at M.I.T.
ing to devote his energies full-time to
music.
A software developer, DomenicK.
Reidbuilt a 32-track digital recordChan, Ph.D. is founder and CEOof
ing studio and 100-seat performance
Billerica-based Peritus Software
hall. on his Lincoln, Massachusetts
Services. He wasformerlya vice ]?resproperty. He founded the Walden
ident at Gould, Inc., Apollo
Computer Corporation, and Bull HN Green Music Corporation record
Information Systems. Chan holds the
label in 1994 and formed his band;
patent for a voice and data integration Watson Reid and Americana, in an
effort to combinehis interests in music
device which he developed at Bell
and philanthropy. To date he has
Laboratories. He is a graduate of
released four albums.
Wake Forest University and the
Since its founding, WatsonReid and
University of Wisconsin.
Chanis a recognizedleader in the
Americana have performed for audiences at the U.S. Senate, Boston’s
development and use of CASEtools
Jordan
Hall, Tsai PerformanceCenter,
and software engineering methodoloand the HatchShell.
gies and processes.In recent years, his
Reid also sits on the board of overefforts have been devoted to improving the quality and productivity of the seers of the NewEngland and South
Shore conservatories and is president
software maintenanceprocess.
of the Broughton Charitable
Watson Reid, who holds degrees
Foundation.
from Yale and ColumbiaUniversities,
WEBSITE LAUNCHED
NEW,IMPROVED
BERKLEE
The new Berklee College of Music
website (www.berklee.edu)is up and
running. The site was officially
launched on Thursday, November13,
1997.
Over a year ago, the Web Site
Advisory Committee, headed by
Lauren Fleshier, chose Centermedia,a
web site consulting and developing
firm, to design the new site.
Centermedia, together with many
Berldee staff and faculty members,
workedtirelessly for over a year to
makethis Berklee’s best website yet.
The site nowoffers new features
such as A Day in the Life of a
Berklee Student, a page on which
four students reveal what they do
here at Berklee. This feature was
designed with prospective Berklee
students in mind.
Other interesting
features
include the campustour, a calendar
of college events, and bios of
Berklee faculty members. A searchable course catalog is also available
for those seeking information about
Berklee courses. In the near future,
clubs and other college organizations will be able to link their web
4
Berklee today
pages to the Berklee site.
TwoBerklee staff members, Web
Site and Publishing Coordinator Rob
Hochschild and Webmaster Jennifer
Smith, oversee the daily operation of
the site. Hochschild manages and
updates the daily editorial content and
Smith handles all technical and networkaspects of the site.
The WebSite Advisory Committee
hopes to bring to the public a clear
representation of what Berldee has to
offer with this website. It is nowin
the processof planningthe site’s next
development phase, during which
audio and video will be added, in addition to a long list of other enhancements. "The college is alwaysdeveloping, continuingto improveand grove,"
says Lauren Fleshier. "Wehope that
this site will reflect the development
of
the college."
Alumni should visit the alurani
pages on the site where an electronic
survey form is available for browsers
who wish to make suggestions.
Commentscan be emailed to Berklee
at [email protected].
--Teresa Tsung’98
LeeEliotBerkleft, thanks
retiringboard
of trusteesmember
James
G. ZafrisJr.
Preceding the November14 James
G. Zafris Jr. Distinguished Lecture
series event, President Berk recognized JamesZafris Jr. for his 31 years
of service to the college. Berk
thanked him for his insight and guidance as a founding memberof the
board of trustees. "Yours was always
a voice for the thoughtfully considered, bold initiative,"
said Berk.
"Berklee’s identity as a cutting edge
educational institution owes muchto
your unfailing belief in its potential."
This year’s speaker, Sergio
Rozenblat, president of WEA
Latina,
then discussed the dynamics of the
burgeoning U.S. Latin music market
and answered audience questions.
Spring1998
MEMORIAL
EXHIBITUNVEILED
IN UCHIDA
BUILDIING
At a ceremony held on December
16, 1997, the college dedicated an art
exhibit in the GenkoUchidaBuilding
in rememberance of Makoto Okai
’83. The ceramic sculptures in the
installation, titled "HomeComing,"
were created by the renowned
Japanese artist Hitoko Okai, whois
the mother of Makoto. The event was
timed to coincide with what would
have been Makoto’s37th birthday.
On September 1, 1983, a few
months after his graduation, Makoto
Okai and his new bride Yokowere on
their way home to Japan aboard
KoreanAirlines flight 007. In an incident which elicited a worldwideoutcry, the plane was shot down by a
Soviet missile after straying off course
into Soviet airspace. All 269 aboard
the airliner werekilled in the crash.
In the years since her son’s death,
Mrs. Okai has delved deeper into her
art. Today, she is a leading ceramist
and sculptor in Japan, working with
an ancient technique for creating
earthenwareas people on the island of
Hokkaido did during the Jomon
gaps along the seams. Mrs. Okai told
Period (approximately 8000 B.C.).
the Boston Globe that the number
Her works have been exhibited
throughout Japan and have earned her eight is a lucky numberin Eastern culture and ;dso represents the octave.
numerous awards.
Thegaps represent the feelings of sadSeven members of Mrs. Okai’s
family camefrom Japan for the dedi- ness and anger she experiencedin loscation and met with manyfaculty,
ing her sort.
"It is our hope," President Berk
staff, and guests (including the Consul
General of Japan Mr. Akio Kawato). stated, "that this sculpture will serve
to remindus of the specialspirit of this
Remarkswere delivered by President
youngman,and of the spirit of all our
Lee Eliot Berk, Dean of Students
young people whohail from so many
Lawrence Bethune, and Guitar
Department Chair Larry Baione. At different places."
the end of the luncheon,
Mrs. Susan Berk, wife of
Lee Eliot Berk, presented
Mrs. Okai with a gift of a
silver knot pendant.
Mrs. Okai came back to
Berklee, where Makoto
studiedguitar, in an effort to
keep the memoryof her son
alive. Behindthe glass of the
new display case are Mrs.
Okai’s eight cylindrical
sculptures madeof ceramic
Susan
Berk(right) greetssculptor
HitokoOkai,her
and copper. The cylinders
Okai,and]hergrandson
Shun.
have a rough surface with sonTakeshi
STUDENT
LEADERS
RECOGNIZED
AT BOARD
OF VISITORSEVENT
build a strong feeling of community
amongBerldee students.
This was the first event presided
over by Frimette Field, chair of
Berklee’sboardof visitors. Field, a
senior vice president for Fidelity
Asset Management and Trust
Company,
gave
welcoming
remarks to the audience which
included six other BOVmembers,
nine Berklee trustees,
President Lee Eliot
Berk, Vice President of
Student
Affairs
Lawrence Bethune, students and guests.
Berklee
trustee
~ Craigie Zildjian, North
~ American general man~ ager and vice chair of
g the board of the Avedis
=~ Zildjian
Company,
Fromthe right: trusteesSandraUyterhoven
and delivered the keynote
CraigieZildjian withBOVmember
Vic Firth.
address. Zildjian spoke
On December4, Berldee’s board
of visitors (BOV)hosted a student
leadership awards presentation and
dinner to recognize student leaders.
Fifty four students whohave been
active in student councils, boards,
and organizations ranging from the
Black Student Unionto the Musical
Theater Club were cited for being
positive role modelsand helping to
Spring1998
about leadership and innovation
as exemplified in the history of
her family’s 375 year-old cymbal
making company, and in the history of the college.
"Berklee has a mission and values ,:hat have attracted all of us
here," stated Zildjian. "It is wonderful to be here tonight to recog~
nize the contributions of you students who have made an impact
on this institution." Zildjian then
answered questions
from the
audience.
President Berk presented the
awards to the students. He stated,
"One of our hopes is to graduate
students who will, over time,
strengthen the music industry’s
positive impact on society. With
this presentation today, we recognize your achievements and ability
to contribute to this mission of our
college."
Berkleeto da y
5
A GIG AT THEWHITEHOUSE
Oneof the great pastimes among
musiciansat Berkleeis telling stories
aboutgigs: great gigs, badgigs, and
interesting gigs. I’m continually
struck by howbizarre and fascinating it is to be a musician.Youget to
travel all over the place, meetlots of
interesting people,andplay in a wide
variety of situations.Lastyear, in the
space of one weekI played violin
with JimmyPage and Robert Plant
for 30,000peopleat the Fleet Center
(too loud) and then played with the
renaissance group the Waverly
Consort at the Metropolitan
Museumof Art in NewYork (too
quiet). But in manyways the most
fascinating and unexpectedgig I ever
had camewhenI had the chance to
performfor President Clinton at the
White Housein November.
I haveplayedon nearlyall of filmmaker Ken Burns’ documentaries
since 1978,includinghis recent film
about the expedition of Lewisand
Clark. ApparentlyPresident Clinton
is a big fan of these documentaries,
and he held a private party to celebrate the premiere of this film on
PBS.Threedays before the party, it
wasdecided that the musicians who
played on the soundtrack should
perform.
OnNovember
10, 1997,I arrived at
the east gate of the WhiteHouse
at 3:00
p.m.passedthroughthe security check
andwentdownstairsto the musicians’
green room. Onthe wall were photographsof other musicianswhohad
played at the WhiteHouse.Therewas
a picture of Isaac Stern and Itzhak
Perlman,whichmademerealize that I
wasn’t the first violinist of Jewish
descentto havea gig there.
The musicians were brought up
to the lobby of the East Room
where weplayed during the reception. In manyrespects, it waslike
any other high-profile party gig:
noisy. Weperformedmusic from the
soundtrack--mostly lush, brooding
Americana.Eventually, wewere all
invited into the East Room.Then
someonesaid, "Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United
States." PresidentClintontalked for
awhile before introducing Ken
Burns. Thenweall watchedexcerpts
6
Berklee
t oday
fromthe film.
Afterwards, the White
Housesocial director said,
"The president would like
youto play for himprivately." Weran and got our
instruments.
President
Clinton and Ken Burns
came up and stood right
next to us and listened. It
wasa little bit hard to concentrate on playingthe violin withthe presidentof the
UnitedStates standingright
toleft: II(enBurns,
Matt
Glaser,
Bill Clinton,
next to me,but I realized at Right
Jacqueline
Schwab,
Molly
Mason,
and
JayUngar.
that momentthat the craft
of being a musicianis the
samein all circumstances.I
still hadto playin tune,playin time, People don’t appreciate him but he
andmakea beautiful soundif at all was so melodic."
I wasreally struck by the presipossible. Thelast piece we played
was "Bonaparte’sRetreat," a tradident’s jazz literacy. I asked him,
tional tune whichis the maintheme "How
is it possible that you’represfrom Aaron Copland’s "Rodeo."
ident of the United States and you
The president said that he had just
know this much about jazz?" He
instructed the National Symphony said, "I haven’t learned anything
to play that piece at a concerthonor- about jazz in 30 years, but 30 years
ing ChinesePresident Jiang Zemin.
agoI wasa fanatic." Hesaid that he
At this point, I shookthe presi- used to read DownBeat religiously
dent’s handandtalkedto himbriefly. as a youngmanand for a long time
He knewabout Berklee and seemed he thought he wouldbecomea prointerestedin it. I gavehimt~vopieces fessional musician. The president
of paper I had in mypocket. One waxed rhapsodic about a new CD
wasa transcription of a Bill Clinton player he just got, and howVervehad
saxophone
solo that has beenfloating sent hima boxedset of all their jazz
around Berklee. He seemed very reissues. The conversation then
amusedby this and askedif he could turned to folk music, and I recomkeepit. In addition,I gavehima cou- mendedthat he get the newlyreisple of pagesof variations on the folk sued Smithsonian-FolkwaysAntholtune "ArkansasTraveler" that I had ogy of AmericanFolk Music.
composedwith him in mind.
Myoverall impressionof the presWewereall invited into the State ident is that he is a manof tremenDining Roomfor a buffet wherewe dousenergy and powerfulintellect.
got to eat fancyversionsof the veni- The leader of the Westernworld is
son andquail LewisandClark ate on also very musically literate. I
their expedition.
thought, he knows as much about
After a few minutesthe president mygig as I do, but I don’t knowanycamebackandstarted to talk with us thing abouthis!
again. It occurredto methat he liked
At about 11:00 p.m. things
to hang out with musicians. We wrappedup. Walkingout into the
asked him whohis favorite saxo- cool night air of WashingtonD.C.
phoneplayers were. Hesaid that in after eight hoursin the WhiteHouse,
his music roomat the White House I felt cleansed of mynormal cynihe has a framed photograph of cism. I marveled at music and
Charlie Parker. Asfar as tenor play- America,and felt very happyto be a
ers go he said, "I love SonnyRollins part of both.
and Coltrane is a genius of course, --Matt Glaser,
but Stan Getzis really myfavorite. String DepartmentChair
Spring1998
ALLTHATJAZZ
October 30, 1997markedthe
official release of the, BMG
SummaCure Jazz CD. The disc
is the first release by a major
record label to feature Berldee
studentmusicians.
Onhandfor the release party
were George Durhamof BMG,
GaryBurton, executive producer
of the project, producer Bill
Scheniman,recording engineer
Carl Beatty, and the student
artists and technicians who
helped create the record.
Followinga reception,twoof the
acts heardon the disc, Disastrio
and Kendrick Oliver and the
NewLife Jazz Orchestra, performed in the Lawrence and
AlmaBerkRecital Hall.
Disastrio,featuringpianist Leo
Btanco,bassist CarlosSonoja,and
drummer Antonio Sanchez,
playedfirst, servingup their original Latin jazz compositions.
KendrickOliver’s ensemblefollowed. Performing were saxophonists Jason Anderson,Jimmy
Greene, and Ryan Woodward;
trumpeters Brent Irvine, Adam
Rappa,JeremyPelt, and Rashan
Ross; trombonists Takana
Miyamoto, Danny Kirkum, and
MartinWright;guitarist Tyrone
Chase;bassist DerekNievergelt;
pianist MarkCopland; drummer
Charles Haynes; and vocalist
MonicaLynk.WithOliver directing, the bandperformed
originals
and standards in a contemporary
big bandstyle.
The recording is available
through the BMG
Jazz Club at:
www.bmgmusicservice.com
IT’S ONEOFA KIND...
Calleda collector’sitembythe BrassPlayer,this special
live International DuesBandReunionCDfeatures Bill
Pierce, RichieCole,CyrusChestnut,the Laboriels(senior
andjunior), HalCrook,andmanyother top players.
It is not availablecommercially,
but youmayreceivea
copyby makinga gift of $100or moreto the Phil Wilson
Endowed
Fund. Established by Wilson, the fund provides Berkleescholarshipsupportfor Boston’sinner-city
From
the left, CarlBeatty,Bill students. Sendyour check for $100to the Phil Wilson
Scheniman,
George
Durham,
and Fund,Berklee Collegeof Music,Box333, Boston, MA,
GaryBurton.
02215,andreceivethis limitededition CD.
Spring1998
Berklee today
7
JULIUSWiLLiAMS:MUSICAL
MULTICULTURALIST
for manytheater productions.
