Mark Berman
Encyclopedia
Mark Berman is a New York City pianist, composer, producer, conductor, music director and arranger.
, 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
, Phoebe Snow
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 including the Public Theater
of New York's production of Hair
in Central Park
in 2008 and its Broadway revival in 2009. He has also written additional music, a classical pas-de-deux, for Fame the Musical
.
He is represented Off Broadway by his original music compositions for the acclaimed revival of Sidney Howard's comedy/drama The Late Christopher Bean
directed by Jenn Thompson for TACT at the Beckett. He also music directed, conducted and played piano for the New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Seeing Stars, a new musical set in the world of boxing, written by Don and Jeff Breithaupt with a book by Shelley McPherson, also directed by Jenn Thompson.
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. He has also written music for Bravo, the Food Network
, Nurse Jackie
, the Showtime series 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 performed in jazz clubs around the world including The Blue Note
, Rainbow Room
, Birdland
, The Cutting Room, the Supper Club
and Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center
. Berman has appeared at Weil Hall at Carnegie Hall
and at Merkin Hall at Lincoln Center 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
, the Hartford Courant 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.
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 returned to the Westport Country Playhouse in 2008 to be the music director, lead pianist and the arranger of additional music for Hot n' Cole: A Cole Porter
Celebration, directed by Tony Award winning actor James Naughton
. His piano playing was cited as "dazzling" by Variety
. Of his arrangement and musical direction of "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" Theatermania wrote, "the entire ensemble is flawless, with the Hi-Lo's-like harmonies a treat Porter himself would have praised.".
Berman has written the theme and additional music for Kidnapped by the Kids, which will premier on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey
television network, on April 4, 2011.
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."
Berman was interviewed around the world at the time of the album's release (he was a featured guest on Voice of America radio). and received international recognition as a jazz artist. His music continues to be broadcast on radio stations, networks and syndicated programming both in the US and abroad.
Jazz critic Jonathan Widran wrote in Smooth Jazz Vibes, "The veteran NYC pianist and Broadway conductor explores the first chapter of the Bible with a witty, Manhattan Transfer-ish vocal harmony driven mix combining elements of rock, soul, samba, gospel and blues. This engaging set celebrates Judeo-Christian traditions while drawing attention to our connection to the earth itself."
Modern Drummer wrote: "A meditation on the book of Genesis in today's eco-battered world, Project features six vocalists negotiating daunting jazz harmonies with a kicking seven-piece band. Mark Berman shines as keyboardist, composer, and arranger, bridging jazz, R&B, and Gospel, while ace drummers Clint DeGanon and Rocky Bryant deliver seamless, tight, aggressive drive and commanding pocket."
Music career
Berman has performed with Aretha FranklinAretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Blood Sweat & Tears, Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
, Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
, Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
, Illinois Jacquet
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....
, Ben E King, Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean
John Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
, Cornelius Bumpus
Cornelius Bumpus
Cornelius Bumpus was an American woodwind, keyboard player and vocalist from Santa Cruz, California.He began his career playing alto saxophone at ten for the school band and by 12 was playing at Luso-American dances...
, Buster Poindexter, Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
, Leslie Gore, Richie Havens
Richie Havens
Richard P. "Richie" Havens is an African American folk singer and guitarist. He is best known for his intense, rhythmic guitar style , soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.-Career:Born in Brooklyn, Havens was the eldest of nine children...
, Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
, Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer-Yvette Holliday is an African-American singer and Tony Award-winning actress. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Dreamgirls, and later became a successful recording artist...
, Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.-Biography:As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten...
, Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera is an American actress, dancer, and singer best known for her roles in musical theater. She is the first Hispanic woman to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award...
, Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created by Earnest Elmo Calkins to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The advertising campaign, based on a live model, using impressionistic techniques and a fictional character, was one of the first of its kind.-The advertising...
and Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
among others.
On Broadway, he conducted Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
, Smokey Joe's Cafe
Smokey Joe's Cafe
Smokey Joe's Cafe is a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller...
, and Blood Brothers and played lead piano in the orchestras of The Boy From Oz
The Boy from Oz
The Boy from Oz is a jukebox musical based on the life of singer/songwriter Peter Allen and featuring songs written by him. The book is by Nick Enright. The production had its world premiere, directed by Gale Edwards, at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Australia, on 5 March 1998 and toured Brisbane,...
, Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
, Dreamgirls, Brooklyn The Musical, Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
, 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
, The Life
The Life (musical)
The Life is a musical with a book by David Newman, Ira Gasman and Cy Coleman, music by Coleman, and lyrics by Gasman.Based on an original idea by Gasman, the show explores the underbelly of Times Square's 42nd Street, inhabited by pimps and prostitutes, druggies and dealers, and runaways and street...
and others including the Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
of New York's production of Hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
in 2008 and its Broadway revival in 2009. He has also written additional music, a classical pas-de-deux, for Fame the Musical
Fame (musical)
A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
.
