Tag Archives: cover story

Patrice Rushen: Keyboardist Inspired by Teaching

May 1, 2016 IM

Pianist Patrice Rushen is the ultimate role model for young female musicians. Among her achievements, she was the first female music director for the Grammy Awards (2004-2006), first woman to serve as head composer/musical director of the Emmy Awards, as well as the first female music director of the NAACP Image Awards, PEople’s Choice Awards, and HBO’s Comic Relief.

She’s composed musical scores for Emmy-nominated television shows and movies, plus the feature films Men in Black, Waiting to Exhale, Without You I’m Nothing, and Hollywood Shuffle. She released a total of 14 solo albums that earned her multiple Grammy nominations. Her music is frequently sampled.

The Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) member is considered one of the world’s top jazz pianists and continues to perform and compose, while also teaching at two of the country’s most prestigious music schools: Thornton School of Music at University of Southern California (USC) and Berklee College of Music. Education has always been a priority for Rushen who recognizes the vital role it played in her life. She says her teachers, including high school music teacher Reggie Andrews, shaped her future in a big way.

“I think I always wanted to become a musician, I just didn’t know the pathway,” says Rushen. She began playing piano at age five, but says when she picked up the flute in middle school, it was life changing. “Being in the middle of all the sound in the orchestra and band, you are conscious of your entrances and exits and the whole production, in the context of a team; that informed me in a different way.”

Rushen says the all-black Los Angeles public school that she attended was ahead of its time. “The high school experiences opened the door for me to see what was possible. We were playing high school orchestra and jazz repertoire, but we were also playing jazz as America’s classical music. That sort of opened up the vocabulary for other forms of contemporary music.”

Students at the high school didn’t just learn about music in a classroom. Field trips included visits to local jazz clubs. “On a Friday night we’d sit in the back,” she says. “Everything sounded really good and the exploration was profound. I heard some of the most amazing jazz musicians in their environment—Cannonball Adderly, Freddie Hubbard, and [Local 802 (New York City) member] Herbie Hancock’s sextet.”

“Some of the musicians were even coerced to come out to the school,” she recalls. “This was before jazz was institutionalized, particularly at the high school level. We had a lot of information firsthand. Bandleader Gerald Wilson, who lived in Los Angeles, would send us stuff to play; it was way over our heads, but the idea was for us to see the possibilities. That music pushed us.”

“The idea of being able to play music—all different kinds of music—and watch people react to it was supported by the entire school. It was an incentive to keep your grades up,” she says.

Aside from the music, Rushen’s high school gave her the fundamentals to succeed. “There was very clear consciousness towards a positive identity and the faculty supported that in the way they gave us information. They kept us busy all the time and everything was connected. If you were lucky enough to find your passion, you could learn a lot.”

“Preparation was a big deal,” she continues. “There’s luck, but luck is being prepared for the opportunity. That’s what Reggie used to tell us.”

Rushen’s first such opportunity came in her senior year when her combo won a chance to perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Her talents were noted by Fantasy Records, which offered the 17-year-old a recording contract on the Prestige label.

“I wasn’t really interested in a record deal; it wasn’t even on my radar at all,” says Rushen who was getting ready to enter college. “I was going to school, but I did need money.”

Rushen immediately joined the AFM. “I was very happy to join the union; it was like a milestone,” she says. “You have protection by belonging to a larger organization. It supports what we do with rules and regulations.”

Rushen’s very first album with Prestige, Prelusion, had her playing with established artists like Kenneth Nash, Joe Henderson, Hadley Caliman, Hubert Laws of Local 802, George Bohanon and Oscar Brashear of Local 47, plus contemporaries Ndugu Chancler of Local 47 and Tony Dumas.

“I began playing with a lot of different people, especially when the record came out. I would play with a lot of studio musicians who would play the clubs when they weren’t working,” she says. That’s where she met and befriended people like Local 47 members Lee Ritenour, Harvey Mason, and Abe Laboriel.

Though there were offers for her to tour, she was firmly focused on college. Film composing was her goal, but her parents insisted she major in music education. “At the time, USC had no jazz, and certainly no contemporary or popular music major,” she explains. She says the broad curriculum of the music education program served her well later on.

“A music director has to be able to see the big picture and understand the components that will make it happen. You need to know the goal of the presentation and then break it down into what it is going to take to make it happen—casting the correct people and empowering them through your direction.”

“It helps if you are able to work well under pressure and don’t sweat the small stuff,” she adds. “Respect is a given. When people feel like you care about them, they care about you, and want to help you. You also need awareness of a lot of different styles and the resources to pull the essence out of those styles.”

Rushen’s first big job was composing for Robert Townsend’s first movie, Hollywood Shuffle. “He didn’t know who any of the composers were. He went around to different agencies and my name was at the bottom of the list, in pencil,” she laughs. “He knew me because of my records. He said, ‘I want her,’ and the agents were probably horrified!”

“From that movie, I got five HBO comedy specials [as music director],” she says, adding that the role of music director served as a showcase for the skillset she had developed. Word got out, and that led to more work.

While being a woman never kept her from pursuing her ambitions, she’s sure there were jobs along the way that she didn’t get because of gender bias. Then, there were a few people who made the leap that she was a man. “I’ve had some surprised looks because my name doesn’t necessarily give it away,” says Rushen. “There’s the female thing, and then there’s the African American thing that sometimes comes as a surprise.”

Among other challenges, she points to the balancing act that women often struggle with. She advises young women to go for it. “Be strong in your resolve to be as good as you possibly can be. Then, don’t be afraid to let your priorities shift as your life changes and allow yourself the possibility of a family life. Understand that now, more than ever, a career in music involves lots of different layers and different related skills. If you build on that set of skills, you will always find something to do that’s musical. You don’t have to sacrifice any of it.”

As her own career has evolved, she has taken on more teaching roles, but she doesn’t see it as a huge shift from performing. “I don’t really see those things as mutually exclusive,” she says. “When you perform, you are teaching. There is always somebody out in the crowd whose approach could be modified or changed on the basis of a performance they hear.”

“I think teaching is important,” she says. “I’m fortunate to have had great teachers. They were all really open to the communication of music and using the piano as a kind of media, teaching great technique to give you the ability to play anything.”

Rushen is currently chair of Popular Music at Thornton, plus Ambassador for Artistry in Education at Berklee. “All of my different experiences have impacted my methodology and I can call on that as a teacher,” she says. “I’m teaching a music style that I lived—popular music—that’s informed by a certain tradition. It’s exciting for me to find a pedagogy that teaches and celebrates that.”

For Rushen, teaching is as much inspiration as it is instruction. “When you teach you are learning at the same time. I think artists are perpetual students, you know? You are always soaking it up. The inspiration and understanding of what it takes to make art takes you out of yourself. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to communicate on that level.”

Rushen is also involved with youth programs, including USC and Berklee outreach programs, a jazz mentorship program in Los Angeles area high schools, and work with the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra in the Bay Area. “This is an amazing organization that takes at-risk youth and puts them in an environment where they can thrive as musicians,” she says.

During the school year, Rushen’s focus is mostly on her students. Summer allows her to travel and take on other projects. This summer she’ll play some gigs as Patrice Rushen & Friends with Local 47 members Eric Marienthal (sax), Paul Jackson, Jr. (guitar), Reggie Hamilton (bass), and Ndugu Chancler (drums).

“We have some dates sprinkled throughout the summer, which is kind of cool because it allows everybody to do their own thing,” she says.

On the Cover

Lou Marini: The Joy of Providing Blueness to Fellow Musicians

April 1, 2016 IM

Music and people are clear priorities to Lou Marini, who has been an in-demand sideman and session player his whole career. The multi-instrumentalist is adept on soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone sax, as well as piccolo, flute, and clarinet. He’s also a composer, arranger, producer, and educator.

His distinctive solos can be heard on dozens of albums from artists like Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder of Local 5 (Detroit, MI), Aerosmith, Jimmy Buffet of Local 257 (Nashville, TN), John Tropea of Local 802 (New York City), and Steely Dan. This year Marini looks forward to a long list of appointments including touring this summer with Local 802 member James Taylor; performing at the Kennedy Center with Lynda Carter; as well as traveling to Japan and Europe with the Blues Brothers Band.

A member of Local 802 since 1971, Marini says he first joined the union in Ohio as a teenager. “I was around guys who believed in the union and what it could do and that we had to stand together,” he says. “I’m a passionate defender of the union. Politicians seem to delight in claiming that unions are the source of all evil. It baffles me that the normal worker doesn’t realize that, if you leave it to the man to determine what you are going to get, you are going to get less and less.”

“I have a good pension through the union—a cushion of financial stability. New York musicians who spent their whole careers on Broadway are set, and that’s because, at some point, guys banded together,” he concludes.

UNT Days

The son of composer and band director Lou Marini, Sr., Marini says he never considered pursuing anything but music. He’s been working steadily ever since his days at the University of North Texas in Denton, where he played in the school’s famed One O’Clock Lab Band. By the end of his freshman year, Marini also had a steady gig with jazz trumpeter Don Jacoby.

“I was playing in the number one jazz band in school, and at the same time, I was working six nights a week. Then I started recording. Dallas had a real vibrant recording scene and I became a part of that when I was 19 years old,” he says.

Though UNT is known for its jazz program, Marini says that his time in Texas introduced him to the wide range of genres he would play for the rest of his career. He recalls one early experience when he was playing with Les Elgart’s band. The show had them performing with the country duo Jethro and Homer, and the main act was bluegrass—Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.

“I was a little budding jazz snob. After the rehearsal we started jamming with Jethro on mandolin, and he played better than any of us did! That was sort of a mind-blower, and then that night, when we heard Flatt and Scruggs—their very first tune was at a blazingly fast tempo. I was like, ‘Holy shit these cats are bad, and I sort of lost my jazz snobbery a little bit.”

“In university I also got turned onto classical music much more,” he says. “All that led to a more open mind as far as playing goes.”

Between recording and freelancing over the next few years Marini played with anyone he could—Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Manhattans, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight. “They would come to North Texas and pick up horn sections from the area,” says Marini who also managed to go on the road with Woody Herman’s band during that time. “I was reading new, challenging music all
the time.”

A True New Yorker

But that was just the beginning for Marini. To officially launch his career he set his sights much further north. “New York City was where I thought I should be,” he says. Marini had played with Doc Severinsen when Severinsen toured in Texas, so when a friend mentioned Marini was moving to New York, the bandleader hired him immediately.

