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Some people and web sites you should check out: Elmer Bernstein Over fifty years of writing for film, TV, records and a true master of melodic creativity. What more can I say? Above all, a gentleman whose endorsement I cherish. One of those guys that you'd love to have hanging out after a gig. Can you even imagine the stories he could tell about the business? Horace Silver The “Hardbop Grandpop” himself. I remember copying his tunes off the LPs for my brothers & I to play. What a jazz education. We worked up “Filthy McNasty” for our High School Spring concert and the H.S. principal wouldn't allow us to play it because of the title (don't you just miss the old days?). Needless to say, its always been a favorite of mine to play with school ensembles whenever I do clinics. Bud Shank A living legend who still plays his ass off. One of my heros and what an opportunity to have him grace the CD with his playing. Why isn't there a book on this guy? Johnny Mandel Child prodigy who started writing charts at age 13 and a master of the score whose harmonic sense is pure magic. I remember sitting on a bar stool at the China Song in NYC with Larry Wilcox after a run of the mill jingle session and his look of incredulity when I said I hadn't heard Mandel’s score for “Emily.” “B” movie and A++++++ score. This should be re-issued! Wayne Bergeron Plays most of the lead on the CD and his own big band offering as a leader and soloist,“You Call This A Living,”is in the finals for a Grammy. He got my vote. Andy Martin One of the finest trombone players in the business. I'd like to build a CD around his playing some day. Kim Richmond Another band leader, composer/arranger and soloist who graces the “Wild Side” CD. Kim has a Grammy nomination for his composition Precious Promises from his new CD release “Refractions.” He got my vote. Bill Cunliffe Joe La Barbera Clay Jenkins Tom Warrington Bob Sheppard What better way to produce a CD than to have guys that have played together for years. Bill, Tom, Shep, Clay and brother Joe made it easy to make music in such a short amount of time. These guys have so many credits among them that you'd kill hundreds of trees trying to list them. Check out their own CDs on Jazz Compass, Woody Herman Society The “Road Father” was just that to literally hundreds of sidemen and we hope to keep his name alive in the annals of jazz history. Buddy Rich Last but not least is Buddy. Everything you've heard about him is true and not true. If you’re a drummer and feeling a little cocky, check out a video of Buddy and then go practice. Writing for Buddy was probably the best experience a writer could have. I miss him and wish we had some band leaders out there that could nurture the great players we’re turning out of schools these days. It was Buddy who asked me to arrange “Walk on the Wild Side” in 1971 at Ronnie Scotts in London. I finally got it to him around 1986 (it’s a long story) and he played it frequently but never recorded it. I hope he likes the recording. |
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