Steve Weisberg
Encyclopedia
Steve Weisberg, born 1963 in Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, is a composer/arranger/pianist and international recording artist/producer. In the 80's, after studying with Michael Gibbs
Michael Gibbs (jazz composer)
Michael Clement Irving Gibbs is a jazz composer, conductor, arranger and producer as well as a trombonist and keyboardist....

 at Berklee College in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Ma., he recorded the XtraWatt/ECM
ECM (record label)
ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...

 release "I Can't Stand Another Night Alone (In Bed With You)," produced by Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...

 and Steve Swallow
Steve Swallow
Steve Swallow is a jazz double bass and bass guitarist and composer born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.One of the leading bassists in jazz, Swallow is noted for collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley...

, recorded and performed with Karen Mantler
Karen Mantler
Karen Mantler is an American jazz musician, harmonca player, singer and composer. She is the daughter of Carla Bley and Michael Mantler....

 and her Cat Arnold
, and contributed arrangements for Hal Willner
Hal Willner
Hal Willner is an American music producer working in recording, films, TV and live events. He is best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles...

's Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill
Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill
Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill is a 1985 tribute album to German-American composer Kurt Weill. It was executive-produced by Hal Willner and John Telfer, and produced by Hal Willner and Paul M...

(A&M). He was also a member of infamous Boston band Sons of Sappho.

Through the end of the 80's and into the 90's, he performed in and around New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 with the prestigious Steve Weisberg & His Orchestra, a 13-piece ensemble consisting of New York's finest jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 luminaries and trend setters.

He spent the 90's performing with Flamin' Amy Coleman and acting as musical director for off-off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...

 musicals, including a 1995 run at La MaMa
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is an off-off Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, and named in reference to her. Located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the theatre grew out of Stewart's tiny basement boutique for her fashion designs; the boutique's space acted as a theatre for...

 in New York City's East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...

 with the critically acclaimed original musical, "The House of Nancy Dunn" (co-written with Andrew Craft, JJ Hickey, and Howard Pflanzer).

Weisberg re-emerged in 2002 to arrange for Hal Willner's Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen
Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen
Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen is a compilation tribute album of Harold Arlen songs, released by Sony in February 2003 as a companion album to the film of the same name...

(Sony). He moved to Los Angeles in 2003, and in 2004 continued to act as musical director/arranger for two Hal Willner events: "Shock & Awe: The Music of Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....

," featuring Los Lobos, Howard Tate, Gavin Friday, Victoria Williams, Vic Chestnutt, Stan Ridgeway and Van Dyke Parks, and "Let's Eat: A Tribute to the Firesign Theater," featuring John Goodman, George Wendt, Howard Hesseman, Todd Rundgren, Loudon Wainwright III, Chloe Webb and David Thomas (Pere Ubu).

In addition, he has contributed music to the films Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead is a 1995 crime film directed by Gary Fleder from a screenplay written by Scott Rosenberg. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Andy García, Christopher Lloyd, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Fairuza Balk, and Gabrielle Anwar.The film's title...

, Don't Say a Word, Impostor
Impostor (film)
Impostor is a 2002 American science fiction film based upon a short story of the same name, written by Philip K. Dick in 1953.-Plot:The movie takes place in the year 2079. Forty-five years earlier, Earth was attacked by a hostile alien civilization from Alpha Centauri...

, Runaway Jury
Runaway Jury
Runaway Jury is a 2003 American drama/thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz...

, Bewitched and the 2006 documentary, The Ground Truth
The Ground Truth
The Ground Truth is a 2006 documentary film about veterans of the Iraq War...

. He has done the musical score for Being Ron Jeremy, Eyeball Eddie, and What Remains.

In 2006, he produced the critically acclaimed studio release by 60's soul legend Howard Tate
Howard Tate
Howard Tate is an American soul music singer and songwriter.-Early life:He moved with his family to Philadelphia in the early 1940s. In his teens, he joined a gospel music group that included Garnet Mimms and, as the Gainors, recorded rhythm and blues sides for Mercury Records and Cameo Records in...

, titled Portrait of Howard, which features Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...

, Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...

, Larry Goldings
Larry Goldings
-Life and career:Goldings was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was a classical music enthusiast, and Larry studied classical piano until the age of twelve. While in high school at Concord Academy, he attended a program at the Eastman School of Music. During this period Erroll Garner,...

