I’m so happy to introduce my guest today, GRAMMY Award-winning Composer, Arranger, Keyboardist and Record Producer, Michael Abene!
In a prolific career spanning decades, Abene has worked with the biggest names in music.
He produced the Grammy winning projects “Digital Duke” featuring the Duke Ellington Orchestra and “The GRP All-Star Big Band-All Blues.” He also produced the Grammy nominated “The GRP All-Star Big Band” and “The GRP All-Star Big Band Live” and received nominations in the arranging category for all three big band recordings. Michael was also nominated for his arrangement of “America” from “Dave Grusin Presents West Side Story.” Some artists Michael has arranged, composed and/or produced for are Maynard Ferguson, Maceo Parker, Take 6, Billy Cobham, Eddie Daniels, Bireli Lagrene, Chick Corea, Buddy Rich, Dick Oatts, Dizzy Gillespie, The Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Dave Taylor, Patti Austin, The Metropole Jazz Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, New York Voices, Ronnie Cuber, UMO Jazz Orchestra (Helsinki), Jazz Big Band Graz and the BBC Big Band.
In 2008, Abene arranged produced and conducted the music for singer Patti Austin’s album “Avant Gershwin”, celebrating the music of George and Ira Gershwin and picked up his first GRAMMY award for best Jazz Vocal album.
From 2004-2014, Abene was the chief composer and arranger for the WDR big band of Cologne, Germany.
He is the author of the book “Jazz Composition and Arranging in the Digital Age”, a book co-authored with Richard Sussman and published by Oxford University Press.
2:24 Family background 3:20 Do you have perfect or absolute pitch? 3:29 What records did you grow up listening to? 4:26 Self-teaching sight-reading 5:05 Band experiences as a youth 7:19 Did you have any mentors? 8:25 What sort of advice would they give to you? 9:22 Did you have a sound you wanted to copy or did you strive early on for an original sound? 11:04 Did you see a lot of live music growing up? 13:15 Did you visit NYC to watch the music scene there? 13:51 Describe a vivid musical experience that was formative to your development 15:22 On replacing Jaki Byard in the Maynard Ferguson Band 16:46 On not being happy with the recordings except for the “Blues Roar” 18:22 Was there a compulsion to be a modernist in the 60’s? 19:59 How did you self teach yourself harmony? 21:16 Would you test out your arrangements on the piano? 22:39 On transposed scores 25:09 What is the Michael Abene arranging process? 27:08 How do you grapple with form? 28:39 On integrating great players into your arrangements 30:34 How do you determine if something swings? 31:39 On Drums and the Rhythm section 33:36 What are the common mistakes for new arrangers in the modern age? 36:27 How do you get a Big Band to get the flexibility of a small group like Bill Holman? 39:18 How have you grown as arranger vs 10-20 years ago? 40:37 What is your compositional process? 42:40 Odyssey for Brass 45:20 On Orchestration 46:48 PFP, a Piece for Paquito 48:54 How would you balance an arrangement and a virtuoso player? 51:10 Avant Gershwin 52:24 How long did it take to put all those arrangements together? 54:00 Top 3 Trumpet Players 54:27 Top 3 Saxophone Players 54:46 Top 3 Drummers 54:58 Top 3 Guitar Players 55:05 Top 3 Keyboard/Piano Players 55:34 Top 3 Big Bands 55:51 Top 3 Big Band Arrangers 55:59 Top 3 Classical Composers 56:12 Top 3 Jazz Composers 56:38 Who are some arrangers who are not popularly known but should be known 57:29 Favorite instrument or section to write for? 57:37 Biggest regret in music and proudest musical moment 57:58 If you could work with anyone in history, who would it be? 58:32 What 3 albums should new listeners of yours check out? 59:29 Best advice for a new arranger 1:00:31 Wrapping Up