At 16, WilIiams was touring the
south playing keyboards with James
Brown on what he terms the
Southern "chitlin’ circuit." He later
received tutelage in jazz from Dizzy
Gillespie and from Dizzy’s pianist
Mike Longo, in arranging from Fred
Norman,and classical music training
from John Moteley and Coleridge
Taylor Perkinson. He earned ibis
undergraduate degree from Lehman
College in the Bronxand his master’s
degree at Hartt School of Music. He
went on to receive a scholarship :for
orchestral conducting studies at the
Aspen Music School.
JuliusWilliams
Prior to coming to Berklee three
years
ago to teach composition and
Havinga r~sumdthat lists musical
work with artists ranging from James conducting, Williams was a member
of Wesleyan
Brown to Zubin Mehta and the New of the faculties
University, University of Hartford,
York Philharmonic made Associate
and University of Vermont.His catProfessor JuliusWilliamsthe perfect
choice to be principal guest conductor alog of original works now numbers
over 100 titles with operatic and
for the Symphony with the Divas
orchestral entries listed along with
tour. The tour, which kicked off in
dance, musical theater works, film
Washington, D.C. in September, features a roster of 20 vocalists backedby scores, and big band charts.
In addition to the notice he has
an orchestra and sometimes a 100been gaining from the Divas tour, he
voice chorus. Someof the featured
vocal soloists include popular singers was featured in an Alabama Public
Television programon bluesmanJerry
Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, Dionne
"Boogie" McCain,who was the dediWarwick, Gladys Knight, and Oleta
Adams; gospel stylists
Tramaine
catee of Williams’ Concerto .for
Harmonicaand Orchestra premiered
Hawkinsand Vickie Winans; and classical singers Barbara Conrad,Florence with McCain and the Etowa Youth
Orchestra
(ETO) of Gadsen,
Quivar, and Faye Robinson.
Alabama,in 1996.
"The Symphony with the Divas
The work was commissioned by
tour was easy for me," Williams says.
"I grew up playing gospel and pop Michael Gagliardo, musical director
musicso it is easy to switch from one and conductor of the ETO,to comgear to the other in the show." In the memorate the sesquicentennial of
course of the performance, the music Gadsenand pay tribute to McCain,a
turns on a dime juxtaposing a piece local blues harmonicalegend. "WhenI
from Alban Berg’s opera Lulu with a first got the call for this, I thoughtit
was a joke," says Williams. "Gagliardo
gospel rave up of "AmazingGrace,"
said he wanteda harmonicaconcerto,
followed by Dionne Warwicksinging
and that the harmonicaplayer didn’t
"I’11 Never Lovethis WayAgain."
The credo of musical diversity has read music. I had no idea what I was
goingto do, so I wrotethe wholething
served Williams well and has offered
him a rich musical experience. He has basedon the blues scale.
"There are two movements. The
heard his "Norman Overture" premiered
by the New York
first is pretty modernwith open areas
Philharmonic Orchestra and his opera for Jerry to play in and somesimple
Guenevere performed at the Aspen lines I taught himto play. For the secMusicFestival. He has also been the
ond movement,Jerry wanted a ’real
keyboardist for the Fifth Dimension blues.’ I wrote a blues section so he
and others, and has played in the pit
could show what he does, then it
8
Berklee today
reverts back to the earlier materiaL"
The piece workedwell because the
timbre of the harmonicaenabled it to
cut through the orchestra,
and
McCainwas a hit with the audience.
"He is quite a showmantoo--he plays
harmonica with his nose," Williams
says with a chuckle. The concerto was
so well received that a secondperformancewas arranged for June, 4, 1997
in NewYork at Alice Tully Hall,
Lincoln Center.
To Williams’surprise, his harmonica concerto has generated a lot of
interest. Whilehe feels the piece does
not represent the reaches of his creative efforts, it has stimulated himto
write other worksfeaturing a soloist.
"I’d like to write moreconcerti," he
says. "I’d actually like to write a piano
concerto. I also want to write more
chamber works--I haven’t written a
lot of string quartets."
In Decemberhe went to the Czech
Republic to record a new CDwith the
Prague Radio SymphonyOrchestra.
"This is the secondin a series of works
by American composers," Williams
says. "The first recording featured a
work by David Baker, along with
works by African American composers.
"This newrecording is very eclectic. There is some Spanish music,
Bakerhas another piece called ’Shades
of Blue’ which he based on the blues,
and there is a work by Berklee’s
Composition Department Chair Jack
Jarrett." The recordingwill be distributed in the U.S. by AlbanyRecords.
In the future, Williams also hopes
to compose a large-scale mass for
orchestra and chorus and another
opera. He also intends to continue
accepnngmv~tanonsto serve as a guest
conductor. "You don’t have any
administrative responsibilities as a
guest conductor, you just showup and
waveyour hands," he muses.
% like going from one thing to
another," he says. "That’s whyI find
the atmosphereat Berklee stimulating.
Thereis a lot of different musicin the
air here. Manypeople think that jazz
and classical musicrepresent two separate worlds,but I don’t. I tell mystudents that they are just different
dialects of the samelanguage."
Spring1998
FACULTY
NOTES
Executive Vice President Gary
Burtoncollaborated once again with
Chick Corea on the album Native
Sense. The Burton/Corea duo has
been working together since 1972.
The first volumeof Assistant Vice
President for Academic Technology
DavidMash’s
six-volumeseries titled
Musicians and the Internet has just
been issued by Warner Publications.
Mash has published four previous
books.
MP&E Associate
Professor
Stephen Webberhas produced the
Manhattan Guitar Duo’s debut
recording Evocation on his own
Willow Shade record label. He also
composed the soundtrack for a PBS
documentary on college football
called Roses of Crimson which aired
in November.
One Heart, Jorge Alfano’s latest
CD, features Assistant Professor of
Percussion Randy CraR0n on the
frame drums, percussion and mibra.
Professor of Guitar don Damian
released Dedication: Faces & Places
featuring guitarist Bill Frisell ’77;
bassists Jon Voigt, Peter Kontrimas,
and Bob Nieske; drummer Ralph
Rosen; vocalist TomHall; and saxophonist Bob Patton.
Jon Damianis also featured on
bassist Bob Nieske’s CDWolf Soup:
the Question, along with saxophonist
Tom Hall
and drummer Nat
Mugavero.
Pianist and Assistant Professor of
HarmonyMatthewNicholl ’87 collaborated
with bassist
Elliot
Wadopian ’80 on the CD From Here
to There. The disc features 11 original
compositions.
Associate Professor of Voice
LawrenceWatsonhas released The
Journey on Save Ourselves Records.
The album features alumni Jonathan
Royal ’95, Nora Campbell ’95,
KembaFrancis ’93, Pat Loomis ’92,
Mike Hamilton ’94, David Spreng
’97, Nicolaz Schuhbeck’96, Jeff Jones
’81, and Tariqh Akone’91.
Associate Professor of Guitar
MikeIhde traveled to Oahu, Hawaii,
in Septemberto study with lap steel
guitar master Jerry Byrd. This semester, Ihde has begun teaching new
Spring1998
courses on lap steel.
Assistant Professor of Guitar Jim
Associate Professor of Voice Mili Peterson, DamonCarter ’87 (keyBermejo-Greenspan
and her husband boards and backing vocals), Dan
(bassist) Dan Greenspan released
Foote ’88 (drums), Mark Doin ’83
new CD titled
Duo in November.
(sax), and Larry Jackson ’86 (bass).
Bermejo-Greenspan was presented
Associate Professor of Guitar
with the 1997 New England
MarkWhite released Tunch on MMC
Foundation
for
the
Arts
Records. The personnel includes
Achievement in Jazz Award on
bassist John Lockwood’77, drumNovember14 in recognition of her
mers Keith Copeland and Jamey
artistry and service to the region’s
Haddad,pianists JohnArcaro and
jazz community.
Scott Deugbunn, Les Thimmig on
PerformanceStudies Professor Hal reeds, and vibist and Associate
Crookreleased a trio CDtitled Hero Professor of Percussion l/icl0r
Worship. Also heard on the disc are Mendoza.
Guitar Professor MickGoodrickand
F, ar Training Instructor GayeTolan
drummer Paul Motian.
Haffield plays flute on the theme and
Associate Professor of Percussion underscore for the new CBSsitcom
Rod M0rgenstein collaborated with
"Style & Substance." Her husband
fellow Dixie Dregs member Jordan
Brad Hatfield ’79 is the composerfor
Rudess on a CDentitled The Rudess the series.
Morgenstein Project. Morgenstein
Associate Professor of Percussion
will be profiled in the Marchissue of 3amey Haddadplayed at the IAJE
Modern Drummer.
convention in New York with the
Assistant Professor of Guitar
Dave Liebman Quartet.
He also
Lauren
Passarellihas signed endorse- completed a southern tour with the
ment deals with Taylor, Guild,
Paul Winter Consort and performed
Yamaha, and WashburnGuitars. She with Joe Lovano ’72. Haddad has
coengineered Cheryl Honeymeyer’s finished
a book titled
Global
CD Dark Horse, which won a
Standard Time, and has produced a
Boston Music Award. Other CDs 20-page CDbooklet for the album
Passarelli engineered include Hide by Rhythmicolor Exotica by percussionthe band Crave, Mountain Skies by ist GlenVelez.
Jan Mater, and The Song Belongs to
Associate Professor of Voice
You by Kurt Reynolds. Her band Get D0nqa McEIr0yis featured on the
Back performed at the September
American Federation of Television
Mix Fest in GovernmentCenter with
and Radio Artists compilation CD
Paula Cote and Sarah MacLachlan.
First Tuesday S&gers’ Showcase.
Assistant Professor of Percussion
The 10-minute solo guitar compoJohnHazilla’s Formand Function CD sition "The Parting Glass" by
features trombonist John Pierce ’89,
Associate [Professor of Composition
Associate Professor of Woodwinds Marti Epstein was recorded on the
Jim 0dgrenon alto sax, Ear Training CD Giraffe
by guitarist
Ulf
Chair Gregg Bad01at0on tenor sax,
Gollnast.
and Tim Mayeron baritone sax.
Associate Professor of Percussion
WoodwindDepartment Chair Bill
lan Fr0manplayed drums on the CD
Pierce and Assistant
Woodwind Sevyn by bassist Chris Terry ’94.
Department Chair George Garl0ne
Assistant Professor of Piano Dave
together with Assistant Professor of Franll has released a new CDtitled
Piano John Arcar0, and Bass
The Power of Piano. Frank was proDepartment Chair Rich Appleman filed in the January 18, 1998issue of
played on the CD by trombonist
the Boston Globe.
John Licata ’70 titled John Licata and
Pianist and Associate Professor of
the Tenor Titans.
General
Education
Makoto
Eye to Eye has released a new Takenaka’slatest album Hibiki:
albumentitled Chill and Listen. This Sounds from Boston to the Worldfeaalbum features
the talents
of
tures Professor of Bass BruceGortz.
8erkleet o d a y
9
FALLVISITING ARTISTS
This fall, manyvisiting
artists with various areas of
expertise shared their experiences with Berklee students and faculty members.
Among the many big
names who came were the
Oscar-winning songwriting team of Alan and
MarilynBergman,
legendary
recording engineer and
producer Eddie Kramer,
President of WEALatina
Sergio Rozenblat, saxophonist David Liebman,
Darryl Jones and Chuck
Leavell, bassist and keyboardist respectively for
the Rolling Stones tour.
Pat Methenybassist and
coproducer Steve Rodby
described the behind-thescenes operations in the
making of Imaginary Day,
the Pat Metheny Group’s
latest CD.
Famed mandolin player
DavidGrisman
spoke to the
saxophonists Frankliberi
and Walt Weiskopfwere
amongthe luminaries who
participated
in the
November 3 Winds Day
events.
David Lawrencespoke
to Music Business/
Management
students
about integrating audio
into websites.
Nashville
attorney
MichaelHarringtouspoke
about copyright law and
his case work for Crosby,
Stills, and Nash, Steve
SteveRodby,bassistandcoproducer
for the Pat Metheny Perry, and others.
Group,
playsair bassduring
his visitingartist: clinic. Rodby West African drummer
spoke
at lengthonwritingandproduction
techniques.
and dancer Emmanuel
Agbeli performed music of
Guinea, Ghana, Togo, and
Esterhazy
StringQuartet,in
students of the String
Nigeria
with percussion
Department. Indian pera residency hosted by the
faculty
and
students.
cussionist TrilokGurtugave Composition Department,
Second
Floor Music
a clinic and an evening per- read through student
and Twenty-eighth Street
formance.
pieces and performed the
Music founder DonSickler
Shostakovich
"String
Top :new age composgave a seminar on the busier/pianist SuzanneCiani Quartet #9."
gave a master class. The
TrombonistSteve Turre, ness of jazz publishing.
All brands: new, use(],
vintage
Full line of accessories
Repairs and restoration
ExperL consultation
Exporter
of EM Winston
Band Ins~rumenLs
Rayburn Musical Instrument Co., Inc.
263 tluntington
Ave. Boston, MA0211 ~ USA
Tel: 617-266-4727 exL 25 Fax: 617-266-1517
Internct:
ww\~raybum.com
Servingmusiciansandeducatorssince 19~9.
10 Berklee
today
Spring1998
Counterculture
Business for NewburyComics cofounder and Berklee trustee
MikeDreesecontinuesto thrive as his competition’swilts.
by Jim Sul/ivan
It’s not a practice recommended
at, say, the
Harvard Business School. A customer comes up
to the counter at a NewburyComicsrecord store
after searching in vain for a certain hit album-let’s say it’s by LedZeppelin. Where,he asks the
clerk, might he find this album?
"Wedon’t have it," says the clerk. "Wedon’t
stock it. Wedon’t desire to stock it." There is a
standoff. Tension. This is not the way it works
in other shops. The customer, who senses that
he, or at least his taste, is being insulted,
demandsto see the owner.
"I amthe owner!"retorts the tall, bespectacled
clerk. The rattled customerheadsfor the door. "If
you want that crap," the clerk barks at his back,
"go to Strawberries!" The story is told by Mike
Dreese, co-owner of Newbury Comics. An
apocryphaltale? Hardly, Dreesesays, this is simply the wayhe once did business.
The incident did not happenrecently--Dreese
says it occurred around 1980, at the first
NewburyComics store, on NewburyStreet in
Boston--and would not have happenedrecently.
For one thing, Dreese no longer works behind
the counter. He’sin the executive office, running
what is nowan 18-store, 300-employee,$40 million-a-year regional retail chain. For another,
NewburyComics probably does have that hit
Jim Sullivan is a columnist for the BostonGlobe.
This article was published in the Boston Globe
Magazineon August 24, 1997, and is reprinted
here with the perrnission of the BostonGlobe.
Spring1998
albumnowand will sell it to youwithout a fuss-alongwith, if youso desire, a studdeddog collar;
some hip, if orthopedic-looking, Doc Martens
boots; and an "I love Satan" T-shirt, complete
with sentimental, heart-shaped symbol.
Maybethey won’t insult your taste anymore,
but they’re still not your averagerecord store. In
fact, Newbury
Comicsdidn’t even start out to be
a record store. Or a chain. To say nothing of a
chain that has grownat least 20 to 30 percent each
year, and in the mid--1980sexperienceda hypergrowthspurt of 600percent over a five-year period, enough for Inc. magazine to namethe privately l~eld concern one of America’s500 fastest
growing companies.
