Mark Berman

Last updated

Mark Berman is a New York City pianist, composer, producer, conductor, music director and arranger.

Contents

Music career

Berman has performed with Aretha Franklin, Blood Sweat & Tears, Carole King, Gladys Knight, Hugh Jackman, Illinois Jacquet, Ben E King, Jackie McLean, Cornelius Bumpus, Buster Poindexter, Clark Terry, Lesley Gore, Richie Havens, Helen Reddy, Jennifer Holliday, Phil Ramone, Chita Rivera, Phoebe Snow, and Eartha Kitt.

On Broadway, he conducted Rent , Smokey Joe's Cafe , and Blood Brothers and played lead piano in the orchestras of The Boy From Oz , Hairspray , Dreamgirls , Brooklyn The Musical , Jesus Christ Superstar , 42nd Street , The Life , Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark , and others including the Public Theater of New York's production of Hair in Central Park in 2008 and its Broadway revival in 2009. He has also written additional music, a classical pas-de-deux, for Fame the Musical . He was the assistant music director and pianist for the Broadway production of Bullets Over Broadway .

He is represented off-Broadway by his original music compositions for the acclaimed revival of Sidney Howard's comedy/drama The Late Christopher Bean , directed by Jenn Thompson for TACT at the Beckett. [1] He also music directed, conducted and played piano for the New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Seeing Stars, a new musical set in the world of boxing, written by Don and Jeff Breithaupt with a book by Shelley McPherson, also directed by Jenn Thompson. [2]

His piano and keyboard playing can be heard on the theme of the HBO series Sex and the City . Berman has written additional music for the program and can be seen on an episode. [3] He has also written music for Bravo, the Food Network, Nurse Jackie , the Showtime series and a variety of network daytime series.

Among Berman's television appearances are The Today Show , Good Morning America , The Rosie O'Donnell Show, PBS, and a variety of soap operas.

He has performed in jazz clubs around the world including The Blue Note, Rainbow Room, Birdland, The Cutting Room, B.B. King's, the Supper Club and Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center. Berman has appeared at Weil Hall at Carnegie Hall, at Merkin Hall at Lincoln Center, and can be heard on numerous recordings.

Berman has also written and produced commercial jingles for the Campbell Soup Company, Armour hot dogs and Sara Lee.

In 2006, Berman was music director of Jam & Spice, a "jazzy" Kurt Weill revue at the Westport Country Playhouse, in Westport, Connecticut. He received strong praise for his playing and conducting from Variety , [4] the Hartford Courant [5] and other publications.

He returned to the Westport Country Playhouse in the summer of 2007 to be music director of Being Alive, a musical based on the work of Stephen Sondheim but with arrangements in soul, blues, jazz, R & B, gospel and hip hop styles. Once again, he received critical acclaim for both his playing and music direction. [6]

Berman was music director, arranger, and orchestrator of Marcy in the Galaxy, a world premier musical presented by The Transport Group at the Connelly Theater in New York City.

Berman returned to the Westport Country Playhouse in 2008 to be the music director, lead pianist and the arranger of additional music for Hot n' Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration, directed by Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton. His piano playing was cited as "dazzling" by Variety. [7] Of his arrangement and musical direction of "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" Theatermania wrote, "the entire ensemble is flawless, with the Hi-Lo's-like harmonies a treat Porter himself would have praised." [8]

Berman has written the theme and additional music for Kidnapped by the Kids, which premiered on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey television network, on April 4, 2011. He also played piano on an episode of Royal Pains during season 3 on the USA Network in 2011.

The Genesis Project

His debut recording Mark Berman's The Genesis Project received widespread acclaim from broadcasters, musicians and the jazz press. Berman wrote, arranged and produced this jazz, R & B, and funk composition, based on the allegory of the seven days of Creation, but particularly evoking themes of ecology, human rights and peace. The CD was officially released with a full performance to a capacity audience on October 30, 2007, at Birdland in New York City. The work features some of the most prominent musicians in New York. According to Birdland, "The music weaves gracefully through many styles -- straight-ahead jazz to Samba, R&B, gospel, hip hop and Rock. The band expertly navigates these styles with great grooves and sensitivity. It's a thrilling musical ride." [9]

Berman was interviewed around the world at the time of the album's release (he was a featured guest on Voice of America radio). and received international recognition as a jazz artist. His music continues to be broadcast on radio stations, networks and syndicated programming both in the US and abroad.