“I remember when I drove across the George Washington Bridge, I said to myself, ‘I’m home.’ I’ve always felt that way; I’m a committed New Yorker,” Marini says.

He quickly became an in-demand New York sideman and session musician. “I had already played a super wide variety of music when I came to New York, so I sort of fell into the recording scene here,” he says. “I always liked the challenge and camaraderie of going into the studio and sitting down and sight reading.”

Marini also credits his strong mid-Western values for his success in New York. “I was on time and prepared. Those things stood me in good stead when it came to New York,” he says. “It was based on tons of hard work. I’m still practicing three or four hours a day. I certainly never had a master plan, but doors open and you have to be prepared.”

Three months after arriving in the Big Apple, Marini joined Blood, Sweat, and Tears, in 1972. During the 1970s he also worked with The Band, Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars, and Frank Zappa. But one of his most memorable jobs came about when he auditioned for a late-night television comedy show that was launching—Saturday Night Live.

“When I auditioned I just had a certainty that I was going to get the gig and what a wonderful gig it was!” says Marini. “That time was so fantastic. I remember Alan Rubin, right before we’d play the opening theme he’d say, ‘Where’s the hippest place on earth to be right now?’ It was fun; it was so loose.”

Marini says that one of the greatest things to come out of the eight-year SNL gig was his friendship with bassist Bob Cranshaw of Local 802. “Bob, to me, is a jazz hero,” he says. Other long-lasting outcomes of the show were the Blues Brothers Band and Marini’s nickname, Blue Lou.

“Dan Aykroyd told us we had to have a blues moniker and that he would supply it if we didn’t. I chose Blue Lou because it’s the title of an old jazz tune that my Dad had a recording of,” says Marini.

“If someone had told me in 1978, when we started, that in 2016 we would be going to Japan as the Blues Brothers Band, I would have told them they were out of their minds,” laughs Marini, who also appeared in the Blues Brothers movies.

“The Blues Brothers is energy and camaraderie—most of us have been on the road together for at least 20 years. [Steve] Cropper and I kiddingly say that we’ve had dinner with each other more than we have with our wives,” Marini says.

“We’ve had a lot of adventures,” he continues. “One thing that’s great about the Blues Brothers Band is that, because of the nature of it, we play places like three-county summer arts festivals in the South of France—unbelievable beautiful villages where they bring you local wine and cheese. You can’t buy those types of experiences.”

Marini the Leader

It wasn’t until the 1990s that Marini released his first project as bandleader, Soul Serenade. Lou’s Blues followed in 2001 and then Starmaker. As a bandleader he is committed to looking out for his band. “I think that I pretty much see things through the sideman’s eyes. I have this funny idea that everybody should be treated fairly and with respect, and make good money,” he says.

The most recently released project to feature Marini is The Blue Lou & Misha Project—Highly Classified. Marini first met Misha Segal when he was on tour in Israel. The pair kept in touch and Segal later relocated to the US. “We were hanging out one night at his pad and he played me some stuff he had been working on, and he says, ‘what do you think?’ And I said, ‘It’s nice, but it needs a saxophone solo,’” recalls Marini. The project took several years of going back and forth between L.A. and New York until its release in 2010.

Currently, Marini is working on a CD of originals inspired by his frequent trips to his wife’s native Spain where he plays and sings in the blues quartet Redhouse. “We started playing together in Madrid about seven years ago and have done a couple hundred gigs around Spain,” says Marini. “I sing about a half-dozen tunes. This is a real jazz album with vocals.”

But, he confesses that he’s way too busy to put a timetable on the project, saying, “I’m going to find windows to record it, and in between we want to record a new Blues Brothers album, probably at the end of April.”

Marini’s biography reads like a who’s who of the music industry. He says, simply: “I’m happy to have done things I did and I treasure the friendships I’ve made along the way, and all the great musicians I’ve gotten to play with. When you get to be 70, there’s a lot of water under the bridge, and a lot of the guys that were swimming in it are gone too! At the same time, I look forward to the next thing.”

“I’m still trying to figure out how to play,” he laughs. “You can’t exhaust it; you hear these young saxophone players—what the hell are they doing, what is that, and how can they play so fast? I gotta practice! The fact is, I just like playing, so I practice.”

“When I look back on it, I’ve had a long and continuing apprenticeship,” he notes. “I keep ending up in these great gigs, but I’m just in awe of my fellow musicians. I like people, and that’s one thing about being a musician—they are a bunch of nuts! So you get to meet these characters that just delight you and make you laugh.”

On the Cover

Bob Thompson

February 1, 2016 IM

Jazz Pianist Is Rooted in West Virginia

Though he grew up in New York City, pianist Bob Thompson of Local 136 (Charleston, WV) has called West Virginia home ever since his college years. He entered West Virginia State College as a trumpeter, but began playing piano seriously in order to play in the school’s jazz band, which already had a trumpet player. Last year his Mountain State roots were officially affirmed when he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

Since the 1970s, Thompson has led a series of bands, releasing a steady stream of jazz CDs and performing around the world. He’s also held a 23-year position as house pianist for National Public Radio’s Mountain Stage. Thompson’s history with the internationally broadcast show goes back to 1983, when he was a guest artist for the pilot. He returned frequently as a guest. In 1991, when the house pianist left, Thompson took over the job on a temporary basis.

“I enjoy doing the show; it’s a lot of fun,” he says, explaining that the variety of music is one reason he’s stayed with it. “We have everything from Appalachian or bluegrass music to jazz to a lot of singer-songwriters, plus music from other parts of the world. Guests, for the most part, are people who are about to become well known on a national basis; many folks had their first appearance on Mountain Stage, and then, after that, you see them everywhere. Plus, a lot of established artists come back and continue to do the show.”

Among Thompson’s most memorable Mountain Stage moments, he recalls a special show with Hugh Masekela just after the 1994 election of South African President Nelson Mandela. “He had his band from South Africa with him and this was their first performance after the election. It turned into a celebration!” recalls Thompson. Other shows have had him sharing the stage with musicians like Courtney Pine, John Blake, Larry Coryell, and others.

Another project Thompson has been long involved with is co-production of the annual holiday jazz show, Joy to the World. Over its 20-plus-year run, what began as a small, local celebration, now includes three shows that are recorded and edited, then broadcast as a one-hour program on Public Radio and Voice of America.

“For a lot of people, it begins their Christmas season,” he says of the show covering holiday tunes that range from classic to obscure. “We try to give them a jazz treatment, but are careful not to take them too far from their roots.” Each year the show features a special guest singer. Among past guests are Fontella Bass, Catherine Russell of Local 802 (New York City), Mollie O’Brien, and Heather Masse of Local 1000 (Nongeographic).

Thompson first joined the union in 1964, about the same time he founded his first band, the Modern Jazz Interpreters. “It was real helpful to me, especially in my early days; it opened up a lot of avenues to me,” he says. “I grew up in New York City. There were so many great musicians in my neighborhood. I just wanted to be like them and I saw that union membership was very important to them.”
That first trio played the Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1964; and toured Algeria, Nigeria, and Europe. From the 1970s through the 1980s, Thompson released a series of acclaimed contemporary jazz albums.

When Thompson and his current band, The Bob Thompson Band, set out to create his latest CD, Look Beyond the Rain, it was a new direction and their first release with vocals. The project has an uplifting message. “It’s going to rain in your life,” he says. “You have to look beyond the rain because there are better times coming.”
Among the hopeful tunes, “You Are a Traveler,” written and sung by Thompson, is about enjoying where you are today in life, he explains. “It’s about the journey, enjoying every day and the process.”

The CD’s opening tune, “Time to Be One,” is about the division that continues to develop in the country, he explains. “It is discouraging and I wondered what I could do about it. All we can do is play music, and I think, as musicians and artists, we need to try to bring people together with music.”

The CD is just the latest project for the group of musicians, all members of Local 136, who have played together for a number of years. Thompson first played with saxophonist Doug Payne in the 1980s; 41-year-old drummer Tim Courts has been with Thompson since he was 20 years old; guitarist Ryan Kennedy has played with Thompson ever since graduating from Berklee 12 years ago, and the “newest” band member, 31-year-old bassist John Inghram, has been in Thompson’s band for around 10 years.

“It’s more like we are a little family. One thing I enjoy about the band is its diversity in terms of ages; everybody brings something different to the table,” says Thompson.

Even with all his performances, Thompson takes time to pass on his knowledge to the next generation. He explains that, for him, the rewards of teaching are two-fold: “In order to teach somebody, you have to crystallize things in your mind; I always learn something from teaching. The other thing is that, when I started out, a lot of people gave me help along the way. So I feel like I’m just passing that along. If we don’t teach and give to other people, the music is going to die.”

He says that, as a young player he got some valuable advice from Henry Jerome. Early in his career, Thompson used some New York music connections to set up an appointment with the then-president of United Artists. He brought a tape of some music he’d recorded. Jerome said that he liked the music, and invited him to come again, but also said, “When you do come back, bring something that, if I want to put it out, I have to have you to do it.”

At first, Thompson found the advice discouraging. “Then I realized that he was trying to tell me, ‘be yourself, do something unique, make it your own,’” says Thompson. “I think that’s one of the best pieces of advice I got from anybody in the music business.”

Today, Thompson advises students along those same lines. “Try to figure out how to create your own career. Often people who go into music have stars in their eyes, thinking they are going to be big musical stars. It’s really about every day being the best you can be and trying to figure out, economically, how you can make it work,” he says.

“Go somewhere where there is no music being played and try to create a situation there for yourself. That allows you to build your own audience. Also, have some purpose for what you are doing. It’s not all about the money; it’s about what you are doing and what you are giving to people,” he says.

On the Cover

José Feliciano

December 1, 2015 IM

Crossover Guitarist and Singer Celebrates His Many Influences

As the first and foremost Latin to English crossover artist of all time, Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) member José Feliciano is recognized for lending his unique style and natural talent to Latin music, pop, and beyond.

Blind from birth and blessed with the natural ability to play almost any instrument he picked up, Feliciano knew at a young age that music would be his life. “It was almost like God put the book on how to learn to play instruments in my hands,” he says.