, Pete Thomas
Pete Thomas
Pete Thomas is best known as the longtime drummer for Elvis Costello. Tom Waits has referred to him as "one of the best rock drummers alive".-Career:...

 and Davey Faragher
Davey Faragher
Davey Faragher is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band, Cracker, and his following work with The Imposters, the backing band for Elvis Costello since 2001.Faragher is an accomplished...

 of Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

 fame, along with a 20-piece orchestra.

In February 2007, he acted as musical director and arranger for Perla Batalla
Perla Batalla
Perla Batalla is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter.Grammy nominated vocalist, composer, and arranger Perla Batalla was born in Los Angeles, CA. Her father was a musician and record store owner. She first gained international attention as a backup singer for Leonard Cohen who later encouraged...

's "The Gospel According to Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...

," an all-star tribute concert in Los Angeles including Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

, Michael McDonald
Michael McDonald (singer)
Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...

, Howard Tate, Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell
William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...

, and Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule is an American singer-songwriter best known for the 1995 single "I Kissed a Girl", and "Supermodel" from the soundtrack of the 1995 film Clueless...

.

In June 2007, he became associate producer, musical director, and arranger for Hal Willner's "Forest of No Return: Music from Vintage Disney Films", presented at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...

 as part of Meltdown Festival
Meltdown (festival)
Meltdown is an annual, English festival, held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The Hayward...

 2007 (curated by Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...

). Performers at the event included Cocker, Shane MacGowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...

, Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...

, Grace Jones
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...

, Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...

, Beth Orton
Beth Orton
Beth Orton is a BRIT Award–winning English singer-songwriter, known for her 'folktronica' sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit and the Chemical Brothers in the mid 1990s. However, these were not Orton's first...

, David Thomas
David Thomas (musician)
David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.He was one of the founding members of the short-lived protopunkers Rocket From The Tombs , where he went by the name of Crocus Behemoth, and of punk group Pere Ubu . He has also released several solo albums...

 (Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group from Cleveland, Ohio.Père Ubu may also refer to:* Ubu, the enigmatic central figure of a series of French plays by Alfred Jarry, including Ubu Roi, and subsequent plays Ubu Cocu and Ubu Enchaîné...

), Róisín Murphy
Róisín Murphy
Róisín Marie Murphy is an Irish singer-songwriter and record producer, known for her electronic style.Murphy first came to note as part of the electronic music duo Moloko. Her partner in the band was then-boyfriend Mark Brydon. After the two ended their romantic relationship, Murphy released her...

 (Moloko
Moloko
Moloko were an Anglo-Irish electronic/pop duo consisting of Róisín Murphy from Wicklow, Ireland and Mark Brydon, from Sunderland, England.- Origin of band name :...

), Ed Harcourt
Ed Harcourt
Ed Harcourt is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released five studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, Here Be Monsters, was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize...

, Marshall Allen
Marshall Allen
Marshall Belford Allen is an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz alto saxophone player. He also performs on flute, oboe, piccolo, and EVI ....

 (Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...

), Terry Adams
Terry Adams (musician)
Terry Adams is an American pianist/composer and a founding member of the musical group NRBQ , known for decades of extensive touring, energetic and humorous live shows, and wide-ranging musical repertoire, including rock, blues, country, pop, and jazz...

 (NRBQ
NRBQ
NRBQ is an American rock band founded in 1967. It is known for its live performances, containing a high degree of spontaneity and levity, and blending rock, pop, jazz, blues and Tin Pan Alley styles. Its best known line-up is the 1974–1994 quartet of pianist Terry Adams, bassist Joey Spampinato,...

), Steven Bernstein, Howie B, Richard Strange
Richard Strange
For the Jesuit, see Richard Strange Richard "Kid" Strange is an English writer, actor, musician, curator, teacher, adventurer, and the founder and front man of seminal mid-seventies protopunk art rock band Doctors of Madness.-Music:Strange's first band was Doctors of Madness, formed in 1975,...

, and Gavin Friday
Gavin Friday
Gavin Friday is an Irish singer and songwriter, composer, actor and painter.-Career:Gavin was born in Dublin and grew up in Finglas, a neighbourhood located on Dublin's Northside...

