Music + Video

Dream On With You

Original music was a huge component for all 6 seasons of Empire. The music and lyrics for this beautiful song were written and composed by Terrence Howard. I produced this track with Jeff Morrow for this scene in Empire and we recorded it with members of The City Lights Orchestra in Chicago. The song features Terrence as Lucious Lyon with other main cast members cheering him on.

A Change Is Gonna Come

When good works meet good music, excellence results. I was asked by Renee Fleming to support her Chicago Voices concert. I brought in Terrence Howard and Jussie Smollett to perform, did the musical arrangements, coached the stars on their performance and conducted live for the audience and cameras. Chicago Tribune music critic Howard Reich commented “The evening’s high point remains one and the same: Terrence Howard and Jussie Smollett duetting on “A Change Is Gonna Come”… two men yearning for better times in a more humane world, Howard getting down on his knees in a shattering tableau.”

I Am Ireland

Another show where I wore many hats. I was the executive producer of this PBS special featuring Paddy Homan. So not only did I get all the pieces arranged for the show, conducted the orchestra and produced the recordings, I also was in charge of supervising every production detail, from shooting to editing to mixing to color correction. The result? A big success: picked up by 265 PBS stations and airing over 500 times in its first month of release.

Scarlett Begonias

Jam Productions and Red Light Management recruited me to be the music director for A Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration featuring Warren Haynes playing Jerry’s iconic Wolf and Tiger guitars. This 24-city tour over several years involved conducting symphonies throughout the country, including the Colorado Symphony at Red Rocks.

Boss Kane Tango

Director Gus Van Sant needed scene-setting music for the first episode of his new TV show Boss. I wrote the score for the Latin jazz ensemble, demo-ed it for Gus (who loved it and bought it on the spot). Then I booked the musicians for recording the Boss Kane Tango live on set for the pilot.

Trapped-Empire

With short TV timetables, I needed to solve multiple challenges at once on this one. My team created the orchestral arrangement for this song. I produced the recording of the final song. I brought in the musicians to play to the track for the taping. And I even conducted live on camera for the show episode. I also recorded an abridged version on Schubert's Unfinished Symphony for underscore to the scene.