He is represented Off Broadway by his original music compositions for the acclaimed revival of Sidney Howard's comedy/drama The Late Christopher Bean
The Late Christopher Bean
The Late Christopher Bean is a comedy/drama by Sidney Howard, and was first published in 1932 under the title "Muse of All Work." It was first performed at the Ford's Opera House in Baltimore on October 24, 1932. It would open a week later on Halloween at the Henry Miller's Theatre in New York. ...
directed by Jenn Thompson for TACT at the Beckett. He also music directed, conducted and played piano for the New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Seeing Stars, a new musical set in the world of boxing, written by Don and Jeff Breithaupt with a book by Shelley McPherson, also directed by Jenn Thompson.
His piano and keyboard playing can be heard on the ubiquitous theme of the HBO series Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
. Berman has written additional music for the program and can be seen on an episode. He has also written music for Bravo, the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
, Nurse Jackie
Nurse Jackie
Nurse Jackie is an American series that premiered on June 8, 2009, on Showtime, Movie Central and The Movie Network.The series stars Edie Falco as the title character Jackie Peyton, an emergency room nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City...
, the Showtime series and a variety of network daytime series.
Among Berman's television appearances are The Today Show and Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, the Rosie O’Donnell Show, PBS and a variety of soap operas.
He has performed in jazz clubs around the world including The Blue Note
Blue note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
, Rainbow Room
Rainbow Room
The Rainbow Room was an upscale restaurant and nightclub on the 65th floor of the GE Building in Rockefeller Center, Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-Cuisine:...
, Birdland
Birdland (jazz club)
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
, The Cutting Room, the Supper Club
Supper club
A supper club, in general, refers to a dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class image, even if the price is affordable to...
and Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
. Berman has appeared at Weil Hall at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and at Merkin Hall at Lincoln Center and can be heard on numerous recordings.
Berman has also written and produced commercial jingles for the Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
, Armour hot dogs and Sara Lee.
In 2006, Berman was music director of Jam & Spice, a "jazzy" Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
revue at the Westport Country Playhouse
Westport Country Playhouse
Westport Country Playhouse, is a not-for-profit theater in Westport, Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos the Playhouse produces new and classic plays for the public....
, in Westport, Connecticut
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
. He received strong praise for his playing and conducting from Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, the Hartford Courant 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
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
but with arrangements in soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, 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...
, R & B, gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
and hip-hop styles. Once again, he received critical acclaim for both his playing and music direction.
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 returned to the Westport Country Playhouse in 2008 to be the music director, lead pianist and the arranger of additional music for Hot n' Cole: A Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
Celebration, directed by Tony Award winning actor James Naughton
James Naughton
James Naughton is an American director, theater, film and television actor.-Early life:Naughton was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Rosemary and Joseph Naughton, both of whom were teachers He is the brother of actor David Naughton.-Career:Naughton graduated from Brown University and...
. His piano playing was cited as "dazzling" by Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
. Of his arrangement and musical direction of "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" Theatermania wrote, "the entire ensemble is flawless, with the Hi-Lo's-like harmonies a treat Porter himself would have praised.".
Berman has written the theme and additional music for Kidnapped by the Kids, which will premier on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
television network, on April 4, 2011.
The Genesis Project
His debut recording Mark Berman's The Genesis Project received widespread acclaim from broadcasters, musicians and the jazz press. Berman wrote, arranged and produced this jazz, R & B, and funkFunk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
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
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...
. 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
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, R&B, Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
, Hip-Hop and Rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. The band expertly navigates these styles with great grooves and sensitivity. It's a thrilling musical ride."
Berman was interviewed around the world at the time of the album's release (he was a featured guest on Voice of America radio). and received international recognition as a jazz artist. His music continues to be broadcast on radio stations, networks and syndicated programming both in the US and abroad.
Jazz critic Jonathan Widran wrote in Smooth Jazz Vibes, "The veteran NYC pianist and Broadway conductor explores the first chapter of the Bible with a witty, Manhattan Transfer-ish vocal harmony driven mix combining elements of rock, soul, samba, gospel and blues. This engaging set celebrates Judeo-Christian traditions while drawing attention to our connection to the earth itself."
Modern Drummer wrote: "A meditation on the book of Genesis in today's eco-battered world, Project features six vocalists negotiating daunting jazz harmonies with a kicking seven-piece band. Mark Berman shines as keyboardist, composer, and arranger, bridging jazz, R&B, and Gospel, while ace drummers Clint DeGanon and Rocky Bryant deliver seamless, tight, aggressive drive and commanding pocket."
Selected recordings
- The Boy From Oz
- The Life
- The Genesis Project
- Wonderful At Last