Yaron Gershovsky, The Manhattan Transfer / Solo Artist

Yaron Gershovsky is an internationally acclaimed pianist, keyboardist, arranger, composer, and producer. We attempt to cover Yaron’s amazing career, from his start in Israel and his initial gigs with jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, through to his work with Wayne Shorter and his long-standing tenure as MD with The Manhattan Transfer. Add in some discussions about...

The post Yaron Gershovsky, The Manhattan Transfer / Solo Artist appeared first on The Keyboard Chronicles.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
you
Hello and welcome to the Keyboard Chronicles podcast for keyboard players.
I'm your host, David Holloway and I'm pumped as always to be here with you.
It was such a huge pleasure today to spend an hour or so with the amazing Yaron Gyszowski.

(00:21):
For those unaware, Yaron had a 44 year career as musical director with the ManhattanTransfer, but like a lot of our guests, that's only the tip of the iceberg.
When you've got a guy that sat side by side with Chick Corea, you know, has worked witheveryone from the Count Basie Orchestra through to some great anecdotes around Herbie
Hancock, Wayne Shorter, he's recorded with you name it, you're on, have been involved init.

(00:47):
Such an amazing chat.
So yeah, I'll, I'll shut the hell up and let you jump into the chat, but I hope you enjoyit and I'll talk to you at the end of the show.
Your Honour, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show, sir.

(01:09):
How are you doing this fine evening?
Thank you, I'm doing very well and it's very nice to see you and meet you.
And I can feel the vibe coming from all this far away place that I love so much.
That's awesome.
So it's nice to talk to you.
You know, great to have you.
So I thought we'd kick off your on with a little bit talk about what you've got coming upin your last year.

(01:32):
So you're obviously an incredibly busy musician still, and we'll get into the history, butjust tell us about your upcoming tour and what 2025 has been like for you.
Well, 2025 has been surprisingly busy.
It was a transition from working so much with Manhattan Transfer and then they stoppedtouring and then we opened a new chapter in our lives.

(01:56):
uh By all means, it wasn't a closure of anything.
It was an opening and a beginning of something else.
So that was good.
after releasing a record with Janice, we released a record.
It's called The Colors of My Life, which is
the song book of Sy Corman, a very famous American songwriter, and he wrote a lot ofstandards like witchcraft and the best is yet to come, etc.

(02:23):
So we released an album and we toured with this album, Janice and I, in Europe and in theStates.
And in fact, this in a couple of, in a month or so, we are going to Europe again and we'regoing to be in Barcelona.
We're going to be in Sofia.
and Bulgaria and so things are looking good and I've been doing a lot of writing,practicing, playing, preparing my next album and working on some other album projects and

(02:52):
orchestrating stuff so I've been actually busy.
Absolutely, sounds like it.
And we're going to talk about a lot of those areas you just mentioned, but we'll jump backto our sort of traditional question of asking about your musical upbringing.
So just interesting your childhood in Israel and your first exposure to music and what ledyou to deciding to do it professionally.

(03:14):
Well, when I was growing up, I have an older brother who is a very accomplished pianoplayer.
And you know this thing about an older brother and a younger brother, the younger brotheralways wants to be like the older brother.
In this particular case, I wanted to play the piano like he did.
And believe it or not, I taught myself to play the piano.

(03:35):
And I remember very well one early evening I was playing at the piano and all of a suddenthe song came out.
I kind of figured out the...
magic of making playing the music and I remember my parents and my older brother were inthe other room and they like rushed to the piano to see like what's going on because so
anyway that's how I started to play I took my basic education in piano playing is mainlyclassical so ah which I still love today and I love to play classical music and and later

(04:10):
on I started to play jazz listening to
people from Les McCann, Oscar Peterson, of course.
So it was...
That's how it evolved into the jazz scene and also I like to play pop music and rockmusic.
oh One of my favorite moments in high school was when I played the organ solo of the Houseof the Rising Sun by The Animals.

(04:38):
And this was probably one of my...
One of my very few chances to get some girls looking at me, you know.
was very helpful for my popularity.
I played this solo like note by note, man.
So it was awesome.
I longed to playing with some Spencer Davies stuff, you know.
I'm a man and all that stuff.