Feliciano was first attracted to music at age three when he accompanied his uncle’s cuatro playing by tapping on a biscuit tin. Around age four, he picked up the harmonica. Following the family’s immigration from Puerto Rico to New York City, when he was five, Feliciano started playing concertina.

He began teaching himself to play the instrument he is most known for at around nine years old. “I couldn’t afford a guitar teacher; I didn’t have money to learn the academic and proper way,” he says. Instead, Feliciano would listen to guitarists he admired, figuring out the chords by sound. “I learned that way until around age 14. I would go to Sam Goody’s in New York and buy Andre Segovia records, take them home, and play them on my phonograph. I would practice and practice, learning about a piece a month.”

His only formal instruction came later, when a guitar teacher at Lighthouse for the Blind helped him correct some unconventional chord shapes he had developed.

Feliciano’s influences gradually grew to include flamenco guitarists Sabicas and Vicente Gomez; rock and roll guitarists like Chuck Berry; as well as blues musicians like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, and John Lee Hooker.

Originally a member of Local 802 (New York City), Feliciano joined the union as a teenager. He was so confident that he could make a living as a musician, that he dropped out of high school at age 17 to help support his large family, which included 10 brothers. “The way I rationalized it was: what the hell were academics going to do for me, if I wanted a career in music?” he says.

“I thought I would just learn to play the guitar and be a damn good player, and that would be it. I had my doubts about becoming famous, for sure, but I never in my life doubted that I could become a really good musician,” says Feliciano.

His career began humbly, playing coffee houses of Greenwich Village and “passing the hat.” But his talent was soon discovered and he was signed by RCA. Following a 1966 performance at the Mar del Plata Festival in Argentina that was extremely well received, the RCA executives suggested he stay and record a Spanish album.

“The executives at RCA didn’t know what to do with me. They were looking for ‘disposable artists’—good looking young dudes who couldn’t sing,” he says. Feliciano, who had looks and talent, suggested he rework and record some Spanish songs—boleros—he used to sing with his parents.

“They put me in a studio with a bass player, percussionist, and maraca player, and I did my boleros. Nobody recorded with just guitar and percussion—it was a breath of fresh air!” he says. “All of a sudden I became a teen idol in Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela. I even got as far as Panama.” Two more albums followed.

In 1967, Feliciano moved to California to launch his US career. He credits Rick Jarrard— “one of the best producers ever”—for his success in the US. “If it wasn’t for his genius, I don’t know if José Feliciano would have a career in English,” he says.

“He put me together with some great musicians—people like Ray Brown on upright bass and Milt Holland on percussion,” says Feliciano. His first big hit in the US, “Light My Fire,” came in 1968 after Jarrard suggested he record a version of the Doors’ song. “I said, ‘Rick, I don’t think I should. It was a hit by the Doors just a year ago.’” Feliciano decided to record it anyway out of respect for Jarrard.

It was the right decision. The song sold more than one million copies. It reached number three on US charts, and was also a hit in Canada (number one), Australia, Europe, and South America. “Light My Fire” resulted in Feliciano’s first two Grammy Awards in 1969: Best New Artist of the Year and Best Pop Song of the Year.

Feliciano further affirmed his standing as an international star at Italy’s San Remo Music Festival in 1971, when he won second place and earned a standing ovation for the song “Qué Será.” The tune became a quick hit in Central and South America as well.

Over the years, Feliciano has released 31 albums for the English market and another couple dozen in Spanish. His numerous popular originals and covers have earned him 45 Gold and Platinum records, plus another seven Grammy Awards, including four Best Latin Pop Performance awards: in 1984 for “Me Enamore,” in 1986 for “Lelolai,” in 1989 for “Cielito Lindo,” and in 1990 for “Porque Te Tengo Que Olvidar.” In 2008, his album Señor Bachata was awarded the Latin Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album. He received a Latin Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

Feliciano has a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame since 1987. This November, the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was also awarded the First Star of Fame in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” (1970) is probably his most well-known and beloved composition. A holiday classic, it’s listed as one of ASCAP’s Greatest Holiday Songs of the Century. He is proud that this song has become a shared holiday tradition worldwide. “I think ‘Feliz Navidad’ resonates with people because it’s a happy song and it’s simple,” he says. “I’m glad it makes people happy every Christmas.”

Feliciano has had the honor to perform for some of the world’s most notable personalities—Mikhail Baryshnikov, Presidents Reagan and Francois Mitterand, as well as Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. He’s performed with many symphony orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and London Pops.

Throughout his career, Feliciano has recorded albums in a wide range of styles from mariachi to pop to Mozart. That diversity continued with The King (2012)—his salute to an artist he had admired from childhood. “When I was 11 years old I became an Elvis fan with Heartbreak Hotel. It was a work of love to do Elvis’s music,” says Feliciano of the self-produced album.

Another recent project had him recording a Mozart CD, Mozart Contrato Arias, with famed Austrian male soprano Arno Raunig. “I always loved Mozart’s music. Mozart and I shared a similarity: he could listen to a tune and play it right away,” says Feliciano.

Feliciano’s current project Latin Street MMXV, is a continuation of his 1992 Latin Street 92 project, and includes “an assortment of flavors”—Latin, English, as well as Italian. “It is an anthology of my musical roots,” he says, “featuring much of what defines me as an artist. It contains some of my original material and new interpretations of some of my favorite music. There are over 30 titles at this point.” They are currently working on final mixing, sequencing, and mastering.

Feliciano’s talent has made him an in-demand artist for more than 50 years. “My career has lasted longer than I ever thought,” he concedes. “I’m still performing, doing concerts, and traveling the world. It’s great!” He rounded out the year promoting an HBO Special, Latin Explosion—A New America, plus performing concerts in the US and Puerto Rico.

“If you do what you love and you do it with joy and you do it with a humble attitude, everything falls into line,” he says.

On the Cover

Susan Draus: On the Road with Beautiful—The Carole King Musical

November 4, 2015 IM

Susan Draus: On the Road with Beautiful—The Carole King Musical — As music director for the touring musical Beautiful: The Carole King Story, Susan Draus of Local 802 (New York City) feels a bit like her career has come full circle. Draus, who was playing music before she was old enough to read, always knew it would be a big part of her life.

Growing up in Calumet City, Illinois, where students began learning their instruments in kindergarten, Draus thought she would one day be a conductor. The clarinetist seemed well on her path when she attended Interlochen on a full scholarship in 1971. However, she abruptly dropped the instrument that same year.

Carole King’s album Tapestry so inspired the young musician, that Draus decided she’d rather become a songwriter. After high school, she launched her own band, Wildwood, before moving to Los Angeles to study music. “I started working in Disneyland with the all-girl band and had my own little band, Outskirts. I wasn’t going down the musical [theater] path at all,” she explains.

Instead, her path slowly merged into musical theater almost by accident. “A friend asked if I would music direct this little show at the Melrose Theater called Ten Percent Revue. It was a tiny little stage and a five-person cast, plus me,” she says of the show in which she also played, sang, and danced. To their surprise, Ten Percent Revue won several Drama-Logue awards, including Best Music Director and Best Ensemble.

After completing keyboard and film scoring programs at the Dick Grove School of Music, Draus moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1991 to become Artist in Residence at Smoky Hill High School. While the teaching was great, Denver didn’t offer many choices as far as bands to play in, so she sought projects at local theaters. Eventually, she became music director for the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities where her passion for musical theater grew.

“Arvada was definitely my training ground for musical theater,” she says. “We did classics like Gypsy, Singing in the Rain, and West Side Story, but we also did Violet and Blood Brothers. It was great for me to learn how to conduct and play at the same time. I loved it.”

“My first big national tour was Mamma Mia,” says Draus. “I started out on keyboard 4 and worked my way up to music director/keyboard 1.” Following Mamma Mia, Draus did Good Vibrations on Broadway, but decided she liked touring better. She’s traveled with Billy Elliot, Sister Act, and Book of Mormon.

But Beautiful is special. “It really has come full circle for me, every single aspect,” says Draus. Draus never dreamed she would one day combine her admiration for the songs of Carole King with her passion for musical theater.

Draus’s favorite Carole King song, and the one that made her want to be a songwriter, is “It’s Too Late.” However, her favorite song to perform in the show is “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” because of “how it’s placed in the show, and the emotion around it.”

Beautiful travels with three musicians, aside from Draus, who is also conductor/keyboardist. It picks up eight local musicians at each stop. And though she would prefer to travel with as many permanent musicians as possible, she says Beautiful lends itself well to this arrangement. “This show is laid out so it kind of plays off itself. Not every show is this straight ahead with its songs,” she explains.

Among the perks of the job of a touring music director is the travel itself and the nationwide venues she gets to play at. “I’ve gotten to see this country and cities I would never have gone to before this. I love that,” says Draus. “Right now, for crying out loud, I’m conducting in the Kennedy Center. We are going to play the Pantages Theatre in L.A. That’s pretty cool!”

Among the challenges of the job is working eight shows a week, plus rehearsals. “Our thing is, every time you step up there you are trying for a perfect show,” she says. “I don’t think people realize how many rehearsals there are, especially for the keyboardist.” Aside from the doubles on Saturday and Sunday, there is a rehearsal and sound check on Tuesday, plus rehearsals Wednesday through Friday.

And, on Tuesdays in a new city, Draus starts at square one with a fresh group of local musicians. “After a while, I am tired of my own voice and saying the same things,” she says. “How many ways can you say crescendo?”

But, there’s also an upside to moving to a new city. “No matter who you are—on stage or down in the pit—if you are doing eight shows a week it gets to be this routine, and you can check out pretty easily. What keeps it fresh is that—bam!—we are in a new environment. It sounds different, looks different, new people in the pit. You get this new boost of energy, which is pretty cool. I can’t tell you how many times people come up and tell me, ‘Gosh, the tour sounds so fantastic!’ I think we keep it fresh because every two weeks you are in a new environment.”

Draus says it can be difficult not having other musical diversions on the road. “When you are in New York you can step out and do other gigs. When you are out here, after a while, you start wondering if you could even read a chord chart or play another piece of music.” For this reason, Draus says the traveling musicians seek other projects to work on. Draus also has her own company, Tantrum Productions, which provides arrangements for schools, choirs, and corporate events, and original works across the country.

A long-time AFM member, Draus says she always sticks with union gigs. “They are always higher paying and better working conditions.” Through the union, she is also able to network with musicians in the field to find new work and recommend others for jobs.