Newbury Comics’ success is all the more
unusual because Dreese, 41, and his partner, John
Brusger, 40, l-~ead what in the music retailing
industry is a midsizechain, increasingly an endangered species. Thesedays, the industry generally
consists of either megachains--like Tower
Records, HMV,and Virgin--or small, independent shops. Midsizechains are mostly struggling,
with several in bankruptcy.
So what are’, the secrets to NewburyComics’
success?’ There’s its eclectic product mix, which
ranges ti’om that studded dog collar to CDsto,
yes, comicbooks. There’s the growth of what has
been called "over-the-counterculture"--the mainstream embraceof a once nonconformiststyle that
Newbury Comics has been championing for
years. Andthere is still someof that early, punkrock retailing attitude--albeit mellowedsomewhat--that gave NewburyComicsits distinctive
Berklee today
11
"That end of Newbury
Street, in those days, was
almost an Altston type of
area," says DavidBieber, a
comic book and record
collector, and director of
special projects at Phoe~ix
Media/Communications
Group. "Out of nowhere,
you havethis store. It was
completely
unpretentious-no spectacular displays. They were forging
into territory
nobody
knew much about."
A year later, Dreeseand
Brusger began stocking
records. A friend brought
in his record collection to
sell. "I said, ’Whydon’t I
NewburyComicscofounderMike Dreese:"VVe just throw themin the bin
don’t wantMcDonalds
for music. Wewantit to here?’" recalls Dreese. "So
havea distinctiveflavor,"
we sold used records :for a
year." Then came punk
rock buttons and badges
with
bands’
names on them:
personality, evenas Dreesewas telling
customersjust whathe thought of their Buzzcocks, the Jam, Sham 69, Sex
music preferences. "We’dchase them Pistols. And45-r.p.m. records cut by
out of the store," Dreese recalls now, local bands. Andrare import albums
laughing. "We were so obnoxious by the Clash or U2.
Newbury Comics rode the insuraboutit, it wasunbelievable."
The company’s warehouse has an gent punk rock movementand became
atmosphereof barely controlled chaos, knownas a place where the punks felt
a sense of urgency and upheaval that comfortable. "You could buy the
Dreeseseemsto like. Besides the thou- badges," says Bieber, "these rock ’n’
sands of CDsand cassette tapes, there roll objets d’art. Theymadethat conare books by H.P. Lovecraft and version from comics to badges and
records pretty quickly. Andthe people
Lenny Bruce. There’s a Jenny
working there were living the life,
McCarthy Playboy video--not
which was a severe contradiction to
because Newbury Comics sells soft
porn per se but because McCarthyis an what other stores had going for them.
MTV
heroine and Generation X kitsch To have people immersed in the punk
icon cum punching bag. Teddy bears culture, that wasthe distinguishingeleare on the shelves, too--those licensed ment."
The NewburyComicsof today still
by the Grateful Dead and those
doesn’t pretend to cater to the widest
licensed by Disney.
The company started
when possible demographic range. And tMt
Dreese was little more than an ado- approachseemsto haveserved it ~vell,
lescent himself. In April 1978, evenas the musicretailing businesshas
Dreese, a Massachusetts Institute of fallen on hard times. The$12 billion-aTechnology economics major and year musicretailing industry, after a
recent dropout, along with college half-dozen years of steady expansion,
roommateBrusger, a freshly minted is currently in the doldrums, with
MITgrad with a degree in chemistry, growthnearly stalled last year. Midsize
opened a tiny used comics shop on national chains, such as Strawberries,
NewburyStreet. Initial investment: Peaches, and CamelotMusic, have filed
$2,000 and Brusger’s comic book col- for bankruptcy protection. Others,
lection. Thoughnowthere are count- such as Wherehouse and National
less comics stores, at the time there Record. Mart recently emerged from
bankruptcy.
was only one other in Boston.
12 Berklee
today
Even in this environment,
Newbury Comics has enjoyed steady
growth. The company now has 18
stores around NewEngland; its most
recent store, the largest, opened in
Newton in May. The strong performance can be attributed in part to
Newbury Comics’ mix of musical
offerings--rarities as well as hits, depth
as well as breadth and a knowledgeable staff. For the past two years,
Newbury Comics has won the
National Association of Recording
Merchandisers award for best midsize
chain.
But a big part of NewburyComics’
success has come from being in the
forefront of pop culture trends. Asthe
"over-the-counterculture" has grown,
as once cutting-edge alternative styles
and products have become"mallternarive," NewburyComics has benefited
from the market movingin its direction. Black leather biker jackets, body
piercings, tattoos, and jarring hairstyles, which once could shock the
countercuhurally challenged, today are
part of a lifestyle choice that barely
raises eyebrows.
Dreese bemoanswhat he says is the
uniformity and mediocrity of much
mainstream pop music. "We don’t
want McDonald’sfor music. Wewant
it to havea distinctive flavor," he says.
At the same time, "that doesn’t mean
that everything we do is wonderful,
either. Alot of it is obnoxiousor boorish or banal." About the only thing
Dreese says he won’t stock nowis the
extreme Oi! music by white-power
European punk bands.
Newbury Comics has accentuated
its avant-garde image with its musicsavvy employeesand its eclectic product mix. Over the years, numerous
local musicians have held down day
jobs at the company’s warehouse or
one of its stores. Theseinclude Aimee
Mann,formerly of ’til tuesday and now
a solo artist living in Los Angeles,and
Tanya Donelly, formerly of Throwing
Muses, the Breeders, and Bell>
And the company’s expansion into
new product areas has made its name
almost a misnomer. Indeed, although
Newbury Comics still sells comic
books, those account for only three
percent of sales volume. On the other
hand, six percent of the chain’s sales
come from Doc Martens shoes from
Spring1998
England. CDsand cassettes make up
80 percent of its sales, with various
accessories, books, and other products
accounting for the remainder.
Dreese and Brusger still own the
company50-50. Brusger is more of a
behind-the-scenes player, the computer and systemwizard. WhileDreese’sis
the public face of the company,Brusger
has overseen the company’sjust-intime distribution system, which allows
stores to stock a wide variety of, discs
by stocking fewer copies of each one.
When
the last copyof a title sells out of
a store, it’s generallybackin stock the
next day. "Wetry to replenish rapidly,"
Brusger says. "It’s nothing glamorous,
but it’s easier said than done." Brusger
is also responsible for the company’s
familiar logo--a childish happy-face
drawing with loopy smile --which he
sketched for a last-minute ad in 1982.
Since then, the companyhas sold more
than 50,000T-shirts bearing the logo.
Whyis it so popular? "Someone
told me," says Dreese, "that in a compute>designed world, it’s a throwback--just a happy face having a
wicked good time." He says a student
doing a master’s thesis on carefully
researched, modern,childlike corporate
Spring1998
iogos oncetried to pick his brain on the
research done and the time spent on
developing the logo. The answers,
according to Dreese were "none" and
"minimal," and she hung up.
Dreese ownsabout 500 CDs, a tiny
collection by music-business standards, and these days, whenhe listens
for pleasure, he’s not likely to punk
out. It’s usually ambientchill music-"mood music for burnouts," Dreese
says, laughing. Dreese sits on two
boards: for Berldee College of Music
and the Boston Institute for Arts
Therapy.
StilI, Dreesetries to retain his ties to
the culture that madehim a success.
Indeed,he tries to be sure that all the
employees at Newbury Comics
remainclose to the proverbial street.
"It’s terribly hard to keeppeople close
to the street," he says, notingthe effect
marriage,a nice car, a housein the suburbs, and, "Godforbid," kids, can have
on a person. "Howdo you retain the
excitement?"
Onewayis to remaina player in the
music world. Dreese launched Boston
Rock magazine, which was later sold,
and he recently invested in a small
start-up record label, WickedDisc.
The most prominent band signed to
the label is Boston’s Gigolo Aunts, a
10-year-old pop band that joined the
label after frustrating experienceswith
the Fire label in England and with
RCAin America.
The Gigolo Aunts recently released
a six-song disc, Learnto Play Guitar,
on WickedDisc. Says Aunts’ singerguitarist DaveGibbs: "Mikesaid, ’You
havegreat songsand a great band; I can
help you during a tough period.’"
Friends say this fair treatment of
people he works with or employs is
also typical of Dreese. "Hetreats his
employeesreally well," says Oedipus,
programdirector for Bostonradio station WBCN.
"He recognizes that it’s
all about the kids--not just about the
stars--and that’s what punk was all
about .... I think he has the samespirit he alwayshad. He’s done it without
beinga thief, andthat’s whatI admire."
But, for Dreese, this still doesn’t
meanyou have to try to be all things
to all people. "If you makethe individual happy," says Dreese, "then
everythingtakes care of itself. [But] if
your whole business is dedicated to
pleasing everybody, you’re never
going to please yourself."
-~
Berklee today
13
She’s
Not So Ordinary
Withtwo hit singles underher belt and a third in the wings,
life for PaulaCole ’90 is becominganything but ordinary
t has been four years since "I’m So Ordinary"
appeared as the second track on Paula Cole’s
debut albumHarbinger.If the lyric expressed
her self imageat that time, todaythere is precious
little that wouldidentify Cole as the song’s protagonist. The musicon her secondCD,This Fire,
reveals that she is very comfortablewith whoshe
has becomepersonally and as a writer, performer,
and producer. Poweredby two hit singles, "Where
Have All the CowboysGone" and "I Don’t Want
to Wait," the CDhas sold a million copies.
It was announceddays before this publication
went to press that Cole received an astonishing
seven GrammyAwardnominations in the categories record of the year, albumof the year, song
of the year, best newartist, best femalepopperformance, best pop album, and producer of the
year. Cole is the first womanever nominatedin
the nonclassical producer of the year category.
Even a casual listener would be drawn in by
Cole’ssuperbvoice, but it is her songsthat distinguish her fromthe legions of other great singers
out there. Somehow
there is a universality in her
deeplypersonal lyrics. Sheis able to portray complex scenarios with a few carefully crafted
metaphors. Like Picasso’s ink drawings, Cole’s
songs, full in their minimalism,reveal her unique
perspective. She depicts the emotionaldensity of
events in her life with economyof strokes.
During the 51 minutes of This Fire, Col&songs
rage, weep, psychoanalyze, and dance with con-
I
by
Mark
Small
"73
14 Berklee t 0 d a y
cupiscence. Her lack of inhibition in the studio
and on stage is an element connecting her with
yourig audiences and beckoningher her adult iisteners’ inner child. A solid conceptionof howto
produce her music so that it comes across on
radio is another.
Cole’s identity as a performer was sculpted
by hundreds of appearances beginning as a backup singer for Peter Gabriel in 1993, and continuing as opener for Melissa Etheridge, Sarah
McLachlan, and others. After headlining for
much of 1997, she had to retreat when strep
throat forced the cancellation of her yea>end
dates. She spoke to mebefore the holidays from
her NewYork apartment where she said she was
enjoying being an average citizen again and getting reacquainted with her cats. In conversation,
I found her to be warm,eloquent, and honest.
Cole’s young career continues to rise to
heights unforeseen a decade ago when her voice
was just one among60 or 70 others in Berklee’s
gospel choir. It is written that where muchis
given muchis required. Success of the magnitude Cole is experiencing produces expectations that an artist will scale evenloftier peaks.
If I was a betting man,I wouldwagerthat Paula
Cole will reach them. Even amongthe brightest
stars of the music world firmament, an artist
who can write and perform music possessing
the depth and visceral impact of Cole’s is far
from ordinary.
Spring1998
M.I.T. faculty club and sang at weddings and
parties--just makinga living as a musician. I
think everyone’s uniqueness is what is important.. WhenI was singing jazz standards, as
beautiful as they are, I thought the lyrics had a
sexist point of view. Most were from musicals
of the 1950s and weren’t too relevant to today’s
society. I also felt jazz--which I adore--was
atrophying and becomingless and less a reflection of today.
I got depressed with myjourney in jazz and
wanted to express myself in words as well as
music.I started writing, and it wasn’tjazz. It was
what it was. I’d gotten a lot of encouragement,
GRPoffered mea deal while I was still a student.
Thin: gave me tremendous confidence and hope
even thoughI didn’t take the deal. I figured if I
could get one that easily, I should wait to go with
a companythat offered megreater artistic freedom.So I continued waitressing and being a G.B.
Whatled to your coming to Berklee to study [general business] musician while trying to be
music after high school?
comea better writer. I’m still trying to becomea
Growingup, I was a big fish in a little pond better writer.
in Rockport, Massachusetts, singing in chorus
I wantedto be in NewYork, but that terriand in plays. I had a silent dreamthat I wanted fied me, so I went to San Francisco. Mysister
to be a musician, but it seemedso pompousto was there. It was a strange place for meto be, I
admit that or think that I could. For a dose of found it hard to makefriends. I was holed up in
reality, I went to Berklee’s summerprogramin my:room writing songs furiously. I ended up
1985. I got a lot of encouragement from Bob getting a publishing deal with FamousMusic.
Stoloff. He was very important and supportive
How did you get the offer from Imago
of meat a crucial time. He told myparents that
I had ability and that they should support my Records?
going into music. He also recommendedme for
After a few years in San Francisco writing,
a scholarship.
working in a bakery, and getting very humbled,
During mysenior year in high school, I con- I really wanted mydream to come to fruition.
tinued to study with him once a week. Wedid Kate Hymanat Imago was the first one who
trumpet exercises, and read from drum books, really believed in me and understood my art
and I tried to improvise vocally. Sometimesit
and did not want to change me. I felt then that
seemedlike esoteric knowledge,but ultimately I a small companywould be good for me. It is
haveused that in strange little wayson the stage. very easy to get lost in the shuffle of a large
This gave me confidence and motivation and company.I felt if it didn’t workout, it wouldbe
helped meto faI1 in love with jazz and mademe easier if I was droppedfrom a small label rather
want to continue in music. I was a Professional than being dropped by a bigger one.
Music major. [Laughing] I thought it was the
easiest way to graduate from Berklee. It is just
It seems like you may have avoided a couple
as important to think of what you will do after of traps as you started out.
you are out of Berklee. Youhave to see beyond
I have read a bit about the business and
while you are there.
learned along the way, but signing with Imago
There were a lot of people whose egos were hurt at times. In the beginning it was good.
inflated by having celebrity status around They got me out on the road opening for Sara
Berklee, and that is a little dangerous. I think McLachlan, Melissa Etheridge, and Counting
you need to remain humble and remember that
Crows. That experience was very valuable, but
it is a big, difficult world out there. I have it came crashing down when Imago died as a
learned that talent is very overrated. Your hard company and I couldn’t find my record anywork and persistence are what create success in where when I was out on tour.
the end.
HOwdid you get with Warner Brothers?
What happened when you left Berklee?
Warner Brothers people came to some of the
After graduating in 1990, I stayed in Boston important
shows in New York and Los
another year. I worked as a waitress at the Angeles. They really wanted to sign me. They
bout the money, everybody
probably thinks I ama million-
aire with two big hits. Thatis so
untrue. I wastold that myre-
cord has to go doubleplatinum
just to recoupthe expenses°
16 Berklee
today
Spring1998
Cole: "Mycareer
isn’t aboutthose
hits, It is more
about me going
out on the road
and creating
impressions
through
live performance."
fought for me and ended up makinga deal with
Imago.I amstill not free of the Imagoshackles,
but I feel like a WarnerBrothers artist now.