(05:00):
Oh, and so that high school period you were still in Israel at that stage?
Yes, I was in Israel until 1974 when I went to study music at Berklee College of Music.
So let's talk about that, Yoram, because that's obviously a pivotal part of your life aswell.
tell us about Berklee and you establishing yourself as a potentially professionalmusician.

(05:23):
Yes, if I may just, I was a professional musician before I went to Berklee because I had avery successful musical career in Israel, a short time, because it started like in 1971,
two, and then 1974 it was like, you know, very successful career.

(05:46):
And this is when I said to myself, maybe I should go and study.
be a little bit more worthy of my success, if I may say so.
So I went to Berkeley College and I became, from a very well-known musician, kind of,there was only one TV channel over there, so everybody knew, they me on TV.

(06:09):
So then I went to Berkeley and it was like, transfer to anonymity, which is, actually,it's a good life lesson.
And what were the key, what were some of the key things at Berkeley and I know it's hardto summarise in a few sentences what you learned throughout a college degree but what were
the key things you picked up that you hadn't picked up prior to that date and that stillstand you in good stead today?

(06:33):
One of the main things that I learned is, I it's kind of getting more acquainted with themusical language of how things work in the States.
And I remember it took me a while to transition from doing the translation when I heard,when I was in class to just hearing it in English and that's it without the need of...

(07:00):
I was very lucky to meet some great musicians that I played with, for example, likeKenwood Denard, drummer, who later on we played together with Manhattan Transfer and
actually he hooked me up with playing with Farrah Sanders.

(07:22):
Yeah, so it was a, he's still a great friend of mine and...
uh
So I met some great musicians over there.
So it was a wonderful time.
of an experience.
Yeah, so let's talk about Pharaoh Sanders because unless I'm mistaken, you're on that wasone of your first larger gigs in the US.

(07:44):
So tell us about, you know, as a relatively young man going out, I mean, for thoseunaware, Pharaoh Sanders is an iconic saxophonist, um only passed away in the last few
years.
Just interesting.
Yeah, tell us about those initial experiences there.
Yeah, it was actually the first, like you said very correctly, so it was like the first,if you can call it like big or significant gig in my music career over here in the States.

(08:15):
And there's a little funny story to this if you don't mind.
mean, my oldest daughter was born on March 2nd and on March 3rd at like one o'clock in themorning, I'm getting a call from Ken with the Nard and he says, you're on.
Ferris Sanders is looking for a piano player.
You want to come to audition for him?
So I called my wife at the hospital.

(08:36):
said, listen, I'm going to be a little late today to visit you.
And I went to the audition to Ferris Sanders.
And luckily for me, there was kind of an immediate rapport between us that it was amazing.
And I worked with him for a few months, almost a year.

(09:00):
And that, was about to say touring, was that your first, well it would have been yourfirst US touring experience.
What was that like for you and what sort of an eye-opener was that for you?
It was very interesting, whole touring environment and learning how to be a musician ontour.

(09:25):
It's a whole thing, know, it's like in the beginning you're kind of green and you know,young blood, you know, and you're like, and then you learn all this stuff and about how
things work.
And I'll tell you playing with Pharaoh and with the musician that played with him.
Kenwood and Rael Wesley Green was playing bass, I remember.

(09:47):
And it was just school every day to be on stage with such an amazing saxophone player.
And he was very generous with me and I had a few times, moments that I had my solos and Iremember one time there was like an unaccompanied solo that let me play and like everybody

(10:08):
got off the stage.
I think only they wanted a little break, but it doesn't matter.
So I said, you're wrong.
Why don't you go ahead and do it?
So all kinds of things like this that were amazing for me and strengthened my belief inmyself that maybe I can do it.

(10:29):
Because coming from a place like where I came from and meeting people like Farah Sandersthat I heard about over there, everything seems to be larger than life.
Like first night when I came,
Boston I went to hear McCoy Tyner at the jazz workshop in Boston and I sat down I heardhim play and then I said to my wife I said I think we should go back home there's nothing

(10:52):
nothing I can't what can I do here I'm just listening to McCoy Tyner you know so thingslike that everything seems to be larger than life including actually I heard about
Manhattan transfer in Israel as well so it was also like a larger than life experience
Yeah.
And I mean, you mentioned you made a great point.