She has advice for other union musicians interested in musical theater work. “Work on sight reading and your ability to play all styles,” Draus says. “Network with musicians. If you want to be a pit musician, go right up to the MD and just say, ‘I’m a student and I’m studying this, and I would really love to do what you do, can I sit in the pit?’ That’s invaluable.”

Even with all the challenges of life on the road, Draus realizes that she is lucky to be performing in a job she loves. “I’ve only had four regular ‘day’ jobs in my life and they probably total a year altogether. I’ve been able to make my living as a musician and that’s pretty cool. I’ve been very lucky. The last 10 years have been really great, going from one show to the next. I’ve met such lovely people—great contractors, general managers, music supervisors, and everybody involved.”

Exploring Life in the Pit

The job of pit musicians is unique in many ways. Eric J. Stockton (guitar), Nick Williams (keyboard/associate conductor), and Shannon Ford (percussionist) of Local 802 (New York City) are touring with Beautiful: The Carole King Story.

Eric J. Stockton

Eric Stockton’s first theater experience was subbing for a dinner theater production of Big River in Phoenix, Arizona. He relocated to New York City in 2011, where he subbed for Big Apple Circus, and then the Broadway revival of Godspell. Eventually he was offered a chair on the national tour of Flashdance, then the Broadway show Soul Doctor and Rocky at the Winter Garden Theater. When Rocky closed, he asked a friend how to keep the party going. He said, “Tell the contractors you’ll tour.” Stockton worked on Kinky Boots’ first national tour before touring with Beautiful.

Q. What attracts you to this work? It’s show business, so it’s a fun scene. You get to work with musicians of the highest caliber in the pits in New York City. Plus, there’s a union contract, so there are benefits and rules for time off, etc. On the road it becomes a little harder because you can’t sub out as easily, but still, the touring bands, and many of the local musicians, are excellent at their craft and it’s fun to belong to a group of traveling gypsies.

Q. How do you keep your playing fresh and energetic when performing the same tunes night after night? The show keeps evolving in ever so subtle ways. On the Beautiful tour the songs are so great that playing them doesn’t ever get stale. I don’t necessarily play the same thing all the time. On other shows that’s more important. I’m not necessarily improvising, but as a rhythm section player, there’s room to change it up.

Q. How has AFM membership helped you? I get health insurance, if I work enough union contracts. The pension will help me in retirement. I purchase affordable instrument insurance through the union. Beyond that, it’s a network of players who, like myself, wish to make a living playing my instrument.

Q. What tips do you have for young musicians interested in working in a musical theater pit? Try to find what inspires you musically and work on that. Broadway is a good gig, but I think it should only be a part of your career portfolio. My heroes are Bob Dylan, Eddie Van Halen, Frank Zappa, and Miles Davis—I don’t think they ever played in a pit. Maybe Zappa did, once.

Q. What aspect of playing for musical theater might surprise other musicians? There is a ton of work involved in learning to play a book the way it should be played, whether subbing or on your own chair. This should not be taken lightly.

Q. Do you have any side projects? While on the road, a lot of my side projects fall by the wayside. In October I went to New York City to record with a songwriter friend. Also, my partner in crime, Dillon Kondor [of Local 802], has a new record coming out that I played on. I hope to play more live gigs with his band, Kondor. There’s a recording of my tunes called Roots on iTunes and at ericstockton.net.

Q. What gear would you never leave home without? Fingernail clippers for sure, and I just bought a very sweet Fender Custom Shop Nocaster that I am loving dearly on the road with Beautiful!

Nick Williams

Nick Williams has played the piano for musical theater for 27 years. He studied acting in college, but started arranging and music directing on the side. Soon after graduation he realized music was his passion. He took on as many projects as possible, working his way up to play and conduct off-Broadway, as well as for nine national tours.

Q. What attracts you to this work? Musical theater can encompass such a broad range of musical styles. We still have the traditional Broadway sound, but people are finding fantastic new ways to tell stories through all kinds of styles. Touring is such a unique experience—taking a show across the country and seeing different audiences enjoying it.

Q. How do you keep your playing fresh and energetic when performing the same tunes night after night? That’s never been an obstacle, although maybe I’ve been lucky to work on shows with music I love. There are always things to work on and discover in the scores. Beautiful has such satisfying, groovy music and profound lyrics—both have huge cultural resonance. The arrangements make the show a blast to play, so it’s not hard to enjoy this music every night. Not to mention, the rest of the traveling gang (Sue, Shannon, and Eric) are great fun and terrific musicians.

Q. How has AFM membership helped you? Having a union that protects the musicians’ best interests is essential to doing what we do, especially when you throw in the variable of traveling. The AFM agreements, and knowing they’re there for us, provide the security and support to be able to do our jobs even better.

Q. What tips would you have for young musicians interested in working in a musical theater pit? Get yourself out there. Do festivals, do readings, play for cabarets, see shows, and meet people. Be familiar with many styles, be open to learning from others, stay up on the technology of your instrument, and above all: be kind, proactive, and responsible.

Q. What aspect of playing for musical theater might surprise other musicians? It surprises even me how many patrons come down to the pit to tell us how much they loved the orchestra. It’s easy to forget that there is almost always a musician in the audience, professional or not, who plays your instrument, hears exactly what you’re playing, and appreciates it.

Q. Do you have any side projects? Lately, my focus has been on Beautiful, I do transcriptions, audition/vocal coaching, etc., while on the road. You can find information about my recent undertakings at: www.katonkeyz.com. I’m always looking for fun side projects.

Q. What gear would you never leave home without? I travel with an Axiom 49 key controller with an interface, along with lots of sample libraries. My road MacBook Pros are loaded with Ableton, Logic, Mainstage, and other fun audio stuff. I’ve also got a Bluebird cardioid condenser mic in my trunk for recording.

Shannon Ford

Shannon Ford moved to New York City in 1992 and began subbing for Broadway and off-Broadway shows. His first show was The Who’s Tommy, which he describes as “one of the scariest experiences of my life.” Ford continued to network within the community, taking advantage of every workshop, he could find.

Q. What attracts you to this work? I like the discipline and high standards of the people in this community. Playing shows has improved my focus and consistency as a musician. Pension and health insurance aren’t bad things to have, either!

Q. How do you keep your playing fresh and energetic when performing the same tunes night after night? I don’t find it difficult playing the same songs nightly. Sometimes it’s a challenge to stay focused, but I try to remember what it feels like to be the guy that just played the biggest clam of the night. It’s about that and being true to your work ethic in the first place.

Q. How has AFM membership helped you? The union has established guidelines that allow me to earn and protect a living wage as a musician. Thanks, you guys!

Q. What tips would you have for young musicians interested in working in a musical theater pit? As a rhythm section player, I encourage young musicians to spend time in a real band. There is a social dynamic and style of performance that I believe you can only get from that experience, and it is useful in a pit. Learn as many styles as you can, and make peace with the give and take required to work effectively with a conductor. Drummers, learn to make up a part while sight-reading a 26-page piano/vocal score. (Bring scotch tape and some white-out.) You’ll thank me later! Also, get familiar with how a musical theater company is run. It’s taken me forever to figure out who does what in which department!

Q. What aspect of playing for musical theater might surprise other musicians? I tend to get hired by good relationships with musical directors and composers, as well as by contractors. Establish them and maintain them. They are a bigger part of the equation than many realize.

Q. Do you have any side projects? Since I’m touring, my days are generally freer than they have been in a while, so I’m practicing more and improving my production and composition skills.

Q. What are a few pieces of gear that you would never leave home without? My Nespresso espresso machine! Can I get
an endorsement?

The Local Connection … Life in the Pit

The full-time traveling musicians are not the only AFM members who enjoy playing touring theatre productions, as most shows hire many of the musicians they need locally.

While repetition means traveling players can practically play their parts from memory, locally-hired musicians experience an entirely different challenge: perfectly executing two to three hours of complex, stylistically diverse, and rhythmically tricky theatre scores with very limited rehearsal time. In a field where you really are only as good as your last performance, theatre musicians represent the cream of their local crop.

For the core traveling musicians, this means a different group of colleagues every booking—for some shows, this means a different ensemble every week. Local and traveling players by necessity have to be good colleagues, and learn to harmonize quickly, both musically and professionally.

Nancy Whelan (keyboard) of Local 500 (Raleigh, NC) joined the show during its stop in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Whelan says she caught the “theater bug” at Cary High School in 1978 as pianist for Fiddler on the Roof. Since then, she’s been musical director/pianist/keyboardist for more than 85 productions. For the past 10 seasons, she’s been the associate musical director and orchestra contractor at North Carolina Theatre in Raleigh.

Q. What attracts you to this work? It’s great being able to live at home and be a full-time freelancer. I appreciate both the stability of living in one place, as well as the excitement of playing a variety of musical genres.

Q. How much time are you generally given to learn the book? When playing local keys for a touring show, we get the books anywhere from one to three weeks ahead. Generally, we only get one four-hour rehearsal with the touring musicians (the day of show), have an hour sound check, then we open that night.

Q. Is it difficult to build rapport with musicians you play with for only one or two weeks? No, especially when we get touring folks like Sue, Nick, Shannon, and Eric. They were all so incredibly positive, helpful, and relaxed—an absolute pleasure to collaborate with.

Q. How has AFM membership helped you? Although North Carolina is a “right-to-work” state, I feel it is important (and I am proud to be) a member of Local 500.

Q. What tips do you have for young musicians interested in working in musical theater? Get all the experience you can in your school and local community theatre, and volunteer at a professional theatre, if there is one nearby. Pianists, in addition to regular practice, hone those sight-reading skills. For reeds players, doubling makes you even more of a hot commodity. Make as many connections as you can. Often, knowing the right person or being in the right place at the right time is how you’ll get that big break.

Q. What is one aspect of playing for musical theater that might surprise other musicians? It takes a different set of skills to play theatre versus straight orchestral playing. People who aren’t in theatre may also be surprised at the often incredibly short amount of rehearsal time we have before opening a show.

Q. What other projects are you working on? I play for NC Theater, local keys for tours, ballet (Carolina Ballet), choral accompanying, and am a collaborative pianist for instrumental recitals. The day after Beautiful closed, we began rehearsals for Into the Woods at North Carolina Theatre, which opened in October. I will be playing the Holiday Pops run-outs with the North Carolina Symphony.

