Tuesday, September 25, 2012

09/25 Steve Tyrell

Grammy Award-winning vocalist Steve Tyrell is truly a renaissance man. In his four and a half decades in the music business, he has achieved great success as an artist, producer, songwriter, music supervisor, and performer.

With his breakthrough performances in "Father of the Bride" and "Father of the Bride II," Steve Tyrell reinvented and re-popularized classic pop standards for a modern-day audience.  With the grit and soul of a lifetime of experiences, producing hits for Grammy-winning Artists ranging from Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville, to Rod Stewart and Diana Ross, Steve himself has sold hundreds of thousands of albums and gained a passionate following all over the world.  His hits "The Way You Look Tonight," "The Simple Life," "Crush On You" and "The Sunny Side of The Street," have launched thousands of weddings and millions of romances. He's held top positions at Standards, Swing, and Big Band outlets with a devoted following at key Adult Contemporary Radio.

With sold out shows across America and raves from around the world, his following increases day by day. Although Steve tours mainly with his band, he also enjoys playing with some of the most renowned orchestras in the land, and has appeared with The Boston Pops, twice with The New York Pops, The Nashville Symphony, and The Houston Symphony on several occasions.  At the request of the Sinatra family and Quincy Jones, Steve was the featured performer with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at their season opening concert in which Frank Sinatra was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.  Also at the request of the Sinatra family, he reprised that performance this past May at Carnegie Hall.  This is one of the rare times the family has reached into the vault of original Sinatra arrangements to share them with another artist.

 In 2005, after the passing of the legendary Bobby Short, Steve was asked by New York City's Café Carlyle to take over their revered Holiday Season of November and December, which Mr. Short had not missed in 36 years.  Now Steve has become a fixture in New York and has played the Café Carlyle to record crowds for the last 6 years.

His work in the studio as a record producer has included collaborations with such diverse and legendary artists as Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Mary J Blige, Blood Sweat and Tears, Chris Botti, Dave Koz, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Burt Bacharach, Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder and the list goes on and on.

As an artist, all 7 of his American Standards albums have achieved top 5 status on Billboard's Jazz charts, and his first album "A New Standard" was amongst the best selling jazz albums for over 5 years.

His voice has been featured on television and in numerous movies.  In 2009, he was asked by Oscar winning Songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch to sing the end title to Steven Soderbergh's film "The Informant".  His voice was also recently heard in the Hugh Grant/ Sarah Jessica Parker film "Did You Hear About the Morgans?".

As a music supervisor and music producer for film and TV, Tyrell has worked with such distinguished directors as Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Nancy Meyers, Steven Soderbergh, Betty Thomas, and Charles Shyer.

His songs have been recorded by such revered artists as Ray Charles, Diana Ross, LL Cool J and Elvis Presley, and his song "How Do You Talk To An Angel," written and produced for Aaron Spelling's Fox television series "The Heights," was a No. 1 pop hit in 1992.  Aside from being a Grammy Award winner, Tyrell has earned two Emmy nominations, 3 Ace Nominations, 2004 American Society of Young Musicians "All That Jazz Award", 2004 The Wellness Community "Human Spirit Award", 2006 Society of Singers "Lifetime Achievement Award", and 2008 Los Angeles Jazz Society's "Jazz Vocalist of the Year".

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

09/18 Peter Lenkov, Hawaii Five-0, CSI: NY

Peter M. Lenkov is a TV and film writer and producer as well as being an occasional writer of comic books. Lenkov's notable work includes the TV series Hawaii Five-0, 24 and CSI: NY and films such as Demolition Man. In comics he wrote R.I.P.D. and Fort: Prophet of the Unexplained, for which he was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative. In 2003, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the hit TV series 24. In 2009, he wrote an episode of CSI: NY for which acclaimed actor Ed Asner was nominated for an Emmy for Guest Star. In 2010, Hawaii Five-0 was awarded Best New Drama. Other awards include a CAPE Award for Best Drama for Hawaii Five-0, A Media Access Award for his work on CSI:NY and a Huntington Disease Honor for an episode of The District.