(11:13):
run about it being like another schooling um episode.
So do you recall from those early days with Pharaoh, what were some of the key lessons youdid learn about just your playing and how you fit in with other band members or had you
pretty much nailed that prior to that?
You understood how to interact.
A lot of it was instinctive and a lot of it was learning to control yourself in the senseof building and creating a certain music line that you start with something small and you

(11:49):
develop it and it becomes more involved and both melodically and emotionally by creating acertain...
let's say solo.
And also, I had an experience of working in ensembles and writing arrangements andconducting and producing, but to sit with these people and be in a large part spontaneous

(12:17):
and learning to listen to all the nuances of everybody and appreciate that they'relistening to me and I would do something and then Kenwood will relate to it with the drums
or somebody, and even Pharaoh, know, the...
great Pharaoh.
So it was an amazing learning experience.
Yeah, absolutely.

(12:37):
And I do need to mention, I know your website mentioned you did some recording with WayneShorter.
I can't let that go by without a comment.
So tell us about how that came about and obviously Wayne, another iconic figure.
Yeah, um this was a time I was in Los Angeles and it was, I think it was before cellphones and this was the time people that maybe I probably, of course I date myself, but

(13:04):
you would stay at the hotel and they would give you a little piece of paper and the pieceof paper will say this such and such person called you and this and this number.
So somebody, the guy, the front desk gives me a piece of paper and it says Wayne Short.
And then phone number and I said you must be kidding me.
I almost threw it away I said somebody's pulling my leg so I called Thank God I did and Ispoke to Wayne and he said that look I'm recording here and There is a gentleman in Los

(13:35):
Angeles by the name of Joe Vittorrelli who I think mentioned he mentioned me to to Wayneand when called me and it seems kind of understandable that I go there and
see what happens, you know, so I was mentally expecting.
See you later, bye, nice to meet you.

(13:55):
But it became a week of recordings.
And we did the record Atlantis, which was his first release after Weather Report.
So it was very significant and meaningful and for me, forget about it, mean, recording.
So I said, what is this about me as a saxophone player?

(14:17):
This is like Pharaoh Sanders and then Wayne Shorter.
So it was an incredible experience.
Yeah, there's definitely a pattern there.
And so let's let's move back again.
I mean, we obviously need to talk about Manhattan Transfer.
And I know you joined in 1979.
But what was the bridge you're on from Pharaoh Sanders and doing the work you were doingto auditioning or joining Manhattan Transfer?

(14:42):
How did that come about?
Okay.
This time, a short time after I played with Pharaoh, they came out with the albumExtensions.
And this is the album that actually uh made them very successful in the States becausebelieve it or not, the main career until then was in Europe and also in the States, but

(15:12):
Extensions was like a...
breaking up things for them with Birdland and all that so...
Twilight Zone and it's amazing you know when they did there was like the time that theyreleased singles shows you like what the music was at that time so the side A on the

(15:35):
single was Twilight Zone and the side B was Buddy and Soul which is a jazz ballad likedoesn't get any more jazz ballads these days and on side A was like a disco song but it
was
They were very, very hard.
They always were very, very versatile musically.
So when they did the extensions, they put together a band for touring.

(16:01):
And I was called to play the piano.
And after one tour, I was asked to become the musical director, which after thinking fiveseconds, I said, of course.
It's like, let me think about it.
Okay.
need to ask you Ron because as you know a musical director role can be very differentdepending on the band, the context in stage music and so on.

(16:26):
what was the actual role of the musical director within Manhattan Transfer?
um The role was to make sure that everything musically on stage is functioning for theoutmost perfect way.
Good luck with that.

(16:47):
But you know what I'm saying?
The pursuit of perfection is eluding us always for the rest of our lives.
so conducting, making the arrangements for the band.
there would be situations that they would record, like for example, in Brazil, the albumBrazil, so I had to adopt the arrangements from the record to a live orchestra, band that

(17:13):
we have, and the personnel in the band has changed from time to time.
I'm sorry, but it started with saxophone and full rhythm section, piano, bass, guitar.
drums and percussion and then it became just piano bass guitar and drums and then itbecame just piano bass and drums.

(17:41):
So we went through some changes.
So all these things were we had to adapt to all these situations with the arrangements andcovering synthesizer part I I always use like a piano and a synth so it was like this
situation that I had to take care of and
So that was the part and some I wrote some vocal arrangements but mainly the vocalarrangements were done by Jenny Siegel or Aaron Paul and some of them some Tim might have

(18:12):
written some of them but yeah so all that and rehearsing with them piano and when theyhave to check out their voices and this is too flat this is too sharp and this is too loud
and this is so so all the oldest thing that has to be behind the scenes that's part.
And you know, it's what we call the hot seat, you know.