On the Cover

Jane Little Traces the Steps of Her 70-Year Career

August 1, 2015 IM

Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Jane Little was drawn to music from the time she was a small child, and did everything she could to seek out musical opportunities. “I so wanted to play the piano,” she says in her Southern drawl. “But my family struggled during the Depression and we had no piano. I would go to the neighbors’ house to use theirs. I would try to pick out tunes and taught myself to play a little bit.”

Little tuned in to the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts every Saturday afternoon, joined the glee club in junior high, and decided that she would become an opera singer. “I was delusional at that time!” she laughs. There was no doubt, though, that music was her passion. Atlanta didn’t yet have its own symphony, but when an orchestra toured to the city, Little was eager to attend. “It was the first time I heard a symphony orchestra perform live,” she recalls. “And I was just carried away.”

Assistant Principal Bass Jane Little was a 1945 charter member of the original Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra, the forerunner of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Little will begin her 71st season with the ASO this fall.

Facing the Bass

Little continued to sing and planned to join the high school glee club when she entered her freshman year. But the orchestra director had different plans once she saw the results of Little’s music aptitude test, which every incoming student was required to take.

“I was called to the music room, and the orchestra director asked what instrument I played,” remembers Little, who answered that she didn’t play an instrument, but liked to sing. The director was shocked and explained that Little had scored tremendously high on the test. “I was 14 at the time, which is a little late to start an instrument, but she asked how I would like to be an orchestra musician. I said that I would like it more than anything!”

The orchestra was in short supply of bass players. At five feet and three inches, and weighing less than 100 pounds, Little seemed an unlikely match for the massive instrument, but she wanted to try. She struggled at first to hear the lowest pitches and could barely press down the thick E string—not to mention, even just carrying the bass around was no easy task.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to be a challenge!’” she says. “But I was back for the next lesson, and the next, and the next.” After just a couple months of private lessons, Little was ready to join the orchestra—and not only did she join, but she was quickly appointed principal bass.

The next year, the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra was formed under the direction of Henry Sopkin, a well-known youth orchestra conductor in Chicago. Little became a member of the symphony, which performed its first concert on February 4, 1945. In retrospect, that was the beginning of her 70-plus-year career with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO); within three years, Sopkin transformed the youth symphony into the orchestra now known as the ASO.

Eventually, Little met someone who happened to be able to give her a hand carrying her bass. Warren, who would become her husband, joined the orchestra’s flute section in 1948. The two had first met at the University of Georgia, but Little was engaged to a naval officer at the time. She returned to ASO after spending a summer in Chicago studying with a great bass teacher from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Warren noticed that Little was no longer wearing her engagement ring; she had broken her engagement in order to stay in Atlanta and continue playing with the orchestra. Warren asked her out right away. Their first date was a performance by the legendary violinist David Oistrakh.

“I must say that when I met Warren, I was very impressed that he played a small instrument, so he could carry my bass around!” jokes Little. The couple made music together in the ASO until Warren’s retirement in 1992.

Acing the Audition

Henry Sopkin led ASO for 21 years, increasing the budget, adding concerts, and introducing education initiatives. When he stepped down in 1966, it was announced that Robert Shaw—an exceptional choral conductor who had been working with George Szell in Cleveland—would become the next ASO music director. Little knew that even more changes would be ahead for the orchestra. She was excited, but nervous.

Shaw asked to hear every member of the orchestra play individually. Little had two weeks’ notice about the audition, and she didn’t waste a minute getting to work; she knew how crucial this could be. “I told my family that Christmas would have to be on hold that year,” she says. “I was practicing seven or eight hours a day, going through all the literature, doing everything I could.”

When she walked into the audition, Little felt immediately at ease with Shaw. She aced her audition: “I never played better in my life!” she exclaims. “When I got my contract, I was overwhelmed. Robert Shaw had appointed me co-principal of the bass section.” Little was later named assistant principal bass, and now holds emeritus status for that position.

Under Shaw’s watch, the ASO continued to build its reputation. Little can list off an impressive roster of guest soloists and conductors she has performed with—Nathan Milstein, Isaac Stern, Benny Goodman, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, and many more.

One of her favorite memories is of a sold-out concert with pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who was playing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto. “He plays the first big chords of the concerto, and all of a sudden, the piano starts rolling toward the end of the stage,” she recalls. “The people in the first rows were scattering. Everyone was just in horror!” Thankfully, the piano caught in the footlights, which kept it from crashing off the stage, and Rubenstein took it all in stride. Once the piano had been secured, the show went on.

The show went on for Little, too, as ASO became a full-time orchestra and gained international renown. She played under Yoel Levi, who became music director in 1988 and “brought the orchestra to new heights,” Little says. He was followed by Robert Spano of Local 148-462 (Atlanta, GA), who took over in 2000. “Through two major lockouts in the last four years, Spano has remained a friend and supporter to the musicians,” she says. “He was determined to maintain the orchestra’s status as a major symphony.”

Earlier in her career, piecing together a living was a bit more unpredictable. “Back then, when the orchestra was still part-time, you would go and beat the bushes for work,” she says. For 15 years, Little played with Theater of the Stars, where she was the only woman in the band. She taught private bass lessons and even saw one of her students grow up to join the ASO.

She’s played for opera companies, and remembers times when she was the only bass player in the pit, and had her instrument amped. She also played with the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra, often making the four-hour drive with a group of fellow ASO musicians late at night after an ASO concert or rehearsal, in order to be ready for a rehearsal in Savannah the next morning. “You did what you had to do,” she states matter-of-factly.

Chasing the Record

Little, who belongs to Local 148-462, is grateful to the AFM, as well as the International Conference of Symphony Orchestra Musicians (ICSOM), formed in 1962, for improving working conditions for orchestra musicians. She has witnessed the positive changes to audition procedures, tenure, and the musicians’ ability to weather strikes and lockouts.

Little has done her share of walking the picket lines and remembers her husband’s determination to negotiate fair contracts—even if it meant late-night phone calls and meetings—when he served as president of the local. “It’s great protection to be a member of the AFM—the union is your friend!” she says. “It brings greater stability to our careers.”

Little has now completed her 70th season with ASO, setting the record as the orchestral musician with the longest-running career, despite enduring several injuries and challenges over the years. At a certain point, she explains, she knew that she had to keep playing because she was so close to that goal. “To be absolutely sure [that I break the record], I’m going to play into my 71st season,” she says, adding that she might consider retirement at some point during the season.

Of course, more important than any record is the unique dedication that she shows for her instrument and for symphonic music. Even over a seven-decade career, she continues to give her all at every concert, never resting on her laurels. She was recently preparing for an ASO concert that included Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony and noted that it was one of the first pieces she played with her high school orchestra. “It’s still difficult!” she says, a testament to the fact that she always reaches to grow in her artistry.

“Suppose I had been absent the day that we took that music test?” Little wonders. “I probably wouldn’t have this career. I must say I’ve had a charmed life.”

On the Cover

Jimmy Vivino: Working 9 to 5 for Conan, Anything but basic

July 2, 2015 IM

With a steady day gig as music director and bandleader for the Basic Cable Band on Conan, and involvement in enough side bands to make your head spin, life for musician Jimmy Vivino, of Locals 47 (Los Angeles, CA) and 802 (New York City), is full. Being bandleader is what he’s worked toward for his entire life.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Vivino began playing trumpet as a child. “My father was a great trumpet player and my first teacher,” says Vivino. A carpenter by trade, his dad encouraged all three of his sons to pursue music, and all of them eventually worked in entertainment.

Jimmy Vivino says that he got his calling at about age nine. He learned to play keyboard, and by age 16, he taught himself to arrange for big bands. “I bought a book by Walter Piston and just started writing. It was great to hear something [played] back that I had written,” he recalls. That was the beginning of his lifelong fascination with charts.

As a teenager, he also joined AFM Local 248 (Paterson, NJ), along with his brother Jerry. “I’ve been in the union ever since. It’s great with the TV show; if we ever have a problem we talk to the union,” says Vivino, who is quick to recognize the work of the AFM. “I don’t envy the union trying to keep up with finding residuals and payments. I respect everything they do for us. They’ve got to chase people all over the world now because of social media. It’s a thankless job.”

When Conan moved from network television to cable, the dynamics of today’s entertainment industry became even more apparent to Vivino. The show is now a product of the Internet, and an audience that no longer makes appointments to watch a television show. He acknowledges that this type of market, not only makes it more challenging to earn a living in the entertainment industry, but also makes it difficult to organize entertainers.

“Viewers download it, stream it, watch it on demand—the whole world is computers now,” says Vivino. “It used to be a guy with a cigar would come in and say, ‘I’m from the Federation, did you guys pay your dues?’ Now, we’ve seen the transformation of how tracking and all this stuff has changed.”

Jersey Roots

Back in those days before the Internet, when things were simpler, Vivino recalls the happening New Jersey music scene where he matured as a performer along with Bruce Springsteen of Locals 47 and 399 (Asbury Park, NJ), Jon Bon Jovi of Local 204-373 (New Brunswick, NJ), Richie Sambora of Locals 47 and 399, and Southside Johnny. “Everybody played and they knew everybody. All these guys were on the scene and playing clubs up and down the Jersey coast,” he says.

Vivino says he got his first big break from Allan Pepper who was manager of The Bottom Line in New York’s Greenwich Village. “I would come in every few weeks with a different act, backing up Phoebe Snow or my brother Floyd with his review,” says Vivino. “He [Pepper] came up to me and said, ‘I noticed you put a lot of bands together; I’ve got an idea for a show.’”

That show was Leader of the Pack (1984), about the life of songwriter Ellie Greenwich and her music. On the show, Vivino worked with Paul Shaffer of Local 802 whom he credits with showing him “how to listen to a rock and roll band from the bass and drums up.”

“He was putting the rhythm charts together and I was doing all the sweetening, so I learned a lot about band leading from Paul,” says Vivino. “He was very busy; this was 31 years ago so Letterman was in about its second season. I had never met anybody quite like Paul who was so good at getting the best out of players.”

