Tag "Natalie Cole"
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Interview with Jazz Pianist Roy Gerson
9-19-17 Pianist, arranger, educator, contractor Roy Gerson began picking out songs on the piano to amuse his blind grandmother when he was two years old, and he was playing with his father’s friends band when he was seven. His life was filled with music; studying classical music with his teacher and teaching himself jazz by listening to the music in his house and playing with the band. Although he “never had a plan,” it was always clear that music and specifically the piano would have a place in his life. Listen to the way a life that “never had a plan,” evolved into a life dedicated to making music; he arranged for Natalie Cole, and Lionel Hampton. Performed for Dustin Hoffman, Harvey Weinstein, Dan Rather, John Tuturro, Al Roker, Geana Davis, Donna Karen, Jeff Zucker, Patrick Swayze and Tony Bennett who was so impressed he managed Roy and got him his first album – That Gerson Person And hear cuts from tha Gerson Person and his other CD Gerson Swings Disney which includes vocals by Rosemary Cloney, Michael Feinstein and John Pizzarelli
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Audio Interview with Mike Lang Re-run Part 2
10-6-15 Audio Interview Part 2
In part two of my interview Mike Lang talks about how he evaluated his choices as a musician, how he discovered that there was a career for recording musicians, how he found his way into it and became one of its most successful players. Playing Jazz with Paul Horn, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Milt Jackson, Lee Konitz and Arturo Sandoval, Rock and Roll for Phil Spector and Marvin Gaye, more than 2000 film scores for Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, Elmer Bernstein, Hans Zimmer and accompaniment for Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Krall, John Lennon and Frank Zappa, to name a few. Listen to this self-deprecating man talk about his remarkable career saying “when people say I’m a legend, I say I’m a myth.” There is nothing mythical about Mike Lang, he is the real thing. At the end of this interview listen to him play an original piece on his own piano in his own living room, a rare opportunity.
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Interview with Pianist Mike Lang (Part 2)
6-24-14 – Audio Interview Part 2
In part two of my interview Mike talks about how he evaluated his choices as a musician, how he discovered that there was a career for recording musicians, how he found his way into it and became one of its most successful players. Playing Jazz with Paul Horn, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Milt Jackson, Lee Konitz and Arturo Sandoval, Rock and Roll for Phil Spector and Marvin Gaye, more than 2000 film scores for Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, Elmer Bernstein, Hans Zimmer and accompaniment for Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Krall, John Lennon and Frank Zappa, to name a few. Listen to this self-deprecating man he talk about his remarkable career saying “when people say I’m a legend, I say I’m a myth.” There is nothing mythical about Mike Lang, he is the real thing. At the end of this interview listen to him play an original piece on his own piano in his own living room, a rare opportunity to hear this extraordinary musician at work.
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