(18:36):
It was a little bit too fast, it was a little bit too slow, oh it was okay, you know.
So all those kind of things.
oh But it was all those things that we take with love because...
the time that I spent with them which was 44 years.

(18:58):
I always joke and I said, I joke I say I started to work with them when I was five yearsold.
They said, you're on the chubs kid with us for 40 years.
said, yeah, I started when I was five, you so.
No, but it is an absolutely incredible um career for anyone, let alone everything elseyou've done that we're going to talk about.

(19:22):
one thing, people outside the US or who are unaware of Manhattan Transfer may not realisethat there was huge diversity in the eras and as you said, personnel and there were quite
different musical approaches.
What sort of challenge did that pose for you as an MD?
There was a lot of innovation and uh evolution as well over that period of time.

(19:42):
oh The challenge that stood before any musician that was on that gig was to be believablewhen you play bebop the same way that you are believable when you play a samba or when you
play disco or when you play duet or when you play a French chanson like Chanson d'Amourand playing a little accordion sound on the synth.

(20:08):
So the versatility of the styles
was always something that was very important to every musician.
this was the challenge that...
And I enjoyed it very much because I always liked different kind of music from classicalto anything.
I just enjoy it.
So it's very important to be able to be so versed in musical...

(20:33):
And I know this will be difficult to recall because of so many years, but broadly, whatwere some of the keyboards that got you through that diversity of music over the periods
of time?
You mentioned that you used synths and stuff.
What were some of the more memorable ones that got you through some of those periods?
So uh there was always the acoustic piano.

(20:55):
There was a time that we used like a Yamaha CP-80, which actually I have in my bed whereI'm talking to you now, I a Yamaha CP-70 still, which is the most amazing thing.
But like every most amazing thing, they don't do them anymore.
They come up with some great things and like the Walkman and the Pressman, they don't dothem anymore, don't make them anymore.

(21:15):
Anyway, the first synthesizer that I used,
is one of the first synthesizers that I used was in Oberheim I used an AUB 2600
I used the Minimoog I used a Prophet 5 I mean talking evolution of because as we movedalong keyboard and then there was M1 the code M1 and then there was a DX7 Jupiter 8 and

(21:54):
then uh
triton, the cork triton.
I later on, since I started to work with the cork, actually from the M1, I became like acork guy, you know, I had a relationship with cork and, and I liked cork instrument and

(22:15):
every time we go to Japan, I go to the factory, I meet, you know, and I was presented withall the new innovations and everything.
So, and then there was the M1 and then the cork triton and then there was the cork
the Kronos.
And there was the Kronos X and then the Kronos 1, then the Kronos 2, which I have righthere.

(22:40):
actually the Kronos 2, I remember we did a festival and played in a festival in Singaporeand Herbie Hancock was playing and he showed me this keyboard and he said, check out this
keyboard, it's like an amazing keyboard.
And he was right.
And I've been using Korg ever since.
Yeah.
And I mean, that's an amazing testament to what a career just going from an ARP 2600through to the Kronos that shows you the period you've covered, which is just utterly

(23:09):
amazing.
So, I mean, across those years, you're on this, are there some standout uh gigs thateither challenge you as a player or just were iconic as far as location or just things
that, you know, great memories for you during that
Yeah.
The great, one of the memorable moments in my musical career with Manhattan transfer wasto share the piano chair with Chikoria.

(23:43):
And it was in the Perugia Jazz Festival, the famous Perugia Jazz Festival.
And it was right after the Manhattan transfer that the Chikoria songbook recording.
And he set in with us on one of the songs.

(24:05):
And he goes to me and he said, so what would you like me to play?
Do you want me to play on the synth or on the piano?
I said, no, Mr.
Chick Corea, you got it wrong.
I'm going to ask you, what keyboard do you want me to sit on and play and what do you wantto play?
So anyway, I wound up, it's funny, but I wound up.

(24:25):
He played the piano and I played the synth.
And I was playing right, I was sitting right next to him and it was something I'll neverforget.
Yeah, that's yeah, look, uh because we're a keyboard players podcast, everyone knows justwhat a pivotal figure Chickaree was.
And you've also mentioned Herbie Hancock in passing.
So I assume you ran across Herbie at different junctures over the years.