Jazz critic Jonathan Widran wrote in Smooth Jazz Vibes, "The veteran NYC pianist and Broadway conductor explores the first chapter of the Bible with a witty, Manhattan Transfer-ish vocal harmony driven mix combining elements of rock, soul, samba, gospel and blues. This engaging set celebrates Judeo-Christian traditions while drawing attention to our connection to the earth itself."

Modern Drummer wrote: "A meditation on the book of Genesis in today's eco-battered world, Project features six vocalists negotiating daunting jazz harmonies with a kicking seven-piece band. Mark Berman shines as keyboardist, composer, and arranger, bridging jazz, R&B, and gospel, while ace drummers Clint de Ganon and Rocky Bryant deliver seamless, tight, aggressive drive and commanding pocket."

Selected recordings

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James P. Johnson</span> American pianist and composer

James Price Johnson was an American pianist and composer. A pioneer of stride piano, he was one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording, and like Jelly Roll Morton, one of the key figures in the evolution of ragtime into what was eventually called jazz. Johnson was a major influence on Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, and Fats Waller, who was his student.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stride (music)</span> Style of jazz piano music

Stride jazz piano, often abbreviated to stride, is a jazz piano style that arose from ragtime players. Prominent stride pianists include James P. Johnson, Willie "the Lion" Smith, Fats Waller, Luckey Roberts, Mrs Mills and Mary Lou Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lalo Schifrin</span> Argentine-American pianist and composer (born 1932)

Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elements alongside traditional orchestrations. He is a five-time Grammy Award winner, and has been nominated for six Academy Awards and four Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jefferson Mays</span> American actor

Lewis Jefferson Mays is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Obie Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Liebman</span> American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator

David Liebman is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Bauzá</span> Cuban musician and composer

Prudencio Mario Bauzá Cárdenas was an Afro-Cuban jazz, Latin, and jazz musician. He was among the first to introduce Cuban music to the United States by bringing Cuban musical styles to the New York City jazz scene. While Cuban bands had had popular jazz tunes in their repertoire for years, Bauzá's composition "Tangá" was the first piece to blend jazz harmony and arranging technique, with jazz soloists and Afro-Cuban rhythms. It is considered the first true Afro-Cuban jazz or Latin jazz tune.

<i>Forever Plaid</i> Off-Broadway musical revue

Forever Plaid is an Off-Broadway musical revue written by Stuart Ross, and first performed in New York in 1989 and now performed internationally.

Lewis Burr Anderson was an American actor and musician. He is widely known by TV fans as the third and final actor to portray Clarabell the Clown on Howdy Doody between 1954 and 1960. He famously spoke Clarabell's only line on the show's final episode in 1960, with a tear visible in his right eye, "Goodbye, kids." Anderson is also widely known by jazz music fans as a prolific jazz arranger, big band leader, and alto saxophonist. Anderson also played the clarinet.

Tazewell Thompson, is an African-American theatre director, the former artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse (2006–07) in Westport, Connecticut and the Syracuse Stage (1992–95) in New York state. Prior to that he was an assistant director at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. He is the Director of Opera Studies at Manhattan School of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Barton (composer)</span> Musical artist

Fred Barton is an American composer, lyricist, director, actor, singer, arranger, conductor, and pianist. He made his New York debut in 1982 as co-creator-arranger-performer-pianist in the original company of the long-running revue Forbidden Broadway, appearing in the New York, Los Angeles and Boston productions for 2,000 performances, and on the cast album for DRG Records. In 1985 the show won a Drama Desk Award. Forbidden Broadway ran for 27 years off-Broadway, and won a special Tony Award in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Calandra</span> Musical artist

Peter Calandra is a New York City-based composer and pianist. He is known for his work composing music for television and film as well as conducting and playing piano in Broadway and Off Broadway productions. The former includes the FIFA Men's and FIFA Women's World Cup themes for FOX Sports and, starting 2015, the themes for the Special Olympics World Games and Invictus Games for ESPN, in film, 13th Child (2002), Unknown Soldier (2004), Jellysmoke (2005), and BearCity 2: The Proposal (2012). He has also composed the music for the Kennedy Center Honors.

Joshua Rosenblum is an American composer, conductor, pianist, arranger, and music journalist. He has composed extensively for the concert hall as well as for musical theatre, and currently teaches Composing for Musical Theater at Yale University, his alma mater, as well as Conducting at New York University. As a pianist, he has performed frequently in the New York City area as soloist and accompanist, as well as in Broadway pit orchestras, and with the New York City Center Encores! Orchestra. He has conducted numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Wonderful Town, Falsettos, Miss Saigon, and Anything Goes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Amadio</span> Canadian jazz musician (1928–2020)

Albert Norman Benedict "Norm" Amadio was a Canadian jazz pianist, piano teacher, music coach, composer, arranger, session player, band leader and accompanist. For a span of fifty years he worked for the CBC as an orchestra leader and musical director for many TV series. In 1956, he became the first and only Canadian to play at the original Birdland in New York City and while playing opposite Duke Ellington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Spahn</span>

Thomas G. Spahn is a three-time Emmy Award-winning composer, Synthesizer Programmer for the 1996 Grammy Award nominated album by Eartha Kitt, "Back in Business", another Emmy Nomination in 2001 for Mastering Dizzy South America Tour, is an American musician born in Park Forest, Illinois and currently residing in New York City. Spahn is a longtime musical director and arranger and has worked with numerous musicians and composers on myriad projects, performances and recordings.

Max Morath is an American ragtime pianist, composer, actor, and author. He is best known for his piano playing and is referred to as "Mr. Ragtime". He has been a touring performer as well as being variously a composer, recording artist, actor, playwright, and radio and television presenter. Rudi Blesh billed Morath as a "one-man ragtime army".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rahn Coleman</span> Musical artist

Ronald Edward "Rahn" Coleman is an American record producer, musical director, arranger, orchestrator, composer, vocal coach, and pianist. Coleman was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in nearby Oakland, where he attended public school and began studying piano at age 4. He has also played oboe, clarinet, violin, English horn and pipe organ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin B. Winebold</span>

Kevin B. Winebold is a New York music director and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hector Martignon</span> Colombian pianist and composer

Hector Martignon is a Colombian pianist and composer of Italian descent living in New York City. Two of Martignon's albums have been nominated for a Grammy Award: Refugee (2007) and Second Chance (2010). Martignon is known for crossbreeding the improvisational language of Jazz with diverse musical idioms, such as Classical European, Latin American folklore and World Music. On its exhibit Latin Jazz, the Smithsonian Institution lists Martignon among the leading artists “exploring the regional sources of Latin Jazz”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Rhodes (musician)</span> Musical artist

George Arthur Rhodes was an American arranger, conductor, music director, pianist, and composer. He is most known for being Sammy Davis Jr.'s long-time music director, arranger, and conductor. Rhodes made history as a black music director by being the first to work for a major network and to work for a Las Vegas showroom. After being hired as a temporary pianist for Davis in 1955, Rhodes eventually became his principal arranger and conductor, working on his variety act, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, three of Davis' television specials, two musicals starring Davis, and three albums.

Billy Stritch is an American composer, arranger, vocalist, and jazz pianist. For many years, he was best known as a "confidant", music director, and piano player for Liza Minnelli.

References

  1. ↑ Broadway World website Archived 2009-11-06 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 2009-11-14
  2. ↑ Playbill.com Archived 2009-10-10 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 2009-11-14
  3. ↑ HBO.com, Music of Sex and the City, 2008
  4. ↑ Variety Review by Frank Rizzo, 2006-06-05
  5. ↑ "Testa Is the Spice of the Show", review by Malcolm Johnson, The Hartford Courant, 2006-06-06
  6. ↑ Variety Review by Frank Rizzo, 2007-08-27
  7. ↑ "Variety" Review by Frank Rizzo,2008-06-08
  8. ↑ "Theatermania" Review by David Finkle 2008-06-16
  9. ↑ Official Birdland website retrieved 2007-10-15
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.