Scoring a Quake

Composer Lee Holdridge attended the Los Angeles premiere of the recently televised NBC mini series 10.5, about a powerful earthquake. (l-r) Holdridge, who scored the music for the series, is pictured with 10.5 actors Beau Bridges and Fred Ward.

Norman Arnold

Featured in Daily Variety along with vet composer Hans Zimmer (The Last Samurai), newcomer Norman Arnold is becoming known as a world music specialist combining creative tech knowledge with percussion instruments and world music. The culmination of this musical style is a 2003 collaboration with Oscar-nominated director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) for a seven-part documentary entitled The New Americans. The score, recorded in Mexico City with members of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, is a modern collection of music encompassing styles from Mexico, India, Nigeria, The West Bank, and The Dominican Republic.

Arnold's contemporary pop work can be heard daily on a number of syndicated television shows including the current breakout hit Elimidate and for the Queen Latifah Show. Current shows for underscore include Extra, Ellen Degeneres, The Bachelor, and The Sharon Osbourne Show.

Arnold is also well known in international advertising circles as an award winning composer who blends hi tech music with international cultural sounds. His resume includes ad powerhouse agencies and clients like Mercedes Benz, Intel, IBM, Danny Glover, Sidney Portier and Pete Sampras.

Umphrey's McGee

Umphrey’s McGee has built up a strong midwestern following into a nationwide draw. They recently released Local Band Does Oklahoma (CD) and Live from the Lakecoast (DVD). These live releases display the impressive musicianship, which has garnered this Chicago-based band much attention with their guitar-heavy jams and melodic vocal work. Umphrey's McGee is Joel Cummins (keyboards, vocals), Brendan Bayliss (guitar, vocals), Ryan Stasik (bass), Andy Farag (percussion), Jake Cinninger (guitar, Moog, synthesizers, vocals) and Kris Myers (drums, vocals). Their originals span everything from rock to bluegrass, jazz to hair-metal. The band’s live shows are incredibly varied from show to show and feature a remarkable light show. These aspects make the releases a great complement to each other, especially since their shows are always steeped in improvisation. An example of this is that each night the band performs a segment called “Jimmy Stewart," a designated improvisational structure. These sections often act as a launching point for the band's marathon concerts.

The band's next studio effort, Anchor Drops, comes out June 29th on SCI Fidelity Records/Hanging Brains Music and will showcase their songwriting. They approached this album in a Beatlesque methodology of delivering simple songs with solid lyrics, leaving their explosive improvisations for the stage.

Umphrey's McGee got their start in 1997 in South Bend, IN and has been a relentless touring outfit ever since. Their grassroots marketing strategies and use of their dedicated fan base have helped their growth. By allowing their concerts to be taped and freely distributed on the Internet, the band has been able to draw large crowds in cities they have never played before. In the last year, they have begun making almost every show available for purchase on-site after the show and offered for download online within days through DiscLogic.com. For more info, visit Umphreys.com.

Jonathan Grossman

Born in New York and a graduate of Cornell University, Jonathan Grossman moved to Los Angeles in 1996 and formed a pop/folk band called Dogwood Moon. Over the next five years, the band performed over 1,000 shows in the US and Europe and released five independent CDs. Weary of the road, Grossman made a successful leap to being a modern film and TV composer in 2000. Several of his original songs were included on the hit show Judging Amy. Jonathan's most recent success came when he was hired by CBS/Sony Television to score the new drama Joan of Arcadia. The score to the show features both sparse acoustic guitar compositions and quirky pop ditties. The main title track is a cover of Joan Osborne's “One of Us," which Grossman produced at his studio, Jumbo Music Group Studios, in Santa Monica. Grossman is pictured with Joan of Arcadia's Amber Tamblyn.

Victor and Friends

Victor Vanacore recently arranged and conducted music for four tracks on an upcoming Ray Charles duets album for Concord Records. Pictured (standing, l-r) at the recording session are Concord Records producer John Burke, the late Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, ASCAP member Victor Vanacore and engineer Bob Fernandez.

Jazz Fest at Night: Garage a Trois

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is a daytime event, which also has an evening concert series component. Besides these ‘official events,’ New Orleans’ clubs are bumpin' with over 500 performances outside of the festival itself. For 8 years, Superfly Productions has hosted its own landmark “Superfly during Jazzfest” series filling dozens of venues. Here, eight-string guitar/bass wizard Charlie Hunter leads an all-star cast in the experimental funky-jazz groove group, Garage a Trois, as they play on one of Superfly’s unique riverboat shows cruising up the Mississippi River.