Steve Weisberg

Steve Weisberg, born 1963 in Norfolk, Virginia, is a composer/arranger/pianist and international recording artist/producer. In the 80's, after studying with Michael Gibbs at Berklee College in Boston, Ma., he recorded the XtraWatt/ECM release "I Can't Stand Another Night Alone (In Bed With You)," produced by Carla Bley and Steve Swallow, recorded and performed with "Karen Mantler and her Cat Arnold", and contributed arrangements for Hal Willner's "" (A&M).

Through the end of the 80's and into the 90's, he performed in and around New York City with the prestigious Steve Weisberg & His Orchestra, a 13-piece ensemble consisting of New York's finest jazz luminaries and trend setters.

He spent the 90's performing with Flamin' Amy Coleman and acting as musical director for off-off-Broadway musicals, including a 1995 run at La MaMa in New York City's East Village 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 "" (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," 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", "Don't Say a Word", "Impostor", "Runaway Jury", "Bewitched" and the 2006 documentary, "The Ground Truth". 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, titled "Portrait of Howard", which features Lou Reed, Carla Bley, Larry Goldings, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher of Elvis Costello fame, along with a 20-piece orchestra. Weisberg is currently musical director for Howard Tate.

In February 2007, he acted as musical director and arranger for Perla Batalla's "The Gospel According to Leonard Cohen," an all-star tribute concert in Los Angeles including Jackson Browne, Michael McDonald, Howard Tate, Bill Frisell, and Jill Sobule.

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's Royal Festival Hall as part of Meltdown Festival 2007 (curated by Jarvis Cocker). Performers at the event included Cocker, Shane MacGowan, Nick Cave, Grace Jones, Pete Doherty, Beth Orton, David Thomas (Pere Ubu), Róisín Murphy (Moloko), Ed Harcourt, Marshall Allen (Sun Ra), Terry Adams (NRBQ), Steven Bernstein, Howie B, Richard Strange, and Gavin Friday.

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, Howard Tate, Joseph Arthur, Shannon McNally, Jenni Muldaur, Eric Mingus, Steven Bernstein, Laurie Anderson, Joel Dorn, Sharon Jones ,and Robin Holcomb.

In 2008, he contributed music for the films "Step Brother" and "The Express". His musical arrangements can be heard on Marianne Faithfull's album, "Easy Come, Easy Go" 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, Suzanne Vega, Beth Orton, Sharon Jones, Garth Hudson, David Johanson, Steve Buscemi, Gavin Friday, Eric Mingus, Karen Mantler, Terry Adams, and Marshall Allen. He continues to perform as musical director and pianist for soul legend Howard Tate.

External links

* [http://music.yahoo.com/ar-268690-bio--Steve-Weisberg Steve Weisberg Biography on Yahoo! Music]
* [http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/Xtra_Watt/1.php?cat=%2FArtists%2FWeisberg+Steve%23%23Steve+Weisberg&we_start=0&lvredir=712 Steve Weisberg at ECM]
*imdb|0918727