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Ken Lauber

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Ken Lauber

Ken Lauber (born May 14, 1941) is an American composer, arranger producer, musician, singer and playwright.

Early career

Born in New York City in 1941 and raised on Long Island, his first music lessons of note were drum lessons with the legendary drummers Gene Krupa and Cozy Cole when he was thirteen. He continued his studies when he entered The Juilliard School of Music in the extension division when he was still in Junior and Senior High School studying percussion with Morris Goldenberg and Saul Goodman. In 1960 to 1962 he attending two semesters at Ithaca College to further his percussion studies with Warren Benson and then returned to The Juilliard School of Music to study music composition with the composer Vincent Persichetti, piano with Rosina Levine and conducting with Jean Morel. In addition he studied orchestration privately with Marion Evans.

In 1964, Lauber worked for United Artists Corporation and scored a seven minute Piano Concerto for the film The World of Henry Orient, starring Peter Sellers. He also composed the score to The Drifter’ a film by Alex Matter, that received international success at the Venice Film Festival[1]. Single recordings under his name from the motion picture starring Sidney Poitier "Lilies of the Field" and the Tony Richardson / Albert Finney film "Tom Jones (film)" were among some of Ken's early recordings.

In 1969, Lauber had a singer/songwriter contract with Polydor Records. The album, Contemplation View, recorded in Nashville was part of the labels American debut. Lauber and the musicians backing him were part of another album recorded at the same time, Area Code 615 (band). The song ‘Why Ask Why', from a Burt Reynolds movie originally entitled Fade-In, was part of the groups repertoire and later was also recorded by Leo Koktie.

The album, Contemplation View, was considered to be a new genre, which labeled Lauber in reviews as one of the innovators of "countrypolitan" music. A combination of country blues and jazz. Two years later, Lauber moved to Los Angeles to continue his film composing activities as well as recording another solo singer/songwriter album, Ken Lauber for MCA, produced by Val Garay.

Work for other artists

In New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles, Lauber played keyboards, arranged and produced for Richie Havens, Mimi Farina, Waylon Jennings,Johnny Cash, Doc Watson, Bob Macdill, and Sammy Smith. He also worked with Rick Danko and Kinky Friedman on their solo albums as an arranger and pianist. Lauber's compositions and songs have been recorded by some of the greatest jazz, folk and rock artists in American musical history, including Hank Jones, Richie Havens, Joe Cocker, Tim Hardin, Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, Paul Smith, Red Callender, Toots Theilman and Stanley Clark.

Music in Film and Television

"Music can be a cinematic or theatrical drama's emotional unconscious, a sensory element that supports the audience's suspension of disbelief. The music must create and join with the audience's emotions by blending a drama's characters with the central storyline." Ken Lauber

Between 1973 and 1983, in Los Angeles, Lauber settled into composing for film and television. He scored both original music and adapted period music to the film Hearts of the West, starring Jeff Bridges and original music for the feature films Chilly Scenes of Winter (film), Peter Fonda’s Wanda Nevada starring Brook Shields and Fonda, and additional music to Goin' South with Jack Nicholson and Fonda, Emmy Award winning ‘Studs Lonigan’ and ‘Kent State’ and contributed dramatic music for multiple episodes of the successful TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents’ and ‘Tales from the Darkside’.

Another film score includes the original soundtrack score for the documentary film In Search of Kundun with Martin Scorsese.

Theater Music and Musicals

Recently, 2008, Lauber has composed music and written lyrics and book for the stage musical Le Hot Blu in collaboration with Anita Gonzalez. He also has composed book, music and lyrics for the stage musical ‘Sugar Ray’ with Laurence Holder and ‘Steps’ with Neil Dearling. Lauber has provided an original music score for Laurence Holder’s bio drama, ‘Monk’, which completed its first off-Broadway run at the Nuyorican Poets Café. ‘Monk’ was also performed at the National Black Theater Festival and brought an AUDELCO, solo performance of the year award, to Rome Neal.

Other CD’S

Ken Lauber completed a CD in 2007 entitled "O SOUL SONG" for release in Europe by Douglas Records and can be found in Limited Editions on his web site, kenlauber.net. "O Soul Song" features the esteemed classical Indian bansuri flutist Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia.

Filmography

TV Movies / Series / Specials

References

  1. ^ Time Magazine

External Links

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