Late Night

Vivino has been guitarist, arranger, and music director for Conan’s shows since the first Late Night with Conan O’Brien back in September 1993. He was recruited by Conan’s original bandleader, Max Weinberg. Vivino took over as bandleader when Conan moved from New York to Los Angeles in 2008. Due to Weinberg’s other “part-time” job on the East Coast (as drummer for The Boss) he couldn’t relocate. Vivino refers to his bandmates in The Basic Cable Band—Scott Healy (keyboard); Mike Merritt (bass); Mark Pender (trumpet, acoustic guitar, vocals); Richie “LaBamba” Rosenberg (trombone, tambourine); Jerry Vivino (saxophone, flute, clarinet); and James Wormworth (drums)—as his brothers. He’s played with Merritt, Wormworth, Healy, and of course, his real brother Jerry, for 30-plus years. LaBamba and Pender came from Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. All of them are now Local 47 members, though a few have held onto their Local 802 affiliation as well.

Leader of the Band

“Trusting the people you hire and hiring the right people are two very important things,” Vivino says. “As a leader, the best thing to do is nothing really, and let it happen around you.”

He describes his job as unlike any other 9 to 5. Typically, the show’s writers come up with a bunch of ideas by the time Vivino arrives in the morning. “I love the fact that the writers are intuitive and impulsive because comedy is something that you can’t plan. It depends on what happens in the news; there might be a spark of an idea that just explodes. It’s a lot like improvisation—fly by the seat of your pants—and that’s what keeps it exciting.”

One of the major differences with cable versus network TV shows is the amount of writing that goes on. “We don’t just go and pay millions of dollars a year for third party music because we don’t have the budget, so I get to write it,” Vivino explains. “Stylistically, I might have to write an orchestral piece, heavy metal, and then new age yoga/cool down music. There are so many facets to the stuff we have to deal with on a show like this.”

“My favorite is when somebody says we need a disco piece like something from the ’70s—man, I’m all over that!” he adds. “Disco was great—overblown strings, horns, guitars; it was this big bloated machine in the ’70s that sounds really great when I hear it now.”

“Walking onto the Warner Bros. lot every day is like a dream come true; in our very studio they shot Casablanca and The Goonies and that’s what I feel my life is like, too—everything between Casablanca and The Goonies!” he laughs.

Along with all the creativity that goes into the show, Vivino truly enjoys working for host Conan O’Brien. “He loves music and having live music is very important to him; I can’t stress enough how great that is,” says Vivino.

The show’s guests are another perk. He’s met and performed with some of his musical heroes, among them: B.B. King, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, Hank Williams, Jr., Willie Nelson of Local 433 (Austin, TX), Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton, Ruth Brown, Bonnie Raitt of Local 47, Pete Townshend, Chuck Berry of Local 2-197 (St. Louis, MO), and Ray Davies.

Though Vivino admits that playing with musicians he has long respected, like Pete Townshend or Willie Nelson, can be intimidating at first, it’s a blast. “I would say that everybody I’ve ever played with here has always been a joy,” he says.

Energy on demand

Aside from accompanying various skits, intros, outros, and cues, one of the jobs of The Basic Cable Band is to keep the audience pumped during commercial breaks. “We are here to entertain and we don’t stop,” he says. “Energy is the most important thing to keep the audience warmed up. You have to know how to read the audience. It’s not about how great you play; it’s the energy you give off and people understanding what you are playing. It’s a process, and the hour goes by so quickly because we have so much fun.”

According to Vivino, among the hardest things to get used to in playing for a show like Conan is the need to stop a song on a dime. “We stop anywhere in a song, maybe not even in a logical place. When the camera moves towards Conan there’s a point where you have to stop. The band gets very good at that, but it’s the hardest thing for people to get used to,” says Vivino. “Max used to call it ‘Lifting the needle off the record at any point.’”

“You have to pay attention,” he continues. “The stage manager counts us in to the commercial. I pick up my cue from when Conan says, ‘We’ll be right back’; I have to be careful not to step on him. It’s a little awkward at first getting that timing together, but it’s a flow that happens with a bandleader and host that you get used to.”

As much fun as it is, playing on Conan is still a job. After the workday ends around 6:00 p.m. or so, the Basic Cable Band members go out and play. “My brother goes over to the Baked Potato and blows his brains out playing bebop; for me, it’s the blues; Scott Healy has a nine-piece band he arranges for; LaBamba has a big band; Mike Merritt plays with Rock and Candy Funk Party with Joe Bonamassa. Everybody is doing different things outside of here,” says Vivino.

“I couldn’t just finish work here and at the end of the day go home,” he explains. Aside from solo work and some producing, Vivino plays with The Prisoners of 2nd Avenue, Rumble & Twang with Lee Rocker, The Barn Burners, The Rekooperators, Jimmy Vivino & the Black Italians, as well as the successful Beatles tribute band The Fab Faux.

On the Cover

John Williams: Back Again to a Galaxy

May 28, 2015 IM

The scene opens on a black screen. From the depths of inaudibility, a single eerie string chord rises to underpin the image of a windswept desert landscape.

Instantly, we know where we are: a desert planet much like the homeworld of Luke Skywalker. And, equally importantly, we know who wrote that unmistakable chord: John Williams, the legendary composer of the soundtracks for all six (soon to be seven) installments of the Star Wars saga.

It’s probably fair to say that a significant portion of the American public was waiting impatiently for the debut of this first of two trailers advertising the Christmas release of The Force Awakens, the latest Star Wars chapter. It’s an equally fair bet that Williams’ music played a big role in that anticipation. Every bit as important as the characters and scenes they portray, Williams’ soundtracks have tended to take on a life of their own in every film he has scored in a career spanning more than six decades, and incorporating a filmography fast approaching the century mark.

With the film’s premiere still months away, recording sessions for The Force Awakens are just getting started, with the initial sessions slated for the first week of June. Williams tackled earlier recordings for both trailers, with the second trailer being released several weeks ago to add to the mounting excitement around Star Wars VII. Williams says sessions will continue through August, possibly into September. “Then it’s back and forth with editing,” he says. The music will be recorded over several months while working in tandem with the film’s editorial and special effects teams on the West Coast. “At the moment I’m working on composing the music, which I started at the beginning of the year. I’ve been through most of the film reels, working on a daily basis.”

Old School Approach

John Williams, a life member of Locals 9-535 (Boston, MA) and 47 (Los Angeles), is the winner of five Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and 22 Grammys, and has composed many of the most popular and recognizable film scores in cinematic history. He meticulously crafts themes that virtually become living, breathing characters in their own right. But it may come as a surprise that the man who writes music for space pirates and evil galactic empires prefers a fairly old-fashioned method of composition. “I work very much in what some would consider old school,” he says, “in front of the keyboard with pencil and paper. The piano is my favorite tool. Over the decades there has been so much amazing technological change in the music business, but I’ve been so busy that I never really retooled.”

Williams explains that it used to be standard practice for a film composer to write music that was then passed off to assistants to flesh out for full orchestra. By contrast, he typically composes fully orchestrated sketches, eight to 10 lines indicating winds, brass, strings, and percussion. “The music library then transfers these directly to a computerized score from which instrumental parts are made,” he says. “We can reprint parts, edit as needed, change the bowings, etc.” He admits the irony is not lost on him that his work quickly becomes state of the art despite its more traditional beginnings.

Somewhat surprisingly, Williams prefers not to read scripts before he tackles writing his first ideas on a score. “I’ve always preferred to write only to footage,” he says. A little like a set designer, he writes music according to a story’s mood and setting, and the feeling that a particular scene might be trying to convey. The process starts with a “spotting” session, deciding in meetings with the director which scenes will feature music and which will not. For four decades, Williams has enjoyed a fruitful (to say the least) collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, and—for most of the previous Star Wars films—George Lucas as director and/or screenwriter. For The Force Awakens, Star Wars newcomer J.J. Abrams is in the director’s chair.

“J.J. Abrams has been a joy,” says Williams, expressing his delight with the working relationship so far. “He’s a very genial, warm person. We had a few preliminary meetings and I played themes on the piano to which he responded very positively. By and large he has allowed me to do my thing, and our minds have been together on our approach to the scoring.”

Once Abrams has the music in hand, the film will be edited. “Neither of us will see the final version with the special effects until much later,” Williams continues. “Any music changes that need to be done are made later in the editing process, which sometimes involves some rerecording.” Every shot requires thousands of adjustments. “It’s a two-hour-plus journey of complex details that all interrelate, with music being only one of them,” he adds. Tempo, dynamics, instrumental effects—all need to be married to what is happening in the screen images. Williams feels that when the desired effect is achieved, all those long hours of work should be unseen and unnoticed. “The final product, the finished film, has to feel seamless and natural, as with everything we do. Time is just one of the necessary ingredients in the process.”

Music as Character

Film music’s traditional role has been to set a mood, but remain subservient to the screen action. In many cases, this role also included the subtle underpinning of a particular character to reinforce personality traits—or quirks. In the case of the Star Wars films, Williams has aimed to raise the music to the level of a story character in its own right. As with his approach to composing, the technique used to achieve this goal looks back to an earlier time: that of 19th century opera composer Richard Wagner and his concept of the leitmotif, a recurring theme throughout the opera that becomes associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.

Wagner’s four Ring operas, not unlike the Star Wars saga, are massive in scope and reach, with literally dozens of characters that need to be remembered and differentiated. Each character (and sometimes a nonliving story element) is given its own particular identifying theme, the leitmotif. In four operas lasting up to six hours each, Wagner utilized more than 90 of these themes to tie together story and characters. Thus it is with the galaxy-spanning Star Wars films, where from the outset Williams linked Darth Vader inexorably to a dark, unstoppable march, while Princess Leia’s regal beauty is given voice by solo flute and horn. Even the Force, the unseen mystical power binding together the Star Wars galaxy, is given its own special snippet of music. Over the course of the next five films, most of the regular Star Wars characters come to be immediately identified by the particular themes that Williams has created for them.

Williams says he plans to continue the use of leitmotifs in the new film. “While the majority of the music is also new, there are necessary references to early story lines, which helps create association with the previous films,” he explains. “So the music will look back in spots to the earlier films, but there are also new themes that will be applied in a similar way.”

So it would seem that even though film composition has changed radically in the last half-century, there are some techniques that will always find a use. This blending of old and new is something of a recurring theme with Williams, and that includes where he sees film music heading in succeeding generations. In the ’40s and ’50s, serious composers routinely wrote film music. While this isn’t the case so much these days, he sees the next generation of composers returning to it. “Philip Glass, for example, has been quite involved in writing film music, and this has helped get other composers more interested in the possibilities in writing for film,” he points out. “In the future, I think serious composers will become even more interested. Changes in technology also help change aesthetic approaches. More connections between the audio and visual world also open up possibilities that young composers find increasingly intriguing.”

