"Music Master" Neil Rosengarden Interview
www.NeilRosengarden.com
Interview by Roger Zee (05/20/21)
Roger Zee: Who inspired you to play keyboards and trumpet?
Neil Rosengarden: My grandmother Lillian used to play piano for silent movies in Chicago in the early 20th century. One day, in the late 1950’s, a piano showed up at our house! I started taking lessons from a family friend at around age five. A few years later, I took a couple of lessons with Leonid Hambro. I could never figure out how the bass clef actually worked until I grew much older! I took a meeting with Morton Gould when I started composing and also took some theory and orchestration from Milton Kraus.
PIANO INFLUENCES: I thought that Dick Hyman was the king of everything! Quite often, my father (Bobby Rosengarden, the bandleader and drummer of The Dick Cavett Show) used to take me to work and I usually saw Hyman there. I remember feeling stunned at a concert hearing him play "What’s New" on organ. I’ve always looked fondly on Fats Waller. In high school, I studied piano and harmony with Sanford Gold.
TRUMPET INFLUENCES: I discovered the trumpet at seven years old. My older brother had a friend at summer camp and when I got to try his trumpet, I found that I could play on it immediately. I then got a trumpet along with my first teacher, Howard Cleave. He led a Saturday morning recreation band for all the local youngsters.
Doc Severinsen influenced me heavily. I think he gave me my first horn, an Olds. At nine or ten, he gave me a new Getzen Eterna Severinsen Model trumpet. My father used to make sure that I practiced. In my early teens, that came to two hours a day.
In 1961, at age nine, I discovered Al Hirt when I got hired to play on an NBC-TV Thanksgiving Special called "Home For The Holidays" with Music Director Harry Sosnick. My father played drums in the house band. It starred Gordon MacCrae, Patrice Munsell, Carol Haney, and the Brothers Four. I played seven bars of "Georgia On My Mind" then sang a parody of "Small Fry" in a duet with Al Hirt.
MUSIC TEACHERS GROWING UP: Howard Cleave, Jim Maxwell, Ray Crisara in NYC, Gordon Mathie, Robert Grocock, Leon Rapier, John Lindenau at Interlochen, and much later in 1970, Mario Guarneri at CalArts. I played in the house band at the Waldorf-Astoria Empire Room for a few years and sat next to Danny Stiles and Victor Paz. I learned a lot over there.
OTHER INSTRUMENTAL INFLUENCES: I always loved the percussive side of things. I am the sum of everything I have ever heard. The first thing I ever remember hearing -- "El Sombrero de Tres Picos" by Manuel de Falla. My dad played bongos, spoons, and mallet instruments like the xylophone. My older brother played the drums, too. He left the NY area in the early 1970's and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Toots Thielmans and Jos Basile used to drop over to our house from time to time. My father took our family to Brazil in 1964 for two weeks. What an amazing experience!
I always liked Bert Kaempfert records and Discover America by VDP...
RZ: We went to high school together and I saw you play local dances many times! Talk about some of the musicians and groups you've gigged and recorded with.
NR: I came into the world at a good time for music. In 1968, I joined Local 802. I’ve played with many, many great players and groups. Some names off the middle of my head: Al Klink, Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, Cab Calloway, The O'Jays, Randy Newman, Doug Sahm, San Francisco Symphony, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Leslie Uggams, Rich Little, Joel Grey, John Prine, Jack Jones, Sergio Franchi, Ginger Rogers, The Nicholas Brothers, Bob Hope, Danny Thomas, Sam Butera & The Wildest, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Gerry Mulligan, Bobby Lewis, Manu Dibango, Flaco Jimenez, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Wilson Pickett, Brook Benton, Duane Allman, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Tony Martin, Cyd Charise, Ethel Merman, Diahann Carroll, Luther Vandross, Michael Palin, Lotte Lenya, Herbie Mann, Jan Berry, Howard Kaylan, John Cacavas, Bernard Purdy, Ben E. King, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli, Paul Anka, Bobby Vinton, Joey Heatherton, Tony Orlando, Melba Moore, Rich Little, Fred Travelena, Kenny Davern, Warren Vache' Jr., Sonny Russo, Jimmy Knepper, Marty Napoleon, Toots Mondello, Eddie Daniels, Jay Leonhart, Jeff Berlin, Carrie Smith, Maxine Sullivan, Ruth Brown, Margaret Whiting, Abe Most, Sam Most, Bob Smale, Frank Morocco, Gene Estes, Virgil Jones, Bill Charlap, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli,Jr., Lew Soloff, Alan Rubin, Vinnie Bell, Cornell Dupree, Al Jackson, Jr., Joe Wilder, Frank Wess, Jerry Dodgion, Al Cohn, Gerry Niewood, Selden Powell, Arnie Lawrence, Eddie Brigati, Dave Brigati, Tom Malone, Byron Stripling, Eddie Barefield, Milt Hinton, Dick Hyman, George Masso, Bill Watrous, Danny Stiles, John Densmore, Barry Ries, Hall & Oates, Jill Sobule, Danny O'Keefe, PF Sloan, Warren Zanes, Terry Kirkman, Jerry Reed, The Jordanaires, Freda Payne, Paul Zollo, Abra Moore, Neal Morse, Nanci Griffith, Guster, Stephen Kalinich, and many others.
RZ: Which trumpet and keyboards do you currently use?