(24:49):
Yes, yes.
The first time I met him, I think it was in the early 80s.
It was a gig in Germany somewhere.
And he played and both of us were younger.
was...
And, you know, I'm shamelessly...
Before the era of social media and all this, everybody takes a selfie and everything, Ihad the smarts to take a picture with him too.

(25:18):
memorialize this occasion.
And, Chick, I met many times, quite a few times, and it was always, always, always so niceto me and generous.
And right away when he heard me play first time, he said, oh, you play classical music,right?

(25:38):
And I said, yeah.
And he said, it was amazing to meet him.
and to meet her and I went to hear uh Oscar Peterson in the early 80s, played in RonnieScott and I remember that the thought I had in my mind when I heard him play that I don't

(26:04):
want to sound
impolite but I said to myself I don't think God could have played anything better thanwhat he did because everything was so perfect the notes the breaks between the notes the
timing it was just one of the most incredible thing and then I went to meet him backstageand I don't have a small hand you know too much but I mean his hand was like wrapped

(26:30):
around my hand and you couldn't see my hand it was such I'll never forget that moment
No, I probably still wouldn't have washed my hand, you're on so I can understand that.
It took me about 10 years.
My wife started to complain too much so I decided.
I said okay it's time to wash my hands already.
Love it.

(26:50):
And so that's, that's probably a good juncture you're on to talk about.
You've done some amazing collaborations.
You've just mentioned three iconic figures, but I have to ask you about some others thatyou've mentioned in passing.
Dr.
Lonnie Smith.
Yes, yes, there was a guitar player that I played with in New York by name of RichieHornberg who used to play with Dr.

(27:14):
Lonnie Smith.
And then I got in the band and we played and we recorded together.
I remember it was a studio in Chelsea, New York.
Most incredible, most incredible person.
And then actually I saw him years later.
in San Jose Jazz Festival and he was playing with Lou Donaldson and actually Les McCannwas in

(27:45):
And this was incredible because Les McCann was one of the piano players that I listened toa lot when I was in my formative years as a teenager.
It was incredible.
m
Yeah, Dr.
Loney, an amazing guy and a huge loss to the industry when he passed away.

(28:07):
um And I have to ask about Count Basie Orchestra too, you're on obviously anotherincredible, I imagine, experience.
This is like, this is like, you know, when we speak like this, I start to have thisfeeling that I'm kind of so lucky, I am, I am.

(28:28):
But it all starts when I met my wife, I'll tell you.
That's the most lucky thing that I've ever met.
But, okay, so talk about Count Basie.
We recorded the two songs.
Actually, my first encounter with Count Basie was when they recorded Corner Pocket orUntil I Met You.
which was on the Mecca for Moderns album, which was the first album I recorded with them.

(28:50):
And I played the piano on this song.
And it was a rhythm section.
It wasn't big band.
It was Steve Gadd, Abe Laboreo, and Dean Parks and myself playing corner pocket.
And the song won a Grammy actually for them.
So what a way to get in to this business and this part of my career.

(29:13):
But,
when they recorded two songs with the Comb Baisy Orchestra, Bleep La Blues and Rambo.
And it was a show time after, sadly, Comb Baisy passed away.
So they said, Yaron is going to play the piano.
And they were like, I don't know, it was a very...

(29:37):
oh could be awkward but everybody was very nice to me, you know.
I felt so undeserving or so like, what am I doing here playing piano?
Playing, sitting on his chair, you know.
And the rhythm section was Ray Brown, Freddie Green was sitting by the piano and GradyTate was playing.

(30:05):
And it was the most incredible experience.
Tim Houser told me that he saw me cry when I played.
Like shedding a tear, like an emotional thing.
I don't remember it, but he says so.
listen, I learned from the very beginning, you don't argue with Tim Houser.
If he said that, okay, okay.

(30:28):
But it was again, was a very significant.
Absolutely.
And you just mentioned there about, you know, sitting at the piano and maybe not feelingworthy or it being a surreal experience.
We quite often ask, we all have imposter syndrome.
How have you dealt with that over the years as far as, you know, believing in yourselfwithout, you know, your ego getting out of control?

