Mark Berman
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Mark Berman is a New York City pianist, composer, producer, conductor, music director and arranger.
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[edit] 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, Leslie Gore, Richie Havens, Helen Reddy, Jennifer Holliday, Phil Ramone, Chita Rivera, and Eartha Kitt among others.
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 and others. He has also written additional music, a classical pas-de-deux, for Fame the Musical .
His piano and keyboard playing can be heard on the ubiquitous theme of the HBO series Sex and the City. Berman has written additional music for the program and can be seen on an episode[1]. He has also written music for Bravo, the Food Network and a variety of network daytime series.
Among Berman's television appearances are The Today Show and Good Morning America, the Rosie O’Donnell Show, PBS and a variety of soap operas.
He has played in jazz clubs around the world including The Blue Note, Rainbow Room, Birdland and the Supper Club, 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[2], the Hartford Courant[3] 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[4].
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 is slated to return to the Westport Country Playhouse on June 13, 2008 to be the music director of and the arranger of additional music for Hot n' Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration, directed by Tony Award winning actor James Naughton.
His debut recording is Mark Berman's The Genesis Project. 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."[5]
[edit] Selected recordings
- The Boy From Oz
- The Life
- The Genesis Project
[edit] References
- ^ HBO.com, Music of Sex and the City, 2008
- ^ Variety Review by Frank Rizzo, 2006-06-05
- ^ "Testa Is the Spice of the Show", review by Malcolm Johnson, The Hartford Courant, 2006-06-06
- ^ Variety Review by Frank Rizzo, 2007-08-27
- ^ Official Birdland website retrieved 2007-10-15
