Category Archives: All News

Television Music Comes Alive at Score! Concert

Courtesy of the Television Academy

Today’s hottest TV music came to life at Royce Hall May 21 with the Score! concert, presented by the Television Academy in its first live showcase of television music as performed by a full orchestra and choir led by the composers themselves.

The unprecedented musical event boasted an orchestra of more than 70 of Los Angeles’s top musicians, contracted by David Low and featuring many of the same musicians who originally recorded the scores. Sharing the stage was the 40-voice LA Chorus directed by Steve Lively, and conducting the performances of today’s iconic television themes were the very composers who wrote them.

See the full story at listen-la.com

Mayor Garcetti Endorses Listen Up!

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti — recently named Honorary Member of Local 47 — shows his support of Listen Up! pictured above with rank-and-file Listen Up! campaign members Elizabeth Hedman, Marc Sazer, Phil Ayling, Doug Tornquist, Rafael Rishik, and Neil Samples. Photo by Kori Chappell

L.A. city leader joins with AFM in calling on film production companies to end practice of offshoring film scoring jobs; AFM Local 47 reaffirms support of campaign

by Linda A. Rapka

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced in June his support for the American Federation of Musicians’ Listen Up! campaign, which calls upon film production companies that benefit from taxpayer-funded film credits to score their films in the United States.

“I’m fighting for good paying middle-class jobs across California, and our work to pass legislation — which will boost production and music scoring — must be with that goal in mind,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. Continue reading →

Woo-Hoo! Interview with ‘Simpsons’ composer Alf Clausen

Clausen reflects on 25 years making music for TV’s favorite dysfunctional cartoon family

When “The Simpsons” first aired in 1989, no one expected it to become the longest-running situation comedy ever on TV — especially not composer Alf Clausen, who almost didn’t take the job. Clausen, who this year celebrates 25 years with the show, was initially more interested in composing for dramas and repeatedly turned down requests from Fox producers and show creator Matt Groening to compose for the show. After much cajoling, he signed on with “The Simpsons,” starting off with “Treehouse of Horror,” the third episode of season two, in 1990. He’s been with the yellow-skinned dysfunctional family ever since, and to date has scored 534 of the 550 episodes, receiving two Emmy awards and 21 additional nominations for his work on the show along the way. Clausen speaks here with Linda A. Rapka about spending the past quarter century with “The Simpsons.”

Your “Simpsons” music was just performed the TV Academy’s Score! concert. What was it like to hear it live?
“I thought it was great, it was so inspirational. I know the crowd really enjoyed it too. The orchestra played it beautifully.”

I love that you chose “Stonecutters Song” from “Homer the Great” – a personal favorite of mine. Whose idea was it to change the lyric from “Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star” to “Kim Kardashian”?
“And ‘Oscar’ to ‘Emmy.’ That was producer Mark Watters’ doing. It was really funny.” Continue reading →

#listenLA spotlight: ‘Funny Boned’

Dan Redfeld — Composer

Writer/director J J Hickey goes all union on his web comedy series

Writer, director and producer J J Hickey first met composer Dan Redfeld 14 years ago when he was seeking a music director for a theatrical production of the John Dos Passos trilogy “U.S.A.”

His web comedy series “Funny Boned” marks their third project together, and Hickey says he can’t imagine not using union workers – including musicians – for all his future projects.

Read the full story at listen-la.com!

Listen Up! Moves Full Steam Ahead

Musicians hand-deliver more than 12,000 petition signatures to Lionsgate to stop

offshoring film scoring work

by Linda A. Rapka

Momentum continues to grow for the American Federation of Musicians’ member-driven Listen Up! campaign aimed at stemming the offshoring of film scoring and bring more music jobs back to the United States.

“Listen up, Lionsgate!” — The Listen Up! campaign hand-delivered more than 12,000 petition signatures to Lionsgate Entertainment’s Santa Monica headquarters May 13 calling on the company to uphold industry standards for musicians and end its practice of offshoring film scoring work. Lionsgate executives accepted the petitions but refused to meet with the musicians. Photo courtesy of Listen Up!

Musicians made a special delivery at Lionsgate’s Santa Monica headquarters May 13 of a petition signed by over 12,000 supporters of their Listen Up! campaign. Around 40 musicians gathered at Stewart Street Park about a mile from Lionsgate for a pre-delivery rally. Speakers included Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo, Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown, Pastor Bridie Roberts of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, and rank-and-file AFM musician Neil Samples. Continue reading →

#listenLA spotlight: Good Juju

Rising composer Jeremy Tisser goes all out on his ‘Voodoo’ demo session

Not all demos are created equal. Rising composer Jeremy Tisser went huge for his “Voodoo” demo session, hiring a massive 84-piece orchestra of some of L.A.’s finest studio musicians.

“I believe that if you want something to happen, you must do it yourself,” Tisser said. “With all of the runaway productions, I decided to do something a little crazy and unique.”

Read the full story at listen-la.com!

Marty & Elayne: A Dynamic Duo

Photo by Linda A. Rapka

After 34 years of marriage and 33 years at the Dresden, Marty & Elayne Roberts are still going strong

Holding the record as the longest running live act at the same venue in the history of Hollywood, Marty and Elayne Roberts have been playing live music at the Dresden Room’s Lounge five nights a week for the past 33 years. For all of those years, the married performing duo has been protected under a union contract — an all-too-rare occurrence on today’s live music scene. In April, Linda A. Rapka stopped by the Dresden to chat with Marty and Elayne about how they keep things fresh after more than three decades. Continue reading →

Listen Up! – Musicians Call for Fairness

National campaign seeks to bring motion picture and TV film music work back home

by Linda A. Rapka

Musicians in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York kicked off the nationwide Listen Up! campaign April 10 seeking fairness for musicians working in the motion picture and TV film industry.

AFM President Ray Hair speaks out against film-music offshoring at the Listen Up! campaign launch in Los Angeles.

Led by rank-and-file members of the American Federation of Musicians, the campaign calls upon the entertainment industry to stop the offshoring of film and television music scoring and to ensure musicians’ work is valued by all companies at the same professional standard as other cast and crew. Continue reading →

Hollywood Musicians Honor Mayor Garcetti

AFM Local 47 names Los Angeles Mayor an honorary member

by Linda A. Rapka

AFM Local 47 proudly welcomed Mayor Eric Garcetti to the April 28 General Membership Meeting to name him an honorary member of the musicians union in recognition of his dedication to our city’s musicians and for his efforts to keep film and TV work in Hollywood by fighting runaway production.

Local 47 Secretary/Treasurer Gary Lasley, “American Idol” music director Rickey Minor, Mayor Garcetti, President Vince Trombetta and Vice President John Acosta. Photos by Kori Chappell.

Continue reading →

86th Annual Oscars Band Performs Live From Capitol Records

photo by Larry Mah

Live from Capitol Records, the musicians of the 86th Academy Awards performed remotely on Oscars night for the second year in a row.

Located just a few blocks away from the ceremony held at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, the orchestra was again led by William Ross. Continue reading →