(30:53):
Is that a constant battle to, you know, not think you're unworthy?
Well, I'll tell you, knowing myself and if you'll know me better, I don't have a problemwith having an ego, but I'm always the worst critic of myself.
I rarely like, I mean, like, but many times if I myself play after I hear a recording, I'mrarely happy with what I do.

(31:24):
So my quest or my pursuit of...
Improving myself is something I'm dealing with all my life.
And I never had the problem of...
I always was very appreciative and I always appreciated the great opportunities or chancesI had in my life to even meet those great people and maybe share the stage with them, you

(31:53):
know, so it's amazing.
And are there, there's some collaborations over your career, Yaron, that you would callout that we haven't already talked about that have stood out to you as, some of the
highlights.
recording my music.
Your Honour, I'm really interested to hear about your solo output as well, because you'vecreated some amazing albums, you've worked with some artists who have appeared on your

(32:17):
albums.
Just tell us a little bit about your career as a solo artist.
After playing with the transfer, I got this bug about doing my own record.
And believe me, it took me a long time to bring that to fruition because I wasn't sureabout material, didn't know, and I wasn't sure, and blah, blah.

(32:42):
But eventually I came out with a record.
My first solo album is called Personal Notes.
I love this album until today.
em As far as collaboration and playing with musicians on my albums, standing out is likeBoris Kaslov, bass player, who played with us with Melody Transfer.

(33:07):
A drummer, Steve Haas, who played with us with The Transfer, was playing.
Mike Pope, bass player, who played with us with The Transfer, was on my album.
Lou Soloff.
ah
was on my, actually on my first album, oh Personal Notes.
Actually a funny story about Lou Soloff is, many funny stories about Lou Soloff.

(33:31):
He was an amazing, amazing person and funny, even sometimes not trying to be funny, but hewas funny.
So before my session, we did the horns at my house in my studio where I talk to you now.
about three, four hours before the session, I get a call from Lou Soloff and he says, hey,you're on.
I said, yeah, Lou, what's happening?
He said, listen, can we move the session a little bit later?

(33:54):
I said, why Lou?
What's going on?
said, I need to go to the gym.
said, I'm sorry Lou.
I'm sorry, but actually a saxophone player by the name of David Mann.
Dave Mann, one of the most incredible saxophone players I know.
oh Like as Lou Marini and...

(34:19):
others that I just did a gig with Bob Shepard in Los Angeles with you know, so but so Isaid we can move the session so oh And and my neighborhood is called Fresh Meadows So
after the session Lou Soloff goes out and he goes to the car and says your honor What'sthe name of this neighborhood?

(34:39):
I said this neighborhood is called Fresh Meadows and Lou says well My neighborhood I livein a neighborhood.
It's not so nice as yours.
It's called
not so fresh metals.
uh So this is Lou Soloff.
He toured with us in Japan when we did the Louis Armstrong after the Louis Armstrong St.

(35:02):
Louis album we did.
he was Louis Armstrong and played with us.
Amazing play.
That's incredible.
so those, mean, I think, Ron, you've had more than six solo albums, and I think youmentioned you're working on more.
So it sounds like there's plenty more to come.
Yes, I would like also to mention one particular, besides, of course, I mentioned Janice,the great Janice Sigel, who also sang on my first album and we did the Psycoman album.

(35:31):
There is a singer by the name of Aubrey Johnson that is on my, on my transitions album.
And I did also during COVID, you know, during COVID, we were like at home doing videos,doing albums.
So I did the...
quite a few videos with Aubrey, I wrote vocal arrangements like we did the Windows of YourMind and we did Agua de Margo's Jor-Beam song and Modinio I did with Aubrey and she's the

(36:03):
most amazing singer.
And so you're looking forward to what's yet to come there as well, Yaron.
But there's another whole aspect of your career we haven't even talked about yet, which isyour work in musicals and on Broadway.
And it's sort of an area that I've always been passionate about.
And I'm not surprised you've worked in that area with your musical direction experience.

(36:24):
So tell us a little bit about your first experiences in musical theater.
And then I know you've played keyboards with Phantom and Lamis and that just, know, whatdifferent approach that required of you.
to play in a Broadway show and because of my extensive touring I could always play as asub for the regular player.

(36:46):
So to play as a sub it's awesome because you get off the road and you're in town and dosomething but being a sub it's like especially the first time after a while that you
didn't do it it can affect your blood pressure you know if you're not careful.
So this is one thing about
playing, yeah, I was lucky to