NR: I play a Bach Stradivarius ML with a 37 bell that I bought in 1993. I've always loved it and use a Giardinelli 7M mouthpiece. I also play a Getzen Eterna flugelhorn with a Bach 5B mouthpiece. In addition, I perform on euphonium and french horn. For keys, I use a Casio P-150.
RZ: Talk about what and how you practice.
NR: When I practice, which happens rarely, I go to the classics: Clarke, Lip Flexibilities, Arban, St. Jacomes, Charlier, and Vern Reynolds transcriptions. To prepare for an upcoming gig, I play long tones and try to remember to pace myself.
RZ: How did you start songwriting? Tell me about your "Greatest Hits."
NR: I always loved Top 40 radio and used to fall asleep to it. I always enjoyed singing and studied classical music scores on my own. In high school, I got very into Tchaikowsky Symphony No. 4 and Velarkte Nacht by Schoenberg. My friends and I would throw listening parties.
I played in a few bands in high school. My close friends, like Dean Bailin, and Seth Kimball, always shared ideas with me. We played lots of weekend parties and gigs. In seventh grade, Bailin taught me how to form an A chord. We sat in our basements and bedrooms and played and talked about music anytime we possibly could. After high school in 1973, we even took singing lessons together for a few months from the noted Otorhinolaryngologist, Dr. David Sorin Collyer.
In 1970, finished writing my first song in California called, "And I Say (Fish Go Crazy For Jane)." At CalArts, someone helped me record all the parts on a Revox A-77. I sent a copy back home to my father, and he started using the composition as the closing theme on the Dick Cavett Show. My cousin Jon Charles, the Music Coordinator, did the arrangement, and listed it on the cue sheet as "And I’ll Say."
I wrote a lot of crappy tunes and not only when I just started writing. Every once in awhile, I write something that I like. I left NY in 1983 and stayed in San Francisco until 1985 when I came back to LA. Got married, had twins, then lived in Nashville for ten years. Got divorced and spent six years in Ohio. But when my children finished high school, I returned to LA.
I haven’t had any hits, but I still write after fifty years. In April 1972, Atlantic Records released my first single called, "What Can It Be?" It got some airplay in Dallas and Los Angeles. I recorded it in a day with Joel Kerr, a staff engineer. Kal Rudman wrote a nice review of it in the "Friday morning Quarterback." I made a whole album, called "Some Of The Things We Do," but I never got to complete it. Atlantic never released it. In 2006, I put it out on CDBaby for several years. I also put out a single on RCA in January 1977. It got some airplay, but no sales that I ever heard about.
RZ: Do you teach music privately?"
NR: I do not. I gained a little teaching experience, but I don’t particularly enjoy it.
RZ: How has the Pandemic affected you? What's on the horizon?
NR: Towards the end of 2019, I discovered that my song, "And I’ll Say," appears on the Dick Cavett Show YouTube page. When I called BMI, they told me that they could find no cue sheets on file. I phoned the sponsor of the videos and I got a callback from the representative. He told me that it wasn’t worth it for me to go chasing down pennies. But then he offered me a job composing original music on his project. I still can't talk about it because he hasn't put it out yet. The word's that PBS will exhibit it in September 2021. His wife, also a filmmaker, engaged me to compose some original music for some silent movies. I did two so far this year. I always wanted to compose for film ever since I turned eleven and first saw "Umbrellas of Cherbourg."
After no work in LA for seven years, I finally got going again just as the Pandemic started. I feel very grateful to still write and record my own music. I do miss playing with others very much and hope to put together my own band soon.
I'm proud to announce this new affiliation! Jeffrey Aber and Tompkins Farm Music, LLC will now administer Neil Rosengarden Music - BMI.
RZ: Describe your most special and/or unusual gig.
NR: I played a convention for IBM in Iceland in 1988 with Cab Calloway as the featured performer. The band consisted of Bob Rosengarden as leader and on drums, Milt Hinton on bass, Derek Smith on piano, Eddie Barefield on alto sax, Al Klink on tenor sax, Kenny Davern on baritone sax, Sonny Russo on trombone, and Joe Wilder and myself on trumpets. We played one set, possibly two. I don’t know if that felt more special than playing for Lotte Lenya, Señor Wences and Ethel Merman on HBO specials. But it’s close! I also got a call one morning while at Atlantic Records from 1971-1973 to take a cab up to Aretha Franklin's hotel room and transcribe a lead sheet. I’ll never forget that.
RZ: How do you see the future of the music business?
NR: Music's always a force in my life, although the business part has proved very frustrating at times. After repeatedly calling me "musically gifted" at a very young age, I grew lazy. Also, I could hear chords easily and improvise pretty well.
RZ: What advice do you give to up-and-coming musicians?
NR: Once in a while, listen to music that you don’t usually hear. If you want to learn what makes a piece of music tick, write it out. Sing as much as you can. If you want to swing, imagine triplets. Make sure you get paid properly and received your credits! Never give up...
RZ: Do you live with any animals?
NR: No. My last animal, a cat, died in 2015. I thought I’d get a human next.
RZ: Ask yourself any question you like.
NR: Can you make me sound intelligent?
RZ: Yes. It's what I do. That's my gift, LOL!
YouTube - Closing them to The Dick Cavett Show - Neil Rosengarden
YouTube - Bossa Roach Dance - Neil Rosengarden
©2021 Roger Zee