The clout of the big companyhas helped you
to have two hits.
Yes. I workedvery hard to make"This Fire"
and decided to produce it myself. That was a
tremendous personal and musical victory. I
started the record with my former producer
Kevin Killen. Wedid eight songs and spent
$80,000. I didn’t like it and knewI could not
live with it immortalizedin plastic. I can’t promote things I don’t believe in. That was my
inner voice speaking, and one must always follow that voice. I approachedall of these business people I had never worked with and said
"I want to throw $80,000 downthe toilet. Will
you let meproduce this myself?" They said yes,
and I will be forever grateful to themfor believing in me at that moment.
I was very scared, but I had to do it. I knew
I possessed the musicianship to be my own
producer. I was tired of myvision being compromised, so I plucked up mycourage and did
it. I was making budgets and became a much
better business person. Once we got into the
music, it felt like freedom. I was makingsomething I really believedin, so if it failed at least I
would knowit was myfault. WhenI turned it
in, I got tremendoussupport; they felt they had
a hit. I never understood what a hit was or felt
that I could write one. I have never compromisedmyself trying to craft a hit. A song has to
have a purpose for being and reflect life honestly or it will be empty.
I also understand how record companies are
structured around selling records through
radio. The production and the way a track
sounds are important to radio. Nowthat I have
visited countless stations across the country, I
understand the nature of radio a lot more.
double platinum just to recoup tlhe company’s
expenses. That is the reality. Once you have a
hit single, MTVbecomes vital and you must
make a great video. That doesn’t mean you
have to spend a lot of money,but you usually
do. Mylast two videos cost 380 grand each.
That is a lot of moneyto recoup. I just try to
remain positive.
So becomingan established a~’tist is a longterm project.
It is. I feel veryblessedto havethese hits, but
my career isn’t about those hits. It is more
about me going out on the road. and creating
impressions through live perforn~ance.
Does having hits put pressure on you for
your next album?
That will be a new vantage point for me. I
have to admit, I feel a little nervous about my
next record, but I haveto put that aside and just
Many people feel they would enjoy the
write
honestly. Myfavorite music has always
money pop stardom brings, but the fame is
been
honest
music, not derivative or something
another story. Howdo you feel about becoming
wherethe players are trying to be hip or virtua public figure?
I hope I never consider myself a celebrity. I osic. I keep remindingmyselfthai: all I can do is
write from the heart because that is what made
still walk out boldly. I hope to never lose that
kind of freedom. I do see that people know these two songs hits.
who I am now. I have been eating dinner at a
Do you find that people who have loved
restaurant and had people come up to me.
your music and felt the emotions of the lyrics
Once I was followed homeby about 10 professional autograph seekers. It was actually kind feel that they have had a dialog with you?
Absolutely. I think I amtouching something
of frightening. Wehad to get back in the car and
lose them in traffic. Those experiences are a important with young girls. I rememberhowit
felt to be fourteen. It is hard to be a girl transbyproductof success that I don’t like.
forming into a woman. Sudde~dy the world
About the money, everybody probably
thinks I ama millionaire with two big hits. That starts treating you differently whenyou start
is so untrue. I wastold that myrecord has to go sprouting breasts. Thereare a lot of younggirls
Spring1998
Berklee
today 17
at my concerts, and it gives me incentive to
keep working hard so that I may do some good
in mylifetime. It is not me; it is the musicthat
is touching them and giving them hope in a
world that is hostile to women.
Howdo you go about writing a song?
There are different stimuli and they happen
at different times in mylife. Occasionallyit is
like a lightening bolt and feels truly like a gift
from God.
The song "Mississippi" came that way. I
could hear the song. I could see it as if I was a
crow flying above and I could see the song
below on the land. Sometimes they come by
laboring at the piano or by reading journal
entries that seem important. The music comes
muchmore easily than the words. Having been
on the road for a year, I haven’t been writing
because most of myenergy is directed outward.
Nowthat I am home, music is coming to me
again. I never pressured myself in the time that
I wasn’t writing--I knew it wouldn’t produce
anything good. Youmust live life. Ordinary life
experiences give you seeds that becomesongs.
Sitting at the piano feels like home,and that
is where most of the ideas cometo me. I have
always gravitated to the piano even though I
sometimesget ideas that are best for guitar. The
piano represents a beautiful, sacred place for
me. It is like beginning a Zen meditation, and
ideas come.I have quite a few pieces that I hope
will becomesongs for mynext record, although
most of them don’t seem commercial.
I play with my friends [guitarist]
Kevin
Barry [’87] and [drummer]Jay Bellerose [’87].
Sometimes I play with [bassist] Paul Bryant
whoalso went to Berklee. I feel like I grewup
musically with Kevin, Jay, and Paul. Weplayed
so many different kinds of music together,
experimented, and grew.
It must be nice to tour with people with
whomyou have so much history.
I have been playing with Jay for 10 years,
and "with Kevin for nine. Jay has been with me
at every musical turn. I couldn’t be here today
without him. I’ve learned so muchfrom him.
What would you like to be doing in 10
years’?
I will be 39 then. I hopeI’ll haveseveral really
creative albums under mybelt by then. I would
love to makea jazz album. I poured so muchof
myselfinto jazz, so it mustcometo fruition so I
can feel like I can go on. I recently sang "Autumn
Leaves" with somegreat jazz musicians for the
soundtrack of the film Midnight in the Gardenof
Goodand Evil. It was so wonderfulto just be a
jazz musician again and not the business woman,
the producer, the self promoter shaking hands at
radio stations. Somewhere
in myfuture there will
be at least one jazz albumevenif it will only sell
5,0(30copies.
I would1ore to be involved in film. Acting is
a challenge that beckons me. I would love to
have a foundation of success so that I can loan
myself to help some causes. Success could
afford me to have a few years between albums
so I could have children, a home, a dog. I see
myearly life as a time to workhard and lay the
foundation for a lasting career. In mymiddle
life I want to be a mother.
Your songs are written in many different
keys. Doyou choose a key because of its color?
The beauty of feeling comfortabie with the
language of musicis that I can makethose decisions consciously. Different keys have different
colors, moods,and vibrations. I love the dark,
flat keys. I have to restrain myself from writing
Is there anything we didn’t touch on that
in them sometimes. WhenI write a song in E you want to say?
major, I might decide that I won’t play piano on
As muchof an oasis as Berklee was for me,
it; the guitar wi11 be the main sound. Your you (:an find yourself pursuing the narcissism of
hands are like old dogs. They want to go to the your ownvirtuosity there. I was doingthat. I had
same places. Forcing myself to write in a key I been concentrating on becomingas virtuosic a
amnot as fluent in brings out newideas.
singeras possible.It wasa little bit of a distraction;
it helped me,but it wasn’t mytrue path.
You wrote your second hit "I Don’t Want
Musicians need to find their unique point of
Wait" in G fiat.
view. In the natural world, the more unique a
It is funny that when we made the songbook speciesis, the better the chanceit has of surviving.
for the album, I wantedto keep all of the songs It is the samewaywith your artistry. Don’ttry to
in the original keys. But most of the sales of moldyourself to the standards of others. Youcan
songbooks are to beginner and intermediate
become homogenized by the process. Look
musicians. The publishers didn’t want to put within and reveai your thoughts as uniquely and
that song in G flat so it is notated in G. Most honestly as possible. That means not trying so
songs in the bookare in the original keys.
hard to soundlike other people. The influence of
others can help you become comfortable with
Your band features players you met while the languageof music, but ultimately you have to
you were at Berklee.
honor your own voice.
~1
18 Berklee
today
Spring1998
Reaching the h(c~ung
The knowledgeimparted by a dedicated music teacher
goes far beyond showingstudents howto read music
ne of the best kept secrets in the colliege is that virtuallyall graduateswith
a Berkleemusiceducationdegreehoping to teach in public schools find rewarding
jobs. Whilesomemusiciansmayview teaching
as a fall-backcareerchoice,it is numero
unofor
those whopursue this rigorous profession.
Whatfollows are experiences and personal
views from four NewEnglandalumni selected
at randomfrom hundreds working in education. Theyconcurthat the job’s long hours and
hectic pace are morethan balancedby the sense
of satisfaction gainedby helpingyoungpeople
feel the inspiration of playingmusic.Whatthey
give their students frequentlyexceedsinsights
about decipheringblack dots on a page.
DanO’Donnell’79 is the indefatigable band
director at Nashua (NewHampshire) High
Schooland instrumental musiccoordinator for
all of the Nashuaschools. Hewasrecruited by
NashuaHigh, his alma mater, before he had
takenhis last roundof finals at Berklee19 years
ago. Heis innovativeand motivated.Onthree
of his five days at the school, he puts in 14
hours teaching classes, rehearsing various
ensembles,and then giving lessons and coaching jazz bandstudents after schooluntil 9:00
p.m. Duringthe fall, Saturdaysare given to
directing the marchingbandat football games.
Occasional Sundays are earmarked for
fundraising efforts to pay for week-longband
trips scheduledduringschoolvacations.
It is 11:00a.m. andO’Donnell
is explaining
O
by Mark
Small "73
Spring1998
key signatures to a musicianshipclass. "You
haveto knowthese withoutstoppingto think,"
O’Donnelltells his youngcharges. "But until
you reach that point, here are a few tricks to
help you recognize them." He gives three
methodsfor rememberinghowmanysharps or
flats a igivenkeyhas. At lunch,he tells mejust
whatis: involved with running a band program
in a schoolwith 2,400students.
"Right now," says O’Donnell,"on mydesk
I havethe programto finish for our concert, a
bag of moneywhichcamein from the kids who
weregift-wrappingat a store last night to raise
funds for our trip to Florida, and invoices I
have to pay for truck rentals and computer
software." This is in addition to his actual
musica.1tasks. "Themost challengingpart of
the job is not overdoingit, somemusiceduca-
DanO’Donnelll
’79: "Kidswhodon’texperience
music
andtheartsreallymiss
outonsomething."
Berklee today 19
tors burn out," he says. "Youhave to
know where your limit is, how to
prioritize all of your responsibilities,
and howto balance your family life
with the job."
After lunch, he rushes off to
rehearse his 120-member concert
band for the Christmas concert.
O’Donnellhas an inclusionary attitude towards less traditional musicians at the school. "Weare one of the
only schools to have electric bass and
electric guitar in our marchingband,"
he states. "I have a gardencart with a
marine battery, a power converter,
and two amps on it. In parades we
have someonepull the cart around.
The bass really helps to strengthen
the tuba lines.
"The most rewarding thing is
watching the students grow. I see my
role with these kids as being 10 percent teaching music and 90 percent
developing character, leadership
skills, patriotism, and an awarenessof
history and art. They come in naive
and by the time they leave, they have
implemented some of the knowledge
and character traits I hopedto instill
in them. It’s great when they come
back years later to say that you
helped in some way."
O’Donnell’sobjective is to foster
a life-long love of music. "I don’t see
it being myjob to turn out performers or other music educators," he
says. "I’m nurturing life-tong learners and consumers of music and the
arts. I feel that kids whodon’t experience music and the arts are really
missing out on something."
At Wilson Middle School in
KarenOosterman
’84: "Sparking
soultouching
fire in thesekidsis mygoal."
20 t~erklee t o d a y
Natick, Massachusetts,
I
watch
Karen
Oosterman
’84
rehearsing the chorus
for their winter concert. Oosterman has
been in the Natick
school system for 13
years and was hired
after completing her
student teaching here.
Her duties include
supervising a home"77: "Thisis the greatestjob. I couldn’t
roomand study halls as Bill Bishop
see
myself
doing
anythingelse."
well as directing the
chorus and teaching
songwritingand other subjects.
me when the kids are the best that
Keenly interested in music techthey can be."
nology, Oosterman is working
Most of her students won’t choose
towarda master’s degree in that field.
a music careen Of the 80 in her choShe successfully lobbied for an eightrus, she predicts that 20 maygo on to
keyboard MIDIlab so her students
chorus at the high school and then
could sequence accompaniment
perhaps one or two may become proloops over which to create vocal
fessional musicians. Nevertheless,
melodies and lyrics. Her philosophy she wants each to feel what a profesis that musicmust be experiencedin a sional wouldfeel. "Sparking a little
hands-on fashion, and technology is
soul-touching fire in these kids is my
one wayto do that with today’s kids.
goal," Oostermansays. "It may hap"I have a great rapport with
pen on the stage or in class. I want
them," Oosterman says. "They
them to feel what music does to the
respect mebecause I really try to see performer. I’m an optimist. I like to
things from where they are at. I am think that I amgoing to inspire every
not critical of the music they like-kid that comes through my door to
althoughI mightnot love all of it.. I have a passion for music. If I don’t
try to understand what they are into
take that approach, I will probably
so that whenthey comeinto myclass
inspire a lot fewer."
they will try to understand other
Bill Bishop ’77 is music coordinastyIes I exposethemto. It is the give tor for the whole Southbridge,
and take that makesit work.
Massachusetts school system and
"Berklee faculty memberDeanna band director at the high school. He
Kiddtold us never to forget whatit is
has worked in Southbridge’s system
like to be in the students’ place. I am for 17 years. Though the town is
not working with a select group of sequestered away in the mid-section
students. I teach the general popula- of Massachusetts, the high school has
tion each day, whichis great. Someof a bit of an urbanfeel to it. In the cafethe chorus members who have the
teria at lunch time, a radio station
hardest time matching a pitch a~re
broadcasting rap and top 40 hits prothose who are full of gusto arid vides underscore to the murmurof
expression. To tell those kids they multilingual conversations. The reacsang out of tune would crush them. tions Bishop receives as we walk
So I just encouragethemall to do the through the halls tell methat he is
best they can. I want themto participopular with the students.
His
pate and have an experience."
friendly but no-nonsense manner
Oosterman says that the most have earned him respect and great
rewarding part of the job happens musicalresults.
during performances."It is satisfying
A shelf in his office supports
whenall of the work has been done; dozens of trophies his bands have
things are starting to jell, and they are won at various competitions. This
finally making music," she says.
helps whenhe needs to negotiate for
Every performance is a highlight for
increased ful~ding. "I don’t try to kid
Spring1998
the school committee," Bishop says.
"A successful music education program is one of the most expensive
programs you" are going to have in
public education. You have to buy
baritone saxes, trumpets, marching
bass drums, uniforms, and so forth. It
just snowballs. But the school committee is seeing the benefits. I just got
a letter from the Massachusetts
Alliance for Arts Education which
said that kids whoare involved in the
arts are scoring about 100 points
higher on their combined SAT
scores. That is a fact I can use whenI
need support for my program."
Bishophas noticed a character profile amonghis music students. "Those
whostay in myband programare generally overachievers. Theywant to get
As, and get everything they can out
their high. school experience. Most
valedictorians in our school are band
kids. Theyare willing to comehere at
night for jazz bandrehearsal. I havean
A band and a B band, and someof the
kids in the A band will comefor the B
band rehearsal and play another
instrument."