First Class Musicians

A living, breathing score takes talented musicians to bring it to life. After six previous film soundtracks being recorded in the UK with the London Symphony Orchestra, The Force Awakens marks the first Star Wars soundtrack to be recorded on American shores, utilizing musicians from AFM Local 47. “With this new film, the schedule has evolved to the point that I’ll need to be working with the orchestra continuously for several months, and that’s obviously easier for me to do here in Los Angeles, than it would be in London.”

“We are thrilled that this is the first Star Wars soundtrack to be recorded in the US,” says Sandy DeCrescent, who has contracted Local 47 musicians for Williams’ film scores for many decades. “So much music before this was disappearing overseas, and John has been a moving force in bringing the work back to American musicians.”

Williams says he feels very privileged to be working with the freelance orchestra in Los Angeles, an ensemble he knows well. “This group is made up of a pool of freelancers in Southern California. I’ve worked with them for decades now on a variety of films, and I am friends with most of them. They consistently come together to form a fabulous orchestra, and I’m always happy and proud to be reunited with them for these projects.”

Trumpet player Jon Lewis is a member of the freelance orchestra, and he says the experience is off to an incredible start with the recording of the two trailers. “The first trailer was the first time any of this music was recorded in LA,” says Lewis. “We had the pleasure of running the original Star Wars main titles for a ‘warm-up,’ as John called it. What a thrill that was, and it was such an amazing sound to hear coming out of the Sony scoring stage that day—as near perfection as I’ve ever heard.”

Stephen Erdody, Williams’ principal cellist for the last 16 years, agrees, adding that the working process with Wiliams is always efficient and rewarding. “John is an outstanding musician, an amazing orchestrator, and he has the best ears in the business,” Erdody enthuses. “The two trailer sessions were each three hours long, and all of us take great pride in our speed of recording and our ability to adjust and make changes to improve the final product as quickly as possible.”

“The pressure to get things right is always there in any recording session, and I think the Los Angeles musicians meet that challenge better than anywhere else in the world,” explains Lewis. Aside from small changes or balancing adjustments, each and every take is as presentable as the next.”

“When that red light goes on, it’s 100% focus and attention to producing an amazing performance,” adds horn player Andrew Bain.

For flutist Heather Clark, the experience of working with Williams has an added element of pressure. “The amazing flutist Louise DiTullio has played principal flute for John Williams the past 40 years, and it’s an honor and a great responsibility to fill such big shoes on a huge movie playing for a legendary composer who continues to raise the bar on film music. It will be the experience of a lifetime.”

All four musicians agree that the thrill of being part of an American cultural icon far outweighs any pressures and stresses of recording sessions. Says Erdody, “A few days after I graduated from Juilliard in 1977, I saw Star Wars and it changed the way I watched and listened to movies from that day forward. That score had an enormous impact on me, and I can’t believe some 38 years later I will be a part of the next installment.”

“I’m still so in love with this business, and to be the first American orchestra to play for a Star Wars movie is beyond exciting for all of us,” says Lewis. “I think the entire movie industry underwent a major shift due to the grand score that John Williams composed for the original movie. The trend of movie music shifted back to full orchestras, and for several decades since, the role of music in film has been far more important than ever before.”

As Williams loves his LA musicians, he has similar high praise for orchestra musicians elsewhere across the US. Over the past two decades since his 13 years at the helm of the Boston Pops, he says he has conducted as many American orchestras as he could possibly manage with his schedule. In particular, Williams feels a responsibility to be involved in benefits for AFM musicians’ pension funds and also for educational outreach programs. “We have so many orchestras in this country that are truly world class,” he says. “All of them are fabulous. It makes me realize that, although our country is geographically larger than most, we really do have more amazing orchestras than any other place.” He believes this speaks to the success of American music education. “We can all take great pride as a nation in the number of fabulously high-level arts institutions in this country, and we don’t praise them nearly enough,” he says.

“There are obviously great orchestras and schools all around the world, but we can be so very proud of what American schools produce here every single year. We don’t celebrate this enough, and we absolutely need to be more vocal about it.”

On the Cover

Allen Toussaint Reveals Why He’d Never Leave the Big Easy

March 25, 2015 IM

There’s something magical about New Orleans and its connection to music and musicians. Through the good times and the bad times the music plays on and the city retains its charm. Musician elders pass down their traditions to the next generation, much like their parents and grandparents did before them.

Pianist, producer, and songwriter Allen Toussaint, longtime member of Local 174-496 (New Orleans, LA), is one such musician. “I love everything about New Orleans,” he says. “I was born and raised here and I will always be here. I still walk around New Orleans and enjoy what I see; I enjoy what I feel. It’s just a charming place to be and I’m glad I haven’t outgrown the charm.”

The street musicians still go in front of Jackson Square and check out a bench, pull out their horns, and start playing. It’s not traveling musicians; its musicians that came up here, just like Louie Armstrong did, and a whole lot of other greats from the past,” he says. “And that music that you thought you would like to hear if you got to New Orleans? When you get here, you can really hear it.”

Studying Up and Signing Up

As a child, Toussaint, was inspired by the music all around him. He began teaching himself to play the family piano at about age six. When he first showed interest and ability his mom enrolled him in a classic junior school of music, but she had to give up on the idea after six or seven lessons. “The boogie woogie already had me,” he laughs.

Toussaint knew from a young age that he wanted to have a career in music. He taught himself to play whatever he heard, both on the streets and in recordings. Among his early influences were Local 174-496 members Fats Domino and producer/arranger Dave Bartholomew, Ray Charles, and boogie woogie players like Albert Ammons and Pinetop Perkins.

However, his biggest influence was Professor Longhair, or simply Fess. Toussaint was drawn to his music. “So many things were like so many other things, but Professor Longhair was totally unique,” explains Toussaint. “He played with such demand—his voice and his whole vernacular. Plus, there was a strong element of New Orleans. He mixed with junka and he had rumbas in his left hand. It was really hip to bring those worlds together. Every new record he came out with I got it and studied it. It was very, very important.”

Toussaint took learning music very seriously. He wanted to be ready when it came his time to play. To prepare, he learned all of the popular songs of the day and he joined the AFM. “I joined the musicians union when I was about 15 because I didn’t want anything to be in the way of me performing anywhere I’d ever be called,” he says.

Subbing for Huey

Toussaint’s first big break came when he was just 17. “Earl King had a performance in Pritchard, Alabama, and Huey Smith had taken ill and couldn’t make it,” recalls Toussaint. King’s saxophonist knew Toussaint “as a young pianist around town who knew all the songs of the day on the radio” and they called him to sub.

He met the band at the Dew Drop Inn and they went straight to Pritchard for the gig, no rehearsal. “I knew Earl King’s repertoire very well and I had a very good time,” says Toussaint. “That was my rite of passage from the teenage world to the adult world, even though I was too young to be in that kind of club.”

“That introduced me to the Dew Drop set,” continues Toussaint, explaining that the Dew Drop Inn was New Orlean’s answer to the Cotton Club. It was where all the musicians congregated before they went out to perform. From there, other gigs happened, and a couple years later he replaced Smith in the same band, which was now backing the duet Shirley and Lee. “That was my first time touring,” he says.

Toussaint recalls the special feeling of camaraderie among New Orleans musicians. “It wasn’t a competition; we shared licks with each other; we shared ideas. There was what we called ‘turn-backs’ in music. You might see someone you hadn’t seen in awhile and you would say, ‘Hey, share a turn-back with me.’ We were very glad to know that others were on the scene and what they were doing.”

“I think it’s still pretty much like that,” he explains. “We certainly feel a heritage within each of us. New Orleans has a certain pace and all, an innate thing that is felt without saying words. I’ve always felt that and I still feel that, even with very young musicians.”

Songs from Behind the Scenes

Toussaint’s first recording was for RCA in 1958, and featured his composition “Java,” later a hit for trumpeter Al Hirt. Toussaint most enjoyed the behind the scenes work of songwriting, arranging, and producing. By the early ’60s he was session supervisor for Minit and Instant Records, writing and producing singles for local artists.

But just as his career started to pick up steam, he was drafted into the military for two years. At the time, he worried it would affect his blossoming career. “I thought everyone who was doing what I do was way around the track because they’d been on the case and I’d been on hiatus,” he says. “That was the only time in my life that I tried to write a hit song. I wrote the song ‘Ride Your Pony’ because I thought all the other horses were all the way around the track.”

In the end, his talents for producing and songwriting allowed him to resume his career pretty quickly. “Ride Your Pony” became a hit for Lee Dorsey in 1965, and Toussaint has since racked up hits for artists ranging in genre from pop to R&B to country.

Toussaint partnered with promoter Marshall Sehorn and launched Sea-Saint recording studio. There he produced and wrote for artists like Lee Dorsey, the Meters, Dr. John, and others who drew heavily on New Orleans traditions.

Over the years, Toussaint’s timeless songs have been recorded and rerecorded. For example, his tune “A Certain Girl” written for and released by Ernie K-Doe (1961), was later covered by the Yardbirds (1964), as well as Warren Zevon (1980). “Fortune Teller,” first recorded by Benny Spellman (1962), was later covered by The Rolling Stones (1966), The Who (1970), The Hollies (1972), and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (2007). Songs like “Get Out of My Life, Woman” and “Play Something Sweet (Backyard Blues)” have been performance favorites for bands from around the globe.

As a producer and songwriter Toussaint is particularly skilled at bringing out the best in whatever artist he works with. “My habit has always been to write for particular artists. I listen to them a bit to hear what I think could be highlights in their voice, how they feel about themselves, how expressive they would like to be. It’s for that particular person, as if I was making a gown or suit,” he explains.

Among Toussaint’s favorite covers of his songs are Herb Alpert’s “Whipped Cream” (1965), Al Hirt’s “Java” (1964), and Glen Campbell’s “Southern Nights” (1977). “I do love all the versions of every song of mine I ever heard, whether they are removed from where I may have had them originally, or if they are almost verbatim,” he says. “I just feel so grateful that someone cared enough about a song that I wrote to take it to their own heart, live with it, learn it, and then have it come out of them. That’s a wonderful miracle collaboration to me.”