In 2010, Lenkov launched his reboot of the long-running CBS series Hawaii Five-0 currently airing on CBS and in over 200 countries around the world. He also created "Metajets" and "Kung Fu Dino Posse", two new animated TV shows. Recently released on DVD and Blu-ray is the NBC mini-series Lenkov Executive Produced entitled XIII, based on the popular graphic novel and video game by the same name. XIII stars Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer. A new cable TV series based on the mini-series XIII will begin airing in 2011. Also in 2011, a feature film based on R.I.P.D. began shooting. R.I.P.D. stars Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Bacon. The Universal release is slated for summer 2013. Lenkov's second comic series Fort: Prophet of the Unexplained was also recently put into development at Universal with Robert Zemeckis attached to direct.

Friday, September 14, 2012

09/11 Roger E. Mosley

Roger Earl Mosley (born December 18, 1938) is an American actor best known for his role as the helicopter pilot Theodore "T.C." Calvin on the long running television series, Magnum, P.I., which starred Tom Selleck as the title character.

Mosley was born in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in the Imperial Courts project with his mother Eloise Harris in Watts, one of the most dangerous parts of the inner city. In 1974, he founded the Watts Repertory Company.

Mosley's most prominent film role to date was his 1976 starring turn as the title character in Leadbelly, directed by Gordon Parks. He has guest starred on shows such as Night Court, Starsky and Hutch, Kojak, The Rockford Files, Baretta, and Sanford and Son; he also had a role in Roots: The Next Generation. He also made a memorable appearance in the 1973 film The Mack, as the militant brother of the main character Goldie, and played officer Roy Cole alongside Kurt Russell and Ray Liotta in Unlawful Entry (1992).

Most recently he appeared in season five of Las Vegas as the billionaire friend of Montecito owner AJ Cooper (Tom Selleck). There is a vague homage to his Magnum P.I. days as his character 'Roger' is worth more than $2bn and owns a fleet of jets having started with a single helicopter in Hawaii.


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

09/04 Deana Martin

Deana Martin is an influential American singer, actor and performer and the very proud daughter of iconic entertainer, Dean Martin.

Deana achieved success early in her career in films, theater and television, then quickly added to her repertoire - recording artist, bestselling author, nationally syndicated radio host, licensed pilot, and business entrepreneur.

In 2004 Deana broke new ground as an author with her best-selling memoir "Memories Are Made of This, Dean Martin Through His Daughters Eye's"In 2005, after Deana completed her sold-out "Deana Sings Dino" international concert tour, she was eager to return to the studio and record a new album.

In 2006, Deana released "Memories Are Made Of This," her top-selling CD of Standards and Jazz. It remained on the Top 10 charts for over 40 weeks. Deana then launched her phenomenally successful "Memories Are Made Of This" international concert tour.

2008 found Deana at Capitol Studios, in Hollywood, California, working on her next album.
In the summer of 2009, Deana released her newest CD "Volare" and opened on the Billboard Heat Seeker chart at #7, Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart at #22, and on iTunes Top 10 chart. Deana loved working at Capitol Studios where she collaborated on this project with legendary multi-Grammy Award-winning engineer Al Schmitt, and her producer John Griffeth.Following the release of her new album, Deana will embark on the international "Volare Concert Tour."

Deana's desire to continue her father's legacy and support of children's charitable causes led to her being the driving force behind the annual Dean Martin Festival. All proceeds from this event fund the Dean Martin Music Scholarships.

Ms. Martin proudly announced that her book, "Memories Are Made Of This, Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes" is being made into a movie, directed by actor Joe Mantegna with screenplay written by actor/writer/television host Bonnie Hunt and staring Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Deana and her husband John Griffeth divide their time between Beverly Hills, CA and Branson, MO.

For more information on Deana Martin, her career and upcoming concert appearances, please visit her website at: www.DeanaMartin.com