Bishop’s approach is to have band
members:roll up their sleeves and dig
right into the music. "I have seen
music directors whodissect every bar
painstakingly," he says. "That is
ove:rwhehning for the kids. I want
themto just try to play it first, then
we go back and work on problems.
At Berklee, I played a lot of
music, I want the kids here to have
the same experience.
When they
leave here, they have played a lot of
music. Someband directors work all
year" perfecting a few pieces. I would
much rather that they had experience playing in a lot of keys and time
signatures.
"The best part of the job is working with the kids," says Bishop. "We
have a lot of fun and form somelifelong friendships. Somekids in the
school come from tough backgrounds. I am trying to get them to
play a b flat in tune, but they haven’t
eaten since lunch the day before. In
manycases, comingto school will be
the best thing that happens in their
day: But this is the hand we have been
dealt. Wehave to play it. For me, this
is the greatest job. I couldn’t see
myself doing anything else."
~]
Spring1998
Berklee today
21
Live
Bands and Omni Mics
Engineering the Summa
Cure Jazz CDtaught .MP&Eprofessor
Carl Beatty newlessons about recording large ensembles
he recently issued SummaCureJazz CD The exuberance of their performances,
focus, andthe state of readinessmy
onthe BMG
label representsthe first time Scheniman’s
assistanEs
mairttained
mademyjob easier.
Berklee student performanceshave been
A
number
of
interrelated
factors contributed
releasedona majorrecordlabel. Berklee’sprevito
the
sonic
success
of
this
project. Leakageof
ous releases havebeenlive concert performances
instruments
is
an
unavoidable
circumstance;the
or ambientlymic’edstudio recordings.For this
desirability
and[
use
of
that
leakage
is a production
project the record’s producerBill Scheniman,
decision,
agreed
upon
by
the
engineer
and proby Carl Beatty chair of MusicProduction and Engineering,
ducer.
Scheniman
wanted
a
"modern
sounding"
wanteda different approach. He wantedit to
multi-mic’edrecording, so minimizingleakage
soundlike a ctose-mic’edperformance
record.
was
one of the goals. Isolation betweeninstruThis was no problemfor me. I cut myteeth
ments
impliesdistancein the studio, but for me,
recording r&brhythmsessions in NewYorkin
intimacy
is key for the performers--it is that
the 1980sbefore the advent of drummachines
proximity
andeyecontactthat helps playerinterand sequencers. Whenhe told me we were
action
and
dissolvessomeof the sterility of the
doinga 17-piecebig band,I thoughtof all those
recording
studio environment(especially for
large jingle sessionsandtelevisionscoringdates
players
new
to the experience).
I workedon in the 1980s.Thereis nothinglike
As
a
result,
myphysicalsetupwasa fairly critthe soundandelectricity createdwhenthere are
ical
element
of
the big bandsessions.Eventhough
so manybodies in the roommakingmusic.I did
each
horn
had.
its ownmicrophone
(except the
not really hear anythingBill said after "17-piece
trumpets
whic[h
were
mic’ed
in
pairs),
the success
big band"becauseI hadalreadystarted to plan.
of
those
first
big
band
sessions
essentially
created
Lately, I havebeenusingfewertalcs, not more,
a
template
for
the
other
ensembles.
so I had to formulatemyapproach.
Theihorns wereset up in a broad"V"configuThere were eight groups to record--an
ration
of tworows,with trumpetsin the front and
assortmentof quartets, quintets, trios and big
saxes
a:nd trombonesin the second row. The
bands. All of the groupsplayedtogether live,
horns
were
facing andabout sevenfeet directly
and the only overdubwasa lead vocal redo on
across
from
the drums.Thebass wasto the right
one of the large group tunes. Each band had
in
an
isolation
boothandguitar andpianoto the
about four hours to record three songs from
left.
At
hard
left
wasa portable WhisperBooth®
whicha final 13 selections wouldbe chosen.
for
vocals.
This
setup provided eye contact
This wasan impressiveeffort fromthe players.
betweenplayers, but it also placedthe drumsin
the center in myroomambiencemicrophones.
at each leg
AssociateProfessorof MP&E CarlBeattyhasengi- Thosemicswereplacedapproximately
of
the
"V".
This
allowed
me
to
utilize
the ambineeredrecordings
by ElvinJones,JohnCale,Luther
ence
and
position
the
individual
horn
mics
in the
Vandross, TomJones, Aretha Franklin, Dionne
mixrelative to their positionin the ambience.
Warwick,
AnitaBaker,the B-52s, andothers.
T
Spring1998
Berklee today 23
I chose Earthworks omnidirectional mics on piano, drumsand lead
vocal. Withthe exceptionof one of the
trios and the two big bandsetups, all
upright bass was recorded with a
directional mic behind the bridge and
an Earthworks TC-30Kat the neck.
The choice of microphones and
placement for the rhythm section
were unusual. Of the four drum
mics, two were Earthworks OM-ls
placed close to the tom and adjusted
for the desired balance of cymbalsto
toms. The piano was also mic’ed
with Earthworks TC-40Ks in a
spaced pair near the hammers and
placed approximately 12-15 inches
apart. All lead vocals were recorded
with Earthworks TC-30Ks placed
slightly to the side of the vocalists
and aimed downat the bridge of the
nose towards the mouth. Based on
mictrials, I expectedeasy, well balanced sounds with these choices.
They exceeded my expectations and
consequently changed my routine of
using directional mics for isolation.
The omnidirectional mics have
twodistinct liabilities that affect their
use. Being small diaphragm microphones, they are very susceptible to
gusts of air, and their inherent noise
precludes their use on very quiet signals. However,because they can handle very high levels without distress
(up to 130 decibels), I was able
place them closer to the source which
minimizesthe noise by increasing the
relative level of the instrument. You
just have to make sure that in the
closer
position
they do not
encounter a pressure wave. Since the
mics are omnidirectional, they do
not exhibit proximity effect (an
increase in bass response) whenthey
are close to the source. They also
tend to have a fairly even frequency
response off-axis, which is where
most directional micssuffer.
Anotherpositive attribute of omnis
is that they "hear" more like humans
do and capture more reflections. This
affords the opportunity to get a sense
of the localized ambience or space
around an instrument if somethought
has been given to treating the space
that the instrumentis in. For example,
the singers were in isolation booths,
the piano was blanketed on the oJatside, with absorption on the lid inside
above the mics, and the drums were
placed behind a multi-sectioned plexi-
glass barrier in an effort to control the
space, not just deadenit.
On the first session, "Welcometo
NewLife" by the Kendrick Oliver
NewLife Jazz Orchestra was played
so I could hear everyone playing at
once. Whenthe horns entered after
the piano intro, the sound was amazing. The setup worked! The isolation
was incredible, so I decided then to
keep that rhythm setup for the sessions with the smaller ensembles.
Engineer types generally check
their work after it’s all done to see
what will get another try and how
the project registers on the "does it
sound good" barometer. Every time I
listen to the final result, I amstruck
by the size and space on the recording and how much I used those
omnidirectional
microphones. On
the multitrack tape there is no drum
or horn leakage in the piano, no
horns in the drums, and very little
drumsin the horn mics. Go figure!
The sessions
went smoothly
thanks to producer Bill Scheniman
and all of the players in the bands.
The musicianshipof these students is
breathtaking. The disc is definitely
worth a listen.
~
CARL
BEATTY’S
"V" FORMKrlON
grandpiano
~
,
~
~ tenors
tenors
ambience
b~rit°ne ~
mic
24 Berklee
today
~4"’ altos
Spring1998
Alum n o t e s
Compiled by
Chris Chambers "98
Composer
Rubyana
Carilli ’68 of NewYorkhas
written The Red Book: The
Definitive ExerciseBookfor
the 2ist Century Hutist.
The book is available
throughLittle Piper publicationsin Detroit.
ComposerLeeMcClure
’69of New
Yorkis the artistic director of the Eclectix
NewMusic Series which
presents several concerts
annuallyandis dedicatedto
contemporarymusic in the
tradition of Debussy,
Gershwin,and Ellington.
JayLipman
’71 of Studio
City, CA,has beenappointed musicalcoordinator for
the soap opera "Youngand
the Restless" andis a member of the Tokens who
recorded "The Lion Sleeps
Tonight."Lipmanalso has a
new album entitled Esta
Noche El Leon Baila
(Tonightthe LionDances).
Pianist and conductor
Jeffrey Colella ’72 of
Louisville, CO,has toured
with alum JerryKalaf"72
with the Ja~:z Tap
Ensemble.Colella also has
recently releasedhis trio’s
latest recording entitled
Letting Go.
GuitaristPaulI~lash’72:of
NewYork was featured in
the JVCJazz Festival at
Carnegie Hall and was
commissionedby the St.
Luke’s ChamberEnsemble
to create worksfor their
series at the [Dia Art
Museumin NY.
SongwriterScott Aplpel
’73 of Boonton, NJ, contributing tracks :and liner
notesto Brittle Days,a tribute to British folk legend
Nick Drake. The disc will
be issued by Imaginary
Recordsin the U.K.
Joe Picano ’74 of
Wakefield,MA,wasrecently appointed director of
musicfor the city of Lynn
and was a nominee for
Massachusetts Teacher of
the Year.
JazzvocalistCathy
Se~lalGarcia’74 of TolucaLake,
CA, has been performing
andgiving clinics throughout California.
Singer and musicdirector RobertSolomon
"74 of
Sharon, MA,has recently
released a double CDand
Trumpeter/vocalist
Kami
Lyle’92(left) performed
for Hillary tape of his new musical
The Orphan
Rodham
Clinton
andothers
at a recent
benefitfor theNationalentitled
Endowment
for theArts.Lyle’sfirst album
BlueCinderella
was Queen.Heserves as cantor
at the Temple Ohabei
produced
byHugh
Padgham
for MCA
Records.
Spring1998
MikeStern"75hasreleased
GiveandTake,a disc of
..standardsandoriginal
tunes
ontheAtlantic
label.
Shalomin Brookline, MA.
Saxophonist
Dennis
Taylor’74 of Nashvillehas
been touring with Virgin/
Pointblank artist Duke
Robillard.Tayloris also featured on the Roadrunners’
album Nightcrawlin’ and
Tennessee R&BLive CD
by the Excello Legends.
Woodwinds
player
Robin Blakeman"76 of
Brighton, England, has
formeda group whichspecializes in performingthe
music of Jobim. He also
operates a businesssupplying jazz educationmaterials by mail order.
Band director
and
painter AlecBriguglio
"76of
Honolulu,HI, has recently
l:eceived Hawaii’s top
teaching award and has
exhibited his watercolor
paintings
in Hawaii,
California, and LasVegas.
Guitarist and composer
Chuck
Loeb
"76of Irvington,
Berklee today 25
NY,has recently released his
new CD entitled The Moon,
The Stars, and the Setting Sun
Before sharing with you the
on the Shanachierecord label.
alumni events that have been
His previous CD, The Music
plannedfor the first half of this
Inside,
topped the NAC
year, I would like to mention
charts for six weeksin 1996.
two events that took place near
Saxophonist Brian Gephart
the end of last year. On
"~ of Evanston, IL, performs
November8, alumni in Greece
all over the Chicagoarea. His
held a reception at the Nakas
quartet released a CDentitled
school in Athens where alumni
Water Logic featuring pianist
coordinator MikeAcho~adiotis
BobLong
"70.
"84 presented a distinguished
Guitarist ElvisStanic"77of
alumna award to performer
Dubrovnik, Croatia,
has
AlexiaVassilious
"85.
SarahBodge
released an albumof his comOn November 20, 1997,
positions entitled. TerraSacra.
ASCAPand the Greater New
BobWolf ’77 of Concord,
York/Northern NewJersey Berklee Alumni Chapter sponsored
OH,has been principal troma great panel discussion featuring ToddBrabecand Jeff Brabec,
bonist with the Lakeland
co-authors of the book Music, Money,and Success: The Insiders
College CommunityBand for
Guideto the MusicBusiness.
most of the band’s 21-year
An Austin, Texas, event that was to be cohosted by Cynthia
history. Wolf’se-mail address
Lawhn-$pag
"81 in December,will be resheduled. Stay tuned.
is: [email protected]
On December15, the Greater Boston Alumni Chapter preTodCooper’78 of Sherman
sented "The Poet’s Tale of Christmas," a multimediaholiday preOaks, CA, director of music
sentation featuring AssociateProfessor 8enq¢Tale reading poetry,
for
Disney
Feature
with a slide presentation and a capella Christmasmusic. It was a
Animation, zs currently
treat for all whoattended. Upcoming
for Bostonians is a panel
working on Tarzan, Kingdom
discussion featuring NewburyComics CEOMike Dreese and
of the Sun, and Fantasia 2000.
DonRose, president and cofounderof Rykodisc; both are Berklee
Kenneth Field ’78 of
trustees as well.
Cambridge, MA, did a resiOn January 8, at the International Association of Jazz
dency in music composition at
Educators (IAJE) convention in NewYork, President Lee Eliot
the Ucross Foundation. Field
Berk presented a distinguished alumnusawardto Bill IVicFarlin
also released
the CD
’81, executive director of IAJE, and a recognition award to
Subterranea.Visit his website:
drummerand music educator Darius Brubeckfor their work in
http://www.saturn.net/~kfield
music education.
Pianist ScottGordon
’78 of
Timed to coincide with the NAMM
show at the end of
New York is featured on a
January, the Los AngelesAlumniChapter held its annual brunch.
CD entitled
From This
This year’s honorees were film and television composerHummie Moment On, featuring the
Mann
’76, guitarist JohnAbercrombie
’67, andMikeBates,director
music of Frank Sinatra.
of academicand institutional affairs for YamahaCorporation of
Composer,producer, engiAmerica.Bates was the first recipient of Berldee’s GoldenClef
neer, and guitarist Peter Hume
award.
’~8 of Northridge, CA, has
Future dates to remember include March 13, in Danvers,
been active in the commercial,
Massachusetts, for music educators and other alumni attending
television, and film music
the MENC
convention. Wewill host an alumni reception.
areas and has been guitarist
OnMarch16, we will hold the annual Nashville alumni showcase fundraiser at the club MereBulles. Proceedswill go to the
Nashville AlumniSchoiarship fund. The following night at the
Bluebird Cafe, we will host the annual Bertdee student showcase.
That’s it for now.Youcan e-mail any inquiries or requests you
have to the Office
of Alumni Relations
at:
<[email protected]>.Also, watch this columnfor the future
announcement
of a toll-free alumniinformation hotline.
CLASSCONNECTIONS
Alumni Chapter
Presidents and
coordinators:
New York
Tom Sheehan 75
Consultant
(212) 459-9150
Scandinavia
Christian
Lundholm’96
(454) 295-3083
Martin
Fabricus ’96
(453) 583-1679
Chicago
Doug
Murphy ’90
The Star Store
(708) 343-1750
TomCastonzo ’87
(708) 488-1208
Nashville
Pamela
Dent ’95
(615) 662-9112
Mark
Corradetti ’87
(615) 365-8052
Boston
JTeannie
Deva
’75
he Voice
Studio
(617) 536-4553
San Francisco
Dmitri
Matheny ’89
Penumbra
(510) 428-2328
Los Angeles
Leanne
Summers ’88
Vocal Studio
(818) 769-7260
Puerto Rico
Ralina
Cardona ’91
Crescendo
(809)725-3690
England
Lawrence
Jones ’80
44-1273-701833
Rome
Claudio
Zanghieri ’93
06-7184053
Tokyo
Michiko
Yoshino ’90
042-241-4347
Greece
Mike
Acholadiotis ’84
016-926019
--Sarah Bodge, Assistant Director of Developmentfor
Alumni Relations
26 t~erklee t o d a y
L.A. NEWSBRIEFS
Best wishes to one and all for an
excellent 1998. The past year concluded on a strong note with two
successful events. The secondannual holiday social in Decemberwas
again held at Rive GaucheCare in
Sherman Oaks, and the attendance
was excellent. Manyfamiliar faces
and numerous recent graduates
cameto enjoy the holiday cheer and
the opportunity to network.
The most recent alumni seminar
event was held in November and
was entitled "Focus on Pro Tools
4.0." This session was cohosted by
New Media Hollywood and featured a demonstration of the latest
Pro Tools systemby Jerry Antonelli
of Digidesigu. Jerry’s unique brand
of humor entertained a capacity
audience and helped create a memorable evening.
The annual alumni brunch in
January drew a strong turnout, and
a large college contingent was in
attendance. Congratulationsto this
year’s distinguished alumnusaward
recipients, film and television composer Hummie
Mann’76 and guitarist, recording artist, and composer JohnAbercrombie
’67. As this
year’s event was held in close proximity to the NAMM
show, it
seemedvery appropriate that a new
award was also presented for the
first time. MikeBates, director of
Academicand Institutional Affairs
for Yamaha, was honored with
Berklee’s first GoldenClef Awardin
recognition of his long-standing
support of music education.
The 40th Annual Grammy
Awards
Nominations
were
announcedrecently and, once again,
Berldee was very well represented.
Congratulations to PaulaCole"90,
SteveVai ’79, DianaKrall "Ra,Joe
Lovano
"72, AntonioHart ’91, Roy
Hargrove
"89, AlanBroadbent
"66, and
Arif Mardin
’61. Good
luck to all.
As for others in the news... Clair
Marl0’80 has been busy producing
musicfor film and television, commercials, and albumsby such artists
as Michael Ruff, Harry Chapin,
Kilauea, and Pat Coil. Music
Connection magazine recently
named her as one of the top two
female producers in the country!
BobHarsen
"82 has beentouring with
Bobby
Caldwell,
Melissa
Manchester, and Tim Weisberg. He
is also featured on the latest albums
by Lee Oskar, Mike Grange, and
DavidZasloff. LalahHathaway
"fl0
was featured in a Decemberconcert
DrummerChristopher
Massey
"78 of Switzerland
has been recording and
touring Europe with bands
called Forever Sharp and
Vivid. He endorses Paiste
Cymbals.
Guitarist
James
Mclnt0sh’78 of Las Vegas
recently performed for the
Drew Carey special "Mr.
Vegas" on HBO. He has
also played with Legends
in Concert at the Imperial
Palace and teaches at the
University of Nevada.
Koji Yoshimura’78 of
Japan hosts a weekly jazz
showon Osakatelevision.
BerrnardBaldous
’79 of
VibistTedWolff’73 of Santa France has been touring
Rosa,CA,hasreleasedhis with his group The
first CDtitledFelicity.
Dolphin’s Swingers which
and music director for
Melissa Manchester for 14
years. Humehas also conducted for the Houston,
Toronto,
and Dallas
Symphonies,
and the
Atlantic Pops Orchestra.
Spring1998
Pete’c Gordon’78, Director,
Berklee Center in Los Angeles
entitled "Smooth Jazz Christmas"
along with TomScott and Jonathan
Butler. Music programmer and
MIDIconsultant Steve Katz ’82 has
been heard recently as keyboardist
on solo CDs by Jon Anderson,
singer with Yes. Gernot
Wolfgang
"88
has been composing music for the
animated series "Zorro." Beyond
his Emmysuccess of 1997, AIf
Clausen’66 was honored with an
Annie Award for Outstanding
Achievement in TV Music in
Animation.All also recently scored
a feature film entitled Half Baked
for Universal.
That’s it for now.Stay in touch.
--Peter Gordon’78
features
saxophonist
PatrickTorreglosa
"79.
Pianist JoeErcole’79 of
Lutherville, MD,has produced a jazz CDentitled
Manhattan Nights and has
performed with Stanley
Turrentine on tlhe Black
Entertainment Television
Network.
Saxophonist,clarinetist,
and band leader GreggGelb
’79 of Sanford, NC, was a
recipient
of the Jazz
Composers Fellowship
Award from the North
Carolina Arts Council for
his original work.,;.
Composer Jawanza
Kobie ’79 of Wilmington,
DE,and Darrell Scruggs
"79
contributed compositions
to a CDby Dexter Sims "80
titled Peace of Mind, produced by Buddy
Fambro
"82.
TrumpeterJonathanLax
"79 of Summit,NJ, recorded a Jewish children’s CD
called Tap Your Feet to the
.Jewish Beat. Lax also
played at Renaissancefairs
in NewYork and Ohio.
Arranger Sergio Souto
Oliveira"79of Bahia,Brazil,
is music director of a
Brazilian production of the
musical Nunsense which
played in New York in
December. He also wrote
eight orchestral arrangements for a two-CD set
entitled Sinfonia Baiana.
Drummer
Steve
Pemberton"79 of Santa
Clarita, CA, and guitarist
Peter Rnme’78 performed
Berklee today
27
Allston, MA,and his band www.jazzhawaii.com
Vandross album.
Bassist Eliot Wadopian Debris recently released a
Lisa El-takis "83 of
"80 of Ashevilte, NC, and CDentitled Errata, featurWaltham, MA, works at
Berklee :faculty pianist and ing SteveNorton’87, ,Jeff
the Fernald Development
Hudgins
"92 on reeds, and Center in Waltham as a
composer
Matthew
Herb Robertson "72 on
Nicholt have released the
musictherapist.
CD From Here to There
trumpet.
Tenor
saxophonist
Vibist and composer
featuring 11 originals.
DennisMitcheltree"87 of
Cecilia Smith ’82 of
Kevin Barbour"81 of
Brooklyn, NY, has been
Brooklyn, NY, is a guest
Hudson, NH, and drumtouring U.S. jazz festivals
lecturer
at
Cornell
mer BruceVanAuken
’78 of
and concert halls with his
University. She recently
Merrimack,
NH, have
sextet promoting his debut
released Leave No Stone
released a solo CDtitled
CD Brooklyn.
He also
First Steps. Contact Kevin Unturned, her fourth CD, teaches at the Greenwich
at www.kevinbarbour.com and has been featured on
House Music School.
Allen Mezquida
"80
three other discs.
Artist/producer/comDrummerDaniel Zoller
Masahiro
Yokaichiya
’82 "83 of Zurich, Switzerland,
poser Joel Goodman
’81 of
for the PBSspecial "The Port Washington,
of Japan produced the CD has been teaching drums,
NY,
Songs of Johnny Mercer-The Thoughts in the Wind and performing with sevproduced
Livingston
Too
Marvelous
for
featuring TakayukiEmori eral orchestras. He proTaylor’s
Ink CD and
Words." The show fea’82, TomieTsukagoshi
’81,
scored the film Concert of
duced his own CD called
tured pianist Peter Nero,
Akio
Fujita
’83,
Eriko
Akiya
Wills: Making the Getty
Coloured Music.
’84, Sanshiro
Fujimoto
’82,
Melissa
Manchester,
Trevor England’84 of
Center. He is presently
Johnny Mathis, Margaret
scoring the feature film
Shunsuke
Miz.uno"81, Jun Belfast, Northern Ireland,
Whiting,
and
John
Kagami"80, I~eorge Kane works at Belfast High
Originq~CSpecies.
Pizzarelli. Pemberton has
Composer Jan Stevens ’80, andTost,ifumi Hinata School and leads his own
been with Nero’s trio for
’81 of Marinadel Rey, CA,
big band. After his song
DrummerKathy Burkly "Join Hands" won the
12 years.
has written for the televiDanielLevitin’80 of Palo sion shows "Friends" and "83 of Nashville, TN, a
Cork City song contest,
Alto, CA,is a musiclecturfreelance studio musician,
"The Ricki Lake Show,"
his choral group was inviter and a visiting professor jingles, and CD-ROMs.
has played on 200 CDand
ed to the White House to
of psychology at Stanford
Harmonica player Mike demo recordings. Burkly
perform the song for
University. Levitin has also Turk’81 of Cambridgehas penned an article for the
President Clinton.
written liner notes for CDs released two CDsand perNovemberissue of Sticks
Guitarist/keyboardist
by John Loche and Stevie
formed on several movie and Mallets and is on the
Chris Florio "84 of Boston
Wonder.Visit his web site
issue’s accompanyingCD.
scores including Dick
toured Swedenand Holland
at http://www.ccrma.stanSaxophonist Waynede with his band Deep Trees.
Tracy, City of Hope, and
ford.edu/-levitin
Silva ’83 of Hi]o, HI, can be Their debut CDSomething
Lonestar.
Composer
Frank
found
on the internet at:
Saxophonist RoyEider
ThatFloats, featuresguitarist
Macchia "80 of Burbank,
’82 of Argentina has been
CA, and actress/writer
recording music of Cuchi
Tracy London created
Leguizamon with percusLittle Evil Things, a sposionist FacundoGuevara.
ken-word CD featuring
Classicai guitarist David
five short horror stories
Reynolds
’82
of
underscored by Macchia.
Germantown, MD, has
The disc was received
released the CDPartenza
enthusiastically
by the
and has performed at the
"Midwest Book Review."
Kennedy
Center in
Saxophonist
Allen Washington D.C.
Mezquida’80 of NewYork
Trombonist
Dennis
was featured on the new Robinson’82 of Fall River,
John Basile release The
MA,a musicteacher at Fall
DesmondProject, a tribute
River Public Schools, was
to Paul Desmond.
’72 wasamong
thoseinvited to the opennamedTeacher of the Year CharlesChapman
Songwriter
Reed in 1996. Robinsonis also a
ing of the Blue Guitars exhibit at the Smithsonian
Vertelney "80 of Van Nuys, vocalist/arranger for Roger Institution in Washington,D.C., November
10, 1997.
CA, a two-time Grammy Cerisi and the Rockin’
Picturedfromthe right are: Chapman;
Directorof Public
Affairs for the Smithsonian
RandallKremer;guitar maker
nominee wrote three songs Soul Horns.
for the new Luther
Bassist BobRoss’82 of
BobBenedetto;
andguitaristsBucky
andJohnPizzarelli.
28
Berkleet o d a y
Spring1998
Guitarist
Michael
McManus
"85 of Calabasas,
CA, released the Free in
Captivity CDwith his band
THE ONE AND ONLY
Egodog.
MATCHMAKER
Jamshied
Sharifi ’85 of
New York has recently
released a recording of
Middle Eastern music titled
A Prayer for the Soul of
~ Layla. It features vocalists
Paula Cole ’90 and Pedro
GregDayton"89 andwife Gemma
Aznar’82, and bassist Skull
Sverrisson
’90.
Chris Brenne’85 and drummerRodney Composer and guitarist
Karl
Smith’81. Visit their web site at:
Junsela ’86 of DeLand, FL, was
WI-L~kT IS THE MEDIA
www.tiac.net/users/jumpcut/DeepTrees awarded an Individual
Artist
Guitarist MichaelHickey ’84 of Fellowship from the State of Florida
SAYING ABOUT ORLY?
ThePhil Donahue
Show
Athol, MA,is teaching at Retro Music and the Stetson University Hand
"Oilyis a unique
personal
matchmaker..."
in NewHampshire. He played with Award.Juusela’s "Crossing Twilight"
RonReagallL Show
the group Cronos on Metal Mania and was included on the University of
"Orly,borna matchmaker..."
Heavy Metal Collection CDs.
MarylandCDStages. His guitar piece
Sally JessethafaelShow
Singer Betsy Jackson "84 of "Iita Pala" is on Capstone Records’
"Orly’s
service
is designed
fortheprofessionals..."
AMLos AngelesShow
Nashville has been performing with Society of ComposersCDseries.
"twoof Orly’sclientsweremarried
live onthe
songwriter MichaelBransfield’92.
Singer, keyboardist, and songwriter
show...The
wedding
of the year"
Drummer Kevin Newton ’84 of Dawn
Lamb
"86 of Hoboken, NJ, EyewitnessNews(ABC)
Cambridge, MA,has played with Stan coproduced her CD A Kingdom By
"Oily,worldrenowned
matchmaker..."
KTIAMorRing
News
Strickland’s group Ascension and The Sea with engineer RichLamb
"88. It
"Orly,matchmaker
in action..."
with the Marc Rossi Group. He won features
Glenn Gordon "86 and
JewishT.V.Network
a Boston Music Awardin 1994.
MariannePerback "88. Lambalso
"Orlyis a realmarriage
broker..."
Gernot Reetz ’84 of Berlin,
appears on a CDby ToniWhite"81.
MontelWilliamsShow
Germany, has been touring with his
Drummer Harold Moskoff "86 of
"Orly’s
clientsarethecream
dela cream..."
AMPhiladeIphia Show
quartet Inner Space promoting his
Ontario, Canada, released a CDenti"Oily’s
clientsaresimply
topof theline..."
album Legacy on his own One World tled Global Villages which features
ClevelandTonightShow
Musiclabel.
bassist Tsunomu
Takeishi’85 and saxo"Oily,a touch
of class..."
BarryRocklin"84 of Revere, MA, phonist Warren
Hill ’86.
OrangeCountyNewsChannel
was the music director of The Gift of
Arnon
Palty"86of Tel Avivreleased
"Orlyis champagne
wishes..."
AMNorthwestShow,Oregon
the Magi at the New Repertory
his first solo CDtitled Pocket Size
"Orlythe oneandonlymatchmaker..."
Theater in Newton. He has also writ- Pocket, recorded live at the
GoodEveningSeattle Show
ten and conductedmusic for industriInternational RedSea Jazz Festival.
"Orly
is aninvestment
in yourfuture..."
als with saxophonist DaveSass ’87 and
DrummerAnthonyPlessas "86 of
The:DimiPetty Show,Canada
drummerDeanPickard"88.
"Oilyhasa sixthsense..."
Rafina, Greece, released his second
NationalEnquirer
Guitarist DavidSingley’84 of Saint album entitled Scent of Time and has
"Oilyhasa dream
datefor you:.."
Paul, MN,an instructor at Carelton published his second book called
Orange
CountyRegister
College, released his debut CDtitled
Music and Technology
with
"Orly
hasa match
forthesinceresingles..."
How My Heart Sings. Singley has ContemporaryMusic Publications.
TheHeritageWeekly
"Orlyis nationally
andinternationally
known..."
played for Minneapolis productions
Pianist Matt R011ings "86 of
LosAngelesTimes
of The Lion King, Sunset Boulevard, Nashville produced Edwin McCain’s
"Orlymatches
therichandsuccessful..."
Funny Girl, and A Chorus Line.
Misguided Roses CDand assisted in
Dalk~sMorning
Newspaper
Pianist Redwan
All "85 of Singapore the
production
of Melissa
"Orlymade
coundess
introductions..."
has been performing with and arrang- Manchester’s Christmas album.
BeverlyHil~t Today
"Oilyis theRoilsRoyce
of matchmaking..."
ing for the Singapore Broadcasting
Saxophonist Gordon
Beadle’87 of
KHTalkRa~fio
Corporation Orchestra. All has also Cambridge has performed at the
"Oily,a matchmaker
witha sixthsense..."
composedtheme songs for news, variMonterey Jazz Festival and the
WLAC
NashvilleRadio
ety shows, and sitcoms.
KansasCity Jazz/Blues Festival with
"Oilyis a celebritymatchmaker..."
Saxophonist Henry Cook ’85 of Jay McShann and is on McShann’s
Jamaica Plain, MA,has been perform- CDHootie’s Jumpin’ Blues.
ing in the Boston area and appeared at
Edward
Broms
’87 of Jamaica Plain,
the San Miguel de Allende
MA, has released a CD entitled
International Jazz Festival in Mexico. Broms. It features drummer Jordan
ORLY
Spring1998
Berklee t o d a y 29
Thefirst Bet!deeparticipantcho- (HardRain).
SCLpresident Jay Chattaway
sen was ChrisDeStefano
The Society of Composersand receiveda certificate uponcomple- stated, "Wewere delighted with
Lyricists (SCL), whosemembers tion of the programin December. Chris. HeandBerkleehavereceived
include manyprominentfigures in DeStefanosaid, "It wasa fantastic highpraisefromall of the participating composers."
opportunity that enabled me to
the world of film and television
music,recently begana mentorpilot meetmanyof the finest studiomusicians, mixers, engineers, andcon- --Peter Gordon78
programwith Berklee.
The new programprovides the tractors in the film music
opportunity for graduates of the scene. After only one week
Professional Writing Division to in Los Angeles, I was on
workin rotation with a roster of scoring stages with awardSCLprofessionals. For anyone winningcomposersand full
aspiring to succeedin the film and recordingorchestras."
The composers that De
televisionindustry,this is a remarkable opportunity and is sure to Stefano workedwith includbecomea coveted position in the ed Jay Chattaway("Star Trek
future. It provides an immediate Voyager"), Steve Bramson
introductionto manyaspectsof this ("J.A.G."), Dan Foliart
industryandalso gives the partici- ("HomeImprovement"),Alf
ChrisDe
pants a close-upexperiencewith the Clausen ("The Simpsons"), Fromthe left, Jay Chattaway,
’97, andPeterGordon.
and Christopher Young Stefano
best composers
in the business.
LA. MENTOR
PROGRAM
the weekon The Nashville
Cohen
"87 and guitarist
CrickDiefendorf
’95. Broms Network and has percanbe reachedvia emailat: formed with BobCarlisle
and with Steven Curtis
[email protected]
Matthew
Kaslow
’87 of Chapman on Chapman’s
Brooklyn, NY, has been Signsof Life tour.
Pianist and composer
playingwith a rock tribute
band called RedRoverin Pierre Hurel ’89 of
Somerville, MA,teaches
NewYork City.
Drummer
Patrick French at Boston’s French
McDonald
’88 of Antioch, Library. He recently
TN,has been touring with recorded a CDof original
TanyaTucker and record- compositions, openedfor
ChickCorea, and played at
ed with the Ailman
Brothers Band on The the ToulonJazz Festival in
Songsof Jirnrny Rogers:A France.
DmitriI~atheny’89 of
Tribute.
JamesThacker’88 of Berkeley, CA, has been
his
CD
Watertown,MA,played at promoting
the MontrealJazz Festival Penumbra: The Moon
and plays on the CDenti- Sessions. It hit number21
on the Gavinradio chart.
tled Eddie Kirkland-Drummer Jonathan
LonelyStreet.
Pierce
’89 of Rensselaer,
TheCDFreeSpirits that
guitarist/vocalist
6reg NY, has toured the world
Dayton’89 of Barcelona, with ChubbyChecker, perSpain, recorded with his formedfor the GrooveInc.
wife Gemma
is receiving Asian Tour, and is on the
radio play in Spain. They Terry GordonQuintet CD.
Composer
Gernot
perform throughout the
Wolfgang
’89
of
Los
country.
Angeles,
CA,
wrote
origiKeyboardist and percussionist HardyHemphill nal musicfor the television
’89 of Franklin, TN, was series "Zorro,"the film The
featured as songwriter of Process, and penned an
30
Berklee
t oday
orchestral work titled
Brooklyn,NY,played with
"Fantasies for a Blue the Jimmy Weinstein
Bassoon."
Groupat the Texaco New
Singer/songwriter
York Jazz Festival and
Melissa Ferrick ’90 of composed and produced
Hollywood,,CA, released a the soundtrackto the feasolo albumcalled Plus One ture film Underthe Bridge.
for Atlantic Records.
Guitarist KarlAranio
"91
CarlosMorales-Mirandaof Irvine, CA, has pub’90 of Wheeling, IL, a lished the book Guitar
recording engineer, is
Guru, featuring some of
studying electrical engi- his ownworks.
neeringat the Universityof
Vocalist RalinaCardona
PuertoRico. Heis a design ’91 of Carolina, Puerto
engineer for Motorola.
Rico, starred in a musical
Guitarist: andsongwriter review titled
"Out
Julius Ndimbie"90 of Tonight"staged in Bronx,
Takoma ]?ark,
MD, NY,in December1997.
cowrote"Falling Rain" for
Bassist James
Guffee
’91
the debut CDby Philip of VanNuys, CA, and his
Hamilton
’83.
band the Tories released
DanPetl¥ ’90 of North their debut CDWonderful
Bergen,NJ~is currently the Life. Checkout their web
musicdirector for the off- site at: www.tories.com
Broadwaymusical HeardIt
Guitarist
Michael
Throughthe Grapevinesof Masson
"91 of Hingham,
Wrath. Petty also toured MA, has recently been
,vith UpWithPeople.
appointed director of
Songwriterand guitarist Studio V at South Shore
Derek Sivers ’90 of Music in Weymouth,MA.
Woodstock, NY, is owner
Ittai Rosenbaum
"91 of
of Hit MediaInc. in New Israel wrote music for a
York.
ballet that was staged in
Drummerand composer Israel and London.
JamesWeinstein"90 of
Pianist Thomas
Snow
’91
Spring1998
of Yarmouth, ME, is promoting his CD Northern
Standard Time with trombonist Stevek’Heureux
’91.
Snow’s web site
is:
http://www.tomsnow.com
Pianist PaulCarsan’92
of Great Britain has been
playing piano at the Tokyo
Bay Hilton Hotel.
Saxophonist
Jamie
Fatas "92 of Cambridge,
MA, has been performing
with flamenco
dancer
Omayra Amaya.
Guitarist
Giovanni
Moltoni ’92 of Boston has
been promoting his debut
CDDirections at European
jazz festivals and in the
Boston area.
Robert Schulz "92 of
Albuquerque,
NM, was
hired as a band director for
the Rio Ranch Public
School System.
Kimberly
Theodore
’92 of
Los Angeles, CA, is assistant program director of
the classical radio stations
KKGO(LA), KKHI (San
Francisco),
and XBACH
(San Diego) and assists
production of radio broad-
casts by the Los Angeles
Philharmonic.
Bassist BryanBelier "93
of North Hollywood, CA,
has been performing with
Mike Keneally and Beer
For Dolphins. Belier also
recorded "Christmas Time
Is Here" with guitarist
SteveVat"79on a CDcalled
Merry Axemas: A Guitar
Christmas.
Guitarist/composer R0n
Bosse "93 of Rockland,
MA,released his debut CD
Next Level, which features
drummer Rob Egan "96,
bassistChristian
Bausch
"96,
and tenor saxophonist
DaveBarraza
’93.
JaredFaber"93 of New
York City, composed and
produced the soundtrack
to the CD-ROM game
The Pink Panther’s
Passport to Peril. 3ohn
Montagna
’94, TobyRalph
"92, RoyShakked
’94, and
MelvinButler"93playedon
it with Faber.
Pianist MikaPohjola’93
of NewYork released the
CDentitled On the Move.
His quartet features saxo-
Vocalistandkeyboardi.,;t Marcus
Bell "96 releasedhis
debutCDSpecialistfeaturing
11 of his original songs.
phonistChris Cheek"91,
drummer
RobertoDani "94
and bassist Matt Penman
’95. Visit his website at:
http://home.earthlink.net/
-mikamusik/
Bassist MichaelBranch
"94 of Ipswich, MA,is featured on Mauricio Morias’
IMPROVE YOUR SAX HFE
¯ Brass
¯ Woodwind
¯ Strings
,Percussion
,Sales
.Repairs
*Rentals
WeShip Worldwide
Professionaland
personalservice by
EMILIO LYONS
Your Source
For the Finest Namesin
Brass & Woodwinds
Servingprofessionalmusicians,students, musicschoolsanduniversities since 1939.
263
HUNTINGTON
AVE.,
BOSTON,
MA 02115
(NEXT TO SYMPUONYUALL) 617-266-4727
Spring1998
latest CDtitled Gosto De&
on the Henda Records
label.
Guitarist
Michael
,Chlasciak"94 of Bayonne,
INJ, recently released a new
’CD
entitled
Grind
Textural Abstractions on
the Music Voice label in
Poland. Chlasciak also
:released two booksentitled
.Ridiculous Riffs for the
Terrifying Guitarist and
Monster
Coordination.
Chlasciak can also be
:found on the web at:
http://www.geocites.com/
sunsetstrip/4078
Guitarist
Michael
Horowitz’94 of Seattle is
currently
pursuing a
iDoctoral degree in ethnomusicology
at
the
-University of Washington
and
performs
3azz,
klezmer, and Irish traditional music around the
Seattle area.
Bassist Scott Koziol"94of
]North Olmstead, OH, is
an instructional columnist
for Bass Frontiers magazine
and was featured
on
Tinsley Ellis’ new release
called Fire It Up.
Berklee t 0 d a y 31
GAININGA PERSPECTIVE
ONONE’SPLACE
IN THEUNIVERSE
Joe Mardin "85 disproves the
clich~ that a jack of all trades is a
master of none. Kind of a musical
renaissance
man, Joe’s resume
reveals an impressive list of artists
he has workedwith in such capacities as drummer,vocalist, producer,
and arranger/conductor. In 1996, he
added independent record label
ownerandoperator to his job list.
The homeenvironment shaped by
his father, Arif Mardin"61, a Grammy
Award-winning producer and senior
vice president at Atlantic Records,
assured that at an early age, Joe was
exposedto lots of musicand an inside
look at the music industry. "WhenI
was growing up," Mardinrecalls, "my
father was writing string quartets,
recording his own jazz album, and
working with avant-garde as well as
pop musicians. I was hearing all kinds
of sounds,it wasgreat. I wasvery fortunate to be able to tag along to the
studio with him and watch recording
sessions. WhenI got older, I would
help to set upandbreakdownthe sessions and maketape copies."
Joe knewearly in the gamethat he
would be a musician. "There was a
point when I was 10 or 11, when it
becameclear to methat I wasn’t going
to become an astronaut," he says.
"Thatwas whenI decided I wantedto
go into music. Most of my friends
didn’t knowwhat they wanted to do
when we were graduating from high
school, but I had knownfor years."
Later, at Berklee, Joe majored in
Professional Music and took many
arranging and composition courses.
Beforehe finished college, he wentto
New York with a classmate and
worked on his ownproject with his
father. This unexpectedly earned him
his first coproduction and cowriting
credits on a major album.
"During my junior year," Mardin
says, "I did a project with Alec
Milstein [’84]. Myfather was producing it for us while he was also working with Chaka Khan. She heard one
of our tracks, "Caught in the Act,"
and told mydad she had to sing it.
She didn’t recut it or changethe key;
she just sang to our track. Thatwas a
nice breakfor me whenshe put it on
her Feel for You record.
32
Berklee today
"I have been lucky to be the son of
Arif Mardin,but it is a double-edged
sword. It can open doors, but there is
also the perception that youare there
only because you are the son of somebody famous. People whowere skeptical havehired meand learned that I
know what I’m doing. I never
thought that I deserved anything
because myfather is in the business.
If anything, it makesmetry to do a
little morethan others wouldjust to
makesure that I have done the best
job that I could."
Overthe past dozen years, someof
the artists Joe has workedwith as producer, arranger, backgroundvocalist,
drummer, and/or synth programraer
include KennyLoggins, Bette Midler,
Roberta Flack, ChakaKhan, Aretha
Franklin, Carly Simon, Phil Collins,
GeorgeBenson, Anita Baker, Corey
Glover, and manyothers. "Thereare a
lot of things I do and that keeps it
interesting," says Joe. "It gets boring
for me if I am only sequencing and
don’t get to write for strings for a
stretch. Myfavorite things are writing
for real instrumentsandmixing."
Joe recently got the chanceto write
for a lot of real instruments whenhe
was hired by former Hen&ix engineer and producer Eddie Kramer to
pen symphonic arrangements of
selected Jimi Hendrix songs an album
titled In from the Storm for the BMG
Classics label. Thetunes werevehicies
for the disc’s soloists whoincluded
Steve Vai, Carlos Santana, Stanley
Clarke, Toots Thielmans, and more.
"For the Hen&ix project,
I
orchestrated and conducted a 50piece orchestra with strings, woodwinds, harp, French horns, everything," says Joe. "I still get buttel-flies
as I stand in front of a string section
wonderingif it is all going to work
and soundgood. Beingin front of that
orchestra and hearing the arrangements was pretty great. I hope to
alwayskeep that child-like marveling
about those situations--I don’t want
to lose that."
Two years ago, Joe madea move
which put him at a different end. of
the business. He formed alternative
rock band Danielle’s Mouth behind
songwriter and guitarist Danielle
JoeMardin’85:"The"Queen
of Soul’
told methat I did something
good!I
thought,Tmgoingto be okay.""
Gerber. Joe acted as the group’s
drummer and producer. He ultimately launched his own record
label to release the group’s eponymous debut album.
Since then, he has spent hours on
the phonehandling business for the
band and the label. But Joe views
learningthis endof things as an investmentin his future, further education.
After a 1996 promotional tour and a
favorable reception in the press, Joe
has been planning a follow-up album
and negotiating a contract with
Atlantic Recordsfor its release.
Of the manyprojects he has done,
one stands out in his mind. "Working
with mydad as arranger and coproducer for Aretha Franklin was a very
humbling and important experience
for me," he says. "Wedid a remakeof
her song ’Think’ for her T/~roughthe
Stormalbumin 1988. It was gratifying
whenshe genuinely liked the arrangement I’d written. She listened to the
track, sang a horn line backto me, and
said, ’That was funky!’ The ’Queenof
Soul’ told me that I did something
good! I thought, ’I’m going to be
okay.’ It was rewarding.
"I have been very lucky to work
with so manygreat artists. I have been
humbledby seeing true artistry and
brilliant momentsin the studio. This
gives you perspective on your place in
-~
the universe."
Spring1998
Markde Clive-Lowe"94
of NewZealand has been
on tour sponsored by the
New
Zealand
Arts
Council presenting workshops in high schools in
Tokyo. De Ctive-Lowe
has also been touring with
a local jazz artists Rim
Patterson, Cameron Undy
and Nick McBride, who
are featured on his newtrio
CDon Tap Records.
Errol Rockipov"94 of
Miami, FL, has made two
recordings with his band
Dream Hunter entitled
Towers of Freedom on
Milestone Records and
Pepper Trombone on the
RRMlabel.
GonzaloArjona ’95 of
Boulder, CO, is currently
pursuing a master’s degree
in international management at Denver University
and is the editor for Musica
Pro magazine.
Singer
/songwriter
JenniferChapin"95 of New
York has been performing
her original music with her
quartet in the NewYork
and Chicagoareas.
Antonio DeFeo"95 of
Pelham Manor, NY, has
composedthe score for the
Williamstown Theater
Festival production of
Princess Turandot and has
composed the theme song
for "Success at School" for
Turner Entertainment.
don Dowling "95 of
Springfield, MA,has iust
released his debut CD
Doing
What Comes
Naturally. He maintains a
full teaching schedule and
plays with country singer
Annette Divine.
Guitarist
Roland
Gebhardt’95 of Germany
has released a CDentitled
Boston Tunes featuring
drummer Sebastian de
Kr0m’97. Gebhardthas also
played for the French jazz
artist Andr~ Francis and
has been touring Germany
Spring1998
S-6 Suspendedmini-humbucker
- Fully shielded,
handmade.Uniqueblack wood-grainedhousing.
Rich,warm,perfectly balanced.Easilyattachedto
the undersideof the pickguardvia a mounting
flange,it’s the ideal choicefor the acousticarchtop
guitar. Dimensions:
7/16"x 1-1/16"x 2-5/8"
(11ram x 27ram x 66ram) $149.50
S-7 Suspendedmini-humbucker-Sameas the
S-6 exceptfor 7-Stringguitar. Dimensions:
7/16"x
1-1/16" x 3" (llmm x 27ramx 76ram) $149.50
B-6Standardsize Eumbucker
- Fully shielded,
handmade.Representsthe utmostin modernguitar
picku~ technologyand producesan unimaginable
quality’of sound.{3lackwood-grained
housing.
$149.50
B-7Full-size humbucker
for 7-Stringguitar.
Samespecs, as B-6exceptwith adjustablepole
pieces. $149.50
PAF-GoldFully shielded. Classic humbucker
sound. $90.00
(Model
E-7*mtshown)
~.~_~.I, BENEDETTO
archtop tailpiece Model
E-6 (ModelE-7 for 7-String guitar). Made
solid ebony, the sametailpiece used on the
Benedettoguilar. It will enhanceand contribute
to the natural characteristics of your guitar’s
voice. $150.00.
Shipping:$5.00in USA,$10.00in Canada~ Mexico,$20.00all other locations. Please makecheckor
money
order payableto "RobertBenedetto"(overseascustomers:in U.S. fundsdrawnon a U.S.bank.)
Sorry,nocredit cards.
Forinformationon Benedettoguitars, violins, archtopguitar co~lstructionbook,5’ video, andaccessories:
ROBERT BENEDETTO¯ RR1 Box 1347 " E. Stroudsburg,
(717) 223-0883 ¯ FAX (717) 223-7711
http://benedetto-guitars.com
30th
with his owntrio.
ComposerVille Itietala
’95 of Helsinki, Finland,
has been scoring music for
corporate and educational
videos. His composition
called "Sweet October"
was broadcast over Finnish
National Radio.
Hand
percussionist
TakuHirano "95 of Santa
Clarita, CA, has recently
been performing
with
Chaka Khan, Puff Daddy,
Teena Marie, and others.
Composer Chen Chen
Ho"95of Taiwanconducted
her works at the First
Annual
Taiwan Arts
Festival.
Guitarist MartinRoller
’95 of Austria played on the
main stage
at the
Leverkusen, Germanyjazz
festival and at the London
jazzfestival withhis group.
Jay Natale"95andSteve
Olenick ’79 of Newton,
MA, have been recording
ANNIVERSARY
PA 18301 USA
1968-1998
on the new CD-ROM
called Curious George
Learns Phonics.
Rudolf Appoldt’96 of
Ebikon, Switzerland, is
conducting and arranging
for a 40-piece gospel choir
called Living People and
has been performing and
arranging for a project
called Clazz.
Saxophonist Ryosuke
Hashizume
’96 of Boston,
along with guitarist Takumi
Sieno "95, and Berklee student and drummer Scolt
6oulding, have released a
CDof original compositions entitled And Then
You Heard Tales.
AndrewMartiin "96 of
Sausalito, CA, has been a
technical assistant
at
Skywalker Sound Studios
and has been doing sound
design for television
episodes of "How’d They
Do That,"
"Ordinary
Extraordinary,"
and
"Touched by an Angel."
Saxophonist
Jerome
Sabbage "96 of Paris,
France, has been touring
France and Belgium with
his jazz quartet the Flip
Side performing original
jazz compositions.
CeyJay Jumao-as
’97 of
Boston is part of a compilation CD on Big Noise
Records entitled Digital
Side of the Moon. Jumaoas also has been performing around the Boston area
with RainbowTribe Dance
Company.
Laura Andel ’97 of
Boston was a recipient of
the 1997 Julius Hemphill
Composition Awards for a
composition entitled "Last
Funeral" that she wrote for
jazz orchestra.
Guitarist Wesley
Wilkes
"97 of Jones, OK,has been
recording original compositions
with drummer
JesseSiebenberg
’96.
Berkleet o d a y
33
reading key jazz rhythms
(alto and baritone saxophone)
order no. 14701 (book w/cd) $ i6.95
soloist, fred lipsius_alto saxophone
~
.......
reading key jazz rhythms
(tenor and soprano saxophone)
order no. 14702 (book w/cd) $16.95
soloist, fired lipsius_.tenor saxophone
.........................
~
reading key jazz rhythms
(trumpet)
order no,, I4707 (book w/cd) $16.95
soloist, low soloff_trumpet
reading key jazz rhythms
(flute)
order no. 1~705 (book w/cd) $15.95
soloist, matt marvuglio~2ute
reading key jazz rhythms
(clarinet)
order no. 14705 (book w/cd) 16.95
soloist, ramonticker_clarinet
~o. 14708 (book w/~d) $16.95
soloist.even pri~%~i~(~
order no.
reading key jazz rhythms
(piano)
order no. 14710 (book w/cd) $ I6.95
soloist, russ schmidt_piano
learning the basic
as well as
a~seNble or for any
tb N:~iaN easy) base~ on a specific
rhythm available from your favorite
music supplier or call toll-free
......
or rhythmic figure (800) 444-7437 (Sher Nusic Co., Petaluma,
versions of the etudes) (800) 456-I388 (Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Inc., New Albany,
*except piano book
are .jazz musiciansdaily language or fax (717) 476-5368 (Caris 3¢usic Services, Stroudsburg,
¯ guide tone versions and etudes work as duos
the
ed:
demo tracks (soloist w/rhythm section accompaniment)
tracks (rhythm section accompanimentwithout soloist)
advance music
~
J ~
~phone:
Maier~ckerstrasse ~8
J~ D-72ao8 ~ottenburg
+49 ° (o) 74 72 ° ~8 32
fax: +49 ¯ (o) 74 72 ° 2 46 2~
http://www.advancemusic.com
FINALCADENCE
Robert
Jefferies’81 of
Boston died at his home
September 18, 1997, he
was 36. Jefferies was a
veteran bassist whohad
performed and recorded
with numerous Boston
rock acts. He had toured
Europe, played on BBC
Radio, and in videos
aired on MTV~.
Gabriel Dorr ’93 of
Durango, Colorado.
passed away July 22,
1997, he was 23. Dorr
was a guitarist but had
recently taken up violin
and keyboards.
JeanneBrooks"95 of
Woodland
Hills,
California, died October
8, 1997of breast cancer.
She was 51. A pianist
and songwriter,
the
Persuasions will feature
one of her songs on their
new CD.
Tamara
"Frosty"
O’Neill
"97 of Centerview,
Missouri, died October
16, 1997after a car accident. She was a vocalist
and a Music Business/
Managementmajor.
ChrisYeoman
’97, originally of Indiana, had
recently
moved to
Nashville, died accidentally on January 17. He
was the drummer for
WEAartists Shaded Red.
Chris was on the way
homefrom a gig with the
band when their van
flipped
and he was
thrownfrom the vehicle.
.... Thi~~d,ng
of
~Retu~n~ng?
It’s easier than you might think.
There is qo readmiission process
for alumeli.JustcontactReturning
StudentCoordinator
PhilippaHamann
in the Office of the
Registrarat (617)747-2242,
by email:
"o ......
[email protected]
or by fax:
(617)747-8520.
Whether
youwantto enroll
full-timeor have
just a fewcreditsleft to
graduate,
it onlytakesa phone
callto start
llneprocess.
Return
to Berklee
andexperience
all the newand exciting changes!
Registratiorl for Summer
’98: May21 - 22, 1998
Classesbe~jinMa~lf26.
Registrationfor Fall ’98:: September
2 - 4, 1998
Classesbegin September8, 1998.
ALUMNOTESINFORMATION
FORM
Full Name
Address
City
This is a newaddress.
State
ZIP
Country
Phone
Your internet address:
Last year you attended Berklee.
Did you receive a
El degree?
~1 diploma?
Please give details of the newsworthyprofessional milestones that you wouldlike the Berklee communityto know
about. Please print or type (use a separate sheet if necessary). Photos suitable for publication are welcomed.
~ Send me more information on becoming a Berklee Career Network advisor.
Pleasesendthis form,alongwithanypublicity,clippings,photos,CDs,or itemsof interestto:
Berkleetoday,BerkleeCollegeof Music,1140BoyistonStreet, Boston,MA
02215-3693.
Internetaddress:[email protected]
Springlg98
Berklee t o d a y 35
CODA
First Inspirations
David and E/sa
Hornfischer
~ ’~ described
hen Sting spoke at the 1995B erldee commencement,
he
his earliest musicalimpressionsgainedsitting
"Reba, I never got to do this and I always wantedto. If I
push too hard or if I insist on you doing somethings that
at his mother’s feet while she played tangos on the piano. you don’t want to do, it’s just because I’m goingto live my
"Whenmy mother played," he said, "she seemed to be musical career through you." Reba adds that she bought the
transported to another world. This was the only time she messagebecause her mom"didn’t push me until it all fell
igriored me, so I knewsomethingsignificant--some impor- into place and I was matureenoughto handle it."
tant ritual was being enacted here. I suppose I was being
AbrahamQuintanilla loved music, had his own band
initiated into somesort of mystery--the mysteryof music." whenhe was young, and quickly recognizedthe talent of his
Parents, with and without words, play such an important daughter Selena. As Tejano music blossomed, he handled
role in cultivatingtheir child’s interest in music.
Selena’s bookings, ran the sound board, and, in the early
Generally parents are the first to recognize their chil- days, drovethe tour bus. After Selena was murdered,her disdren’s early interest in music. Theythen fund musiclessons, traught father established a foundation in her name to
purchaseor rent the instruments, drive themto lessons, and "encourage children to complete their education, respect
makesacrifices to pay college tuition. Even parents who humanlife, and sing whateversong they were born to sing."
play a "doubting Thomas"role often produce in a son or
Nat King Cole’s father was a minister at a church in
daughter the determination to prove the parent wrong!
Chicago’s south side; his mother played the organ and
BonnieRaitt’s parents met during a college alumni pro- directed the choir. Their children all played piano and a
duction of The VagabondKing and went on to parent three love of music was fostered. YoungNat loved to embellish
children in a house filled with music. Theygave Bonniea gospel tunes with jazzy flourishes to the dismay of his
guitar for Christmas whenshe was eight. By her teens, her traditional father. They madea deal; if Nat wouldplay the
dad John Raitt was pursuing a succesfi~l Broadwaycareer organ seriously on Sundays, he could play jazz piano in
and Bonnieimmersedherself in her music. Duringthe 1960s, the clubs. By age sixteen, Nat led a big band and had
Bonniediscovered the blues in Cambridge’sclubs and never begun composing. Movedby a sermon in which his dad
looked back. Manyyears later, she and her famousdad sang admonished, his congregation to "straighten up and fly
to a full house with the Boston Pops Orchestra. John Raitt right," Nat wrote a song of the same name. In 1990, Nat’s
began the "Soliloquy" from Carousel (a sentimental song daughter Natalie sang "Straighten Up and Fly Right"
sung by one contemplating his pending fatherhood) as with Ella Fitzgerald at the GrammyAwards broadcast.
Bonnie emergedfrom the wings to hel t ) him complete the Natalie Cole, a recipient of a Berklee honorary doctorate
songto the delight of the Bostonaudience.
in 1995, continues to develop the family legacy.
Jackie McEntiredrove her daughter
Miles Davis’ dad becamea dentist
Reba 600 miles from their home in
after his ownfather prohibited musical
Oklahomato her first recording sesstudies believing that the only places a
sion in Nashville. Later she supported
black mancould play were "clip joints
her daughter when Reba’s band was
or brothels." Inspired by earlier generkilled in a 1991plane crash and helps
ations of Davises--musicians dating
her today as Rebaraises her ownchilback to the days of slavery--the future
dren. Manyyears earlier Jackie said,
jazz giant’s dad bought him a trumpet
and paid for lessons with fellow St.
Louis native Clark Terry. He later
arranged for Miles to study music at
David Horn fischer and wife Elsa
penned Mother KnewBest--Wit and
college in NewYork. The rest, as they
Wisdom from the Moms of
say, is history.
DavidandElsa Hornfischer.Davidis
At Berklee we say a collective
Celebrities, and Father KnewBest -Wit and Wisdomfrom the Dads of the college’s vice president for thanks to momand dad for nurturing
Celebrities.
Administration
andFinance.
the talents of our students.
~1
36 Berklee
today
Spring1998
JOE LOVANO &
GONZALO
RUBALCABA
FLYING
COLORS
in modern
jazz
Twoof the mostvibrant
,~corded
pianoand
parryandthrustin a
RUBALCABA
tenor saxophone
duets.Them~
excitingsession
and LOVAN0
in
-- a majorcollaborationbetween
twointernationallyknown
lazz titans. Recorded
live in the studioonMarkLevinson’s
SoundSystem.
’UP
EDDIE
HUBBARD
Two
generations
uniteto createoneof themostsatisfyingand
surprisingjazz discsin recentmemory.
Young
trumpeters
TIM
HAGANS
andMARCUS
PRINTUP
put a spotlight on the future
PETER
WASHINGTON
ANDKENNY
WASHINGTON.
RAY BARRETTO
CONTACT!
Hewasa part of the development
of bebop,recorded
scores
of straight aheadsessionsandthen wenton to become
a superstarin the worldof Latinpercussion
andsalsa.Now
,~
tightest
and
most
swinging
jazz bands
he
inationof the life workof
ing newLatin flavored
jazzwhichneverstraysfar fromthe influenceof 52ndSt.