L.A. Newsbriefs

This year opened with a slew of alumni events in Los Angeles, and one of the most inspiring was “Hip-Hop and R&B: Songwriting and Production.” Held at the historic Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, the event featured Grammy Award–winning alumni Makeba Riddick ’99, Dawaun Parker ’05, and Keith Harris ’99 discussing their creative process and career paths in a conversation moderated by Berklee’s Chief of Staff to the President Carl Beatty. The at-capacity audience was treated to invaluable behind-the- scenes insights, anecdotes, and advice.

Our Los Angeles alumni have been busily engaged in a range of professional activities. Recording engineer Jorge Velasco ’07 has been wrapping up a project produced by Phil Ramone for singer Matthew Morrison (of the TV series Glee) and a new album by Michael Bolton. He also engineered vocals for albums by Usher and Cher. In addition, he worked on the latest Pet Shop Boys album with producer and engineer Andrew Dawson ’01.

On the touring front, Angela Johnson-Swan ’05 recently relocated to Montreal after being hired as the guitarist for Cirque du Soleil’s new production “Amaluna.” The company’s Canadian tour kicked off in April 2012, and a U.S. tour is slated for 2013.

Recently, alumni attending the ASCAP “I Create Music” Expo joined Peter Gordon and me for a special networking lunch. In attendance was notable guest alumnus Seth Saltzman ’81, ASCAP’s senior vice president for member management.

Songwriter Femke Weidema ’06 received the ASCAP Foundation’s Harold Adamson Lyric Award in the pop music category. This award honors talented writers who demonstrate an intelligent and sensitive use of language in the musical theater and pop and/or country genres. Weidema, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Nashville furnished her new Nashville studio with the award.

In March, Jeremy Borum ’05 coproduced Dream Gallery with composer Mark Abel for the Delos label. The music, a 70-minute song cycle for full orchestra and vocal soloists, also fea- tures Borum on piano. For more, visit www.jeremyborum.com.

The EPS Guitar Company has unveiled a new bass for Pancho Tomaselli ’11. The signature series LTD PT-4 instrument is based on Tomaselli’s custom specifications. He plays bass for War and can be heard on the group’s 2008 Greatest Hits Live album. Tomaselli also plays with the alternative rock band Philm. For more on the new bass, visit www. espguitars.com/news/spotlight-panchtomaselli.html.

The album American Road by the Tierney Sutton Band (featuring Tierney Sutton ’87 and Christian Jacob ’86) received two Grammy nomina- tions this year. This disc was released on BFM Jazz, a division of BFM Digital, whose cofounder and CEO is Steven Corn ’84.

BFM Jazz also recently signed a deal with former Journey drummer Steve Smith ’76, and his instrumental group Vital Information. A live album of Vital Information’s best songs titled Live! One Great Night was released in May through BFM Digital and Universal/Fontana Distribution. The recording also features Baron Browne ’79 on bass. For more information, visit www.bfmdigital.com.

That’s all for now.