L.A. Newsbriefs

Joel Goodman ’84 was nomi- premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film nated in the Outstanding Individual Festival and won Best Picture at the Achievement in a Craft: Music & Hollywood Reel Independent Film Sound category as part of the 33rd Festival. He also scored the short Annual News & Documentary Emmy dance film The Perfection of Anna, for Awards. The nomination was for his actress and director Elizabeth Gracen. score to the film Saving Pelican #895, a It will be screened at Sundance Film story that chronicles the journey of an Festival. The score features ethnic oil-soaked brown pelican in the after- flutes performed by Peter Gordon ’78. math of the 2010 British Petroleum oil Steven Corn ‘84, CEO and spill in the Gulf of Mexico. cofounder of digital distributor BFM Maddie Madsen ’89, who recently Digital, announced the release of the launched the company Current Music, new album Look Out Now! by the Ian Murray ’04 John Mayer ’98 (left) and Bob Reynolds ’00 produced the country song “Drinking Gaddabouts. This all-star group fea- Time” for 5 Alarm Music. The song is tures renowned singer/songwriter and As always, our L.A.-based alumni have Audio department which supports all featured in the movie The Watch, star- musician Edie Brickell, drumming great been busy in all quarters of the music their SFX, music, Foley, and voice-over ring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. Steve Gadd, bassist Pino Palladino, industry. Here’s a rundown of what a needs. His recent game credits include The recent scoring credits for com- and guitarist Andy Fairweather Low. few have been working on. Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, and poser Gunnard Doboze ’00 include Another recent release by BFM Composer Matthias Weber ’91 Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure, on which the 2012 Oscar-winning documen- was trumpeter John Daversa’s album was nominated in the Best Music cat- he served as the score supervisor for tary short Saving Face; Connected: An Artful Joy. egory at the 2012 Austrian Academy Hans Zimmer. Autoblogography About Love, Death & Saxophonist and composer Bob Awards for his score to Wolfgang Ian Murray ’04, the president Technology; and the HBO documen- Reynolds ’00 scored two episodes of Murnberger’s Third Reich–era feature of Migratory Music, launched the tary The Last Campaign, which was Leslie, a series for the WIGS YouTube My Best Enemy (Mein Bester Feind). Ovation Tower, the industry’s first nominated for a 2010 Academy Award. channel starring Catherine O’Hara Together with acclaimed singer/ live digital-music distribution and Pianist Bob Malone ’87 was part that was written and directed by best- songwriter and composer Lisbeth HD advertising kiosk. The technology of a monthlong European tour with selling author Mitch Albom. He also Scott, he co-composed the score for enables concertgoers to purchase and John Fogerty. Bruce Springsteen sat in made a new record called Underscore the award-winning Native American download studio-quality recordings of with the band at their London concert, featuring keyboardist Oli Rockberger drama “Shouting Secrets,” which won live performances at the venue. Now in front of 75,000 people. While in the ’02, guitarist John Shannon ’02, bassist its seventh Best Picture award on the installed in three Southern California United Kingdom, they also recorded a Janek Gwizdala ’00, and John Mayer festival circuit. venues, the platform’s inception track for the new Fogerty CD at Abbey ’96 on guitar. Sound designer Trevor Bresaw occurred during a Berklee Music Road Studios. Bob Malone is also work- That’s all for now. ’07, who has worked at Activision Business/Management class and was ing on a new CD. —Justine Taormino ’06 since 2008, was promoted to senior recently featured on KTLA, a local Composer Roger Bellon ’75 Alumni Regional Representative, L.A. audio designer in Activision’s Central news station. scored 186 Dollars to Freedom, which [email protected]

Trombone Legend Dick Nash: An Appreciation

The history of Berklee College of with one of the greatest brass teachers,” Peter Gordon Peter Music began in 1945, when founder Nash recalls enthusiastically. Lawrence Berk opened the college’s The year Nash spent at Schillinger predecessor, Schillinger House. It was House (which was renamed Berklee in the first American school to teach 1954), laid the foundation for a career jazz, the popular music of the day. that eventually led him to Los Angeles During those early years, the typical in the mid-1950s. His first break came student was a young professional who with the Freddy Martin band, play- wanted to take a year or so off from life ing six nights a week at the famous on the road to develop skills that could Ambassador Hotel. From there he made open new career opportunities. One his way into the studio world and even- such student was Dick Nash ’48, who tually to numerous movie-scoring ses- at the age of 19, chose to take a year off sions at Fox Studios under the direction The résumé of Boston-born trombonist Dick Nash ’48 lists 3,200 TV and movie score credits. from his developing career as a trom- of Alfred and Lionel Newman. bonist playing with Glen Gray’s Casa Nash met the young featuring the composer’s renowned military] service bands.” Loma Orchestra. when Mancini was still an orchestrator scores for , Breakfast at Dick Nash, who began his career in The year was 1948, and in Nash’s at Universal Pictures. When Mancini got Tiffany’s, Hatari!, Mr. Lucky, and Days Boston six decades ago, has more than own words, “I spent a year getting my his break as the composer for the movie of Wine and Roses. In Nash’s opinion, 3,200 film and television score record- jazz chops together, studying what The Glenn Miller Story, he featured Mancini “could write melodies like no ings to his credit. The modest 84-year J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding were Nash on the ballad “Too Little Time.” one else.” old trombonist, best known for his doing.” There were three ensembles Nash went on to establish a reputa- Nash also speaks fondly of his beautiful ballads, is truly a legend in the at Schillinger House at that time and tion for his gorgeous perfor- recording sessions with the late Jerry L.A. recording industry. Goldsmith, whom he describes as a Nash played lead trombone in all three. mances on such Mancini arrangements —Peter Gordon ’78 “very inventive composer,” and with During that year, he also worked on his as “My One and Only Love,” “Misty,” “Till Director of Berklee Center in LA sound with John Coffey, a renowned There Was You,” and “The Shadow of John Williams. Of Williams, he says: trombonist and member of the Boston Your Smile.” Nash recorded a total of 15 “John can really write for brass—you Symphony Orchestra. “I got to study albums with Mancini, including those know he was a trombone player in [U.S. Fall 2012 47