.

In July 2007, he was pianist and an arranger for Hal Willner's "Doc Pomus Project", presented as part of the "Celebrate Brooklyn" concert series in New York. The event featured Lou Reed, Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...

, Howard Tate, Joseph Arthur
Joseph Arthur
Joseph Arthur is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. Combining poetic lyrics with a layered sonic palette, Arthur has built his reputation over the years through critically acclaimed releases and constant touring; his unique solo live performances incorporate the use of a...

, Shannon McNally
Shannon McNally
Shannon McNally is an American singer-songwriter.Shannon was born in Hempstead, on Long Island. While studying anthropology at Franklin and Marshall College, McNally began singing and playing guitar in clubs. After graduating and honing her skills on the streets of Paris as a busker, McNally...

, Jenni Muldaur, Eric Mingus, Steven Bernstein, Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...

, Joel Dorn
Joel Dorn
Joel Dorn was an American jazz and R&B music producer and record label entrepreneur. He worked at Atlantic Records, and later founded the 32 Jazz, Label M, and Hyena Records labels...

, Sharon Jones ,and Robin Holcomb.

In 2008, he contributed music for the films Step Brothers and The Express
The Express
The Express is a 2008 American sports film produced by John Davis and directed by Gary Fleder. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Charles Leavitt from a book titled Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express, authored by Robert C. Gallagher...

. His musical arrangements can be heard on Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....

's album, Easy Come, Easy Go
Easy Come, Easy Go (Marianne Faithfull album)
Easy Come, Easy Go is a studio album of cover versions by English singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull, which was released in the EU on 10 November 2008. The album is produced by Hal Willner and features guest appearances from a variety of musicians...

as well as a compilation of sea shanties, Rogues Gallery 2. In April he served as musical director and arranger for another Hal Willner Disney event as part of benefit for St. Ann's in New York. The event featured David Byrne
David Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...

, Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her eclectic folk-inspired music.Two of Vega's songs reached the top 10 of various international chart listings: "Luka" and "Tom's Diner"...

, Beth Orton, Sharon Jones, Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...

, David Johanson, Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...

, Gavin Friday, Eric Mingus, Karen Mantler
Karen Mantler
Karen Mantler is an American jazz musician, harmonca player, singer and composer. She is the daughter of Carla Bley and Michael Mantler....

, Terry Adams, and Marshall Allen.

In 2009, he produced and arranged the new CD "Invocations" by singer/songwriter Jeremy Lev,
arranged strings on a forthcoming release for Val McCallum, and collaborated with Lee Curreri on the score for the feature film "Meskada."

In 2010, he was musical director for the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Solidarity Movement founded by Lech Walesa in Gdansk,Poland on Aug.31, with artistic director Robert Wilson and music producer Hal Willner and featuring Macy Gray,Marianne Faithfull, Rufus Wainwright, and Angelique Kidjo. In addition, he is producing tracks for rising sensation 'operapper' Reggie Bennett (a classically trained baritone singer and rapper) creating a new genre combining hip-hop and operatic style singing.
His string arrangements can be heard on the new release from Diego Clare 'Even Now Part One.'
Recent film music composing includes the soundtrack to Eva Longoria's documentary 'Latinos Living The American Dream.'

In 2011 he served as music supervisor and contributed music to the film version of Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged.'On August 6th he was co-musical director for 'Hal Willner's Shelabration-Celebrating the Work of Shel Silverstein' at the Central Park Summerstage series in NYC featuring Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Emily Haines, Sally Timms (Mekons), Bobby Bare Jr., Suzanne Vega, Steven Bernstein, Roswell Rudd, Terry Adams, Richard Belzer, Darryl Hammond, Dan Zanes, Reggie Bennett, Pat Dailey, Annabella Sciorra,the Handsome Family,Martha Wainwright, Melvin Van Peebles,Shilpa Ray,Gary Lucas,Duke McVinnie, and Chloe Webb.

He arranges for and performs regularly with Suzy Williams(of Stormin' Norman and Suzy fame)in Los Angeles.
He continues to perform as musical director and pianist for soul legend Howard Tate and appears on his recent vinyl only direct to disc release on APO records.

External links

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