“I never thought of myself as a stage performer,” continues Toussaint. “I’ve always thought of myself as the one behind the scenes. If there was a band, I would be the one to listen to the recordings of songs we are going to do and arrange the music.”

Over the years Toussaint has been involved in numerous hometown productions, performances, and projects, serving as arranger and musical director. In 1996, he launched NYNO Records with New York radio syndicator Joshua Feigenbaum to record and distribute the roots and R&B music of New Orleans and “paint a musical portrait of the city.”

Emerging from the Storm

Fifty years into his career, Hurricane Katrina abruptly changed everything for Toussaint. He rode out the storm at the French Quarter’s Crown Hotel and then evacuated the city four days later, having lost his home, studio, and all of his possessions except what he’d brought with him—the clothes on his back and his irreplaceable personally recorded videos. On Feingenbaum’s suggestion Toussaint fled to New York City. He had no real plan.

“I did several benefit concerts to survivors of our area and that exposed me to more performances than I had ever done in my life on my own,” he says. “I must say that it’s been quite rewarding, but that’s not how my life was going before Katrina.”

Despite having to live outside the city he loved for two years, and losing his home, today Toussaint focuses on the positive outcome. “I perform quite a bit now in comparison with before Katrina, and I must say it’s been quite gratifying,” he says. “It’s really wonderful because all my time was spent in the studio, and though I was very comfortable there, the final analysis is that we are trying to reach people when we record, write, and arrange. When we are on stage, there the people are, right there. It feels so much more like music was intended to be. It gives you such a more human aspect to the whole process.”

Throughout his career, Toussaint says his decision to join the union has served him well. “There are some places that the pay and all was very secure because the union was definitely on the case,” he says. “One of the best unions in the world is Local 802 (New York City). They really take care of business and see that things are intact and benefiting musicians as much as possible.”

After 60 years in the industry, Toussaint thoughtfully looks back at how the business has changed in recent years due to digital technology, and how those changes impact the culture of music in the Big Easy. “New Orleans is affected by musical changes, as well. Nowadays you can turn on one button and the whole world hears the same thing, at the same time,” he says. “New Orleans has held onto its own traditions as well as it could in the midst of so much technology. Even though they can hear the world playing back at them on television, radio, and the Internet, musicians here are playing the New Orleans traditional music that they got from someone a bit older than them, in New Orleans.”

“They hold past members who have gone on as deities, which is very important,” he continues. “It preserves the richness of the music and the intent of it in the earlier days. You could not know that the early music existed unless you take it to your heart and live in an environment where others are playing it just

On the Cover

Life in Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Bubble

February 25, 2015 IM

Gordon Goodwin is humbled when he looks back at where his career has taken him—he’s scored dozens of films and television shows from the late 1970s to today and toured the world with his wildly successful Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. The musician, composer, bandleader, and Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) member says he has achieved success beyond his wildest dreams.

“To see my name on a list of Grammy nominees, right next to John Williams, and people like that, I can’t get used to it and I don’t want to get used to it,” he says, referring to his fourth Grammy win: Best Large Jazz Ensemble, for his Big Phat Band’s album Life in the Bubble. His other Grammy Awards came in 2005 for the instrumental arrangement of “Incredits” for the film The Incredibles, 2011 for an arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and 2013 for an arrangement of the legendary jazz tune “On Green Dolphin Street.”

“I think Life in the Bubble is probably the one I will treasure the most,” he says, explaining that this album was “from the ground up” his charts and the band’s performance. “I never would have predicted I would have 20 Grammy nominations, ever. I never thought that I would be able to do tours like I do of Asia, Europe, and Australia,” he adds.

Goodwin’s love for big band music began in 7th grade when he first heard the Sammy Nestico chart “The Queen Bee.” “It changed my life,” he recalls. “You could hear his love of music and love of life with every note. I remember the epiphany I had hearing that arrangement and realizing that that was what I wanted to do with my life.”

In 1978, following college, Goodwin began his career playing at Disneyland. “It was, and remains, a great place for a young musician to work and to learn how to be a professional, to learn how to play well, even when you don’t feel like playing well,” he says.

Another part of becoming a professional musician was joining the AFM. “I can remember getting the phone directory and just paging through and looking at all the famous names of my idols, and the thrill I felt—’wow, I’m in the same book as these guys’,” he recalls.

Goodwin’s first writing assignment was for a Disney musical show featuring past and present Mouseketeers and his first film score was Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. He’s since built a reputation in the industry for his skill in composing, arranging, and playing. He’s worked with people like Ray Charles, Johnny Mathis, Sarah Vaughan, Natalie Cole, and fellow Local 47 members John Williams, David Foster, and Quincy Jones, to name but a few.

A Band of His Own

Goodwin’s passion for big band music and its “optimism and buoyancy” led him to launch an 18-member big band in 1999. “I was working at Warner Bros. animation and I was making good money and winning Emmy awards. All that stuff was fantastic, but it wasn’t me,” he recalls thinking. “I realized that I may have more road behind me than I have ahead of me, and maybe I should have the courage to start writing music for me and I put together what was to become the Big Phat Band.”

He knew it was a risky venture. “I was mindful of the hostile cultural climate for this type of music, the economic challenges, and logistic challenges—the stuff that started to kill the big band environment the first time around,” he says.

“I knew I could get the music right, but I didn’t know if I could get the business right,” he continues. “Could I convince people that this music wasn’t just about nostalgia, or that it wasn’t elitist? That you could make jazz accessible and even entertaining? I was fighting the concept, even in the jazz community, that to market your music meant that you didn’t have artistic integrity. I felt you could do both, and as a matter of fact, you had to.”

Even with the right combination of music and marketing, the numbers didn’t always stack up. “It’s been a balancing act where I work in film or TV and get paid a little better money that I can then use to finance my big band,” he explains. “I don’t think I could have done it had I not had other opportunities in the music business.”

And the 18 members of the Big Phat Band also sacrifice to be part of the lineup. Like Goodwin, they take on other projects to subsidize their big band “habits.” “I’m not competing with other big bands,” Goodwin says of maintaining personnel. “I’m competing with the Oscars, six weeks of Wicked at the Pantages, or a one-week film date. I’m going to pay them $500 for a gig and they are going to turn down $5,000? And sometimes they do it; they turn other work down because they believe that it’s important to be a kind of a link in the chain of big band music.”

Big Phat Philosophy

To allow band members flexibility every chair has a sub. Each must be a top notch player, but also adopt the Big Phat Band’s musical philosophy. “It’s a willingness to put your ego aside and be a member. Not everyone is willing to do that,” says Goodwin. “The guys in the band are uniquely suited to play my stuff. The music is written with those players in mind. They constantly surprise me in the ways they add depth and nuance to the charts. A composer can have no greater gift than to stand up in front of musicians like these.”

Aside from philosophy, Goodwin hires only AFM members for the Big Phat Band. “Let’s face it, if you want to get the best of the best you’re going to go to the AFM. There’s little doubt about that,” he says.

Musically, Goodwin’s Big Phat Band presents upbeat big band music in fun arrangements mixed with funk, swing, Latin, classical, rock, and more. The repertoire is a big hit with audiences around the world. “I love all those genres. What’s common is an optimism and positive outlook and an awareness that to be on stage is a gift.”

“I think I have one responsibility and that is to write music that sounds good to me, not to fans or critics,” he adds. “People can hear some intangible difference in music that has integrity from an honest point of view and music that is just kind of well-crafted. Music is what inspires me. I’ll listen to it and soak it up. Then, I’ll write something that has the essence of that music, but has our point of view.”

The Big Phat Band’s latest album’s title, Life in the Bubble, is a fun commentary on modern culture. “I think we tend to construct bubbles around us where we [for example] think everybody must love big band music because I love it and everybody in my bubble loves it,” he explains. “I remember, when I was a kid, radio stations didn’t have the same kind of corporate playlist that they do now. It would be up to each disc jockey to play a wide range of stuff. Life in the Bubble is reflective of the Big Phat Band’s philosophy where, even though we came out of Count Basie, we don’t just play swing music, we play funk, rock and roll, and even hoedown.”

Finding Balance

Over the years, Goodwin has scored or orchestrated numerous films and television shows. Some of the projects he’s worked on include: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Escape to Witch Mountain, Get Smart, Glory Road, National Treasure, Remember the Titans, Armageddon, The Majestic, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, Enemy of the State, and Star Trek Nemesis.

But among his personal highlights are projects he did at Warner Bros. with Steven Spielberg. Animated shows like Pinky & the Brain and Animaniacs, allowed him to combine his passion for music with a lifelong love of animation. “We were emulating the music of Carl Stalling who was a composer for Bugs Bunny and those cartoons, on the same stage where Carl Stalling stood, with the same piano. That music was a really good match for what I believed in. It was a thrill,” says Goodwin. Other favorite animated projects were The Incredibles (2004) and the big band score for the Daffy Duck Christmas movie Bah, Humduck! (2006).

“Those are the projects I am attracted to; they have a synergy in terms of the musical values—not only in what the music sounds like, but the role of music in film. Those directors were not afraid to turn the music up. Music is a character in the film,” he says, adding, “Nowadays, that is not the norm. Film scores are more sound designed; if the music intrudes too much as a specific character the directors feel it impinges on reality.”

This change, combined with the success of his Big Phat Band, has seen Goodwin spending less time doing scoring work these days. “I think the word that I’ve become hyper aware of lately is balance, finding balance in my music and balance in my life,” says Goodwin. “When I started the Big Phat Band in 1999, and declared who I was, balance started to come into my life. Now I’m at the stage where I’ll get called for other gigs because they’ve heard about the Big Phat Band.”

“Putting yourself out there and in new situations is how you keep growing, and how you stay young,” he says. “I strike a balance between working on projects where I know the road ahead, and others where the path is less clear,” he explains. “I am attracted to projects where the music can really make an impact.” Recent projects include writing two string quartets for Quartet San Francisco last year. He’s currently working on some pieces for a clarinet trio to debut at the Detroit Jazz Festival and a major piece for the Cape Cod Symphony to premiere in the fall.

The Big Phat Band will release a Christmas album in 2015 and will be touring in France and Australia, as well as hosting a summer jazz camp in Tokyo. Goodwin has also recorded an album with a seven-member subset of the Big Phat Band, the Little Phat Band.

“I still have genuine wonderment that all this is happening,” he says. “Commit to your life and good things happen. If you give your 100% best effort that’s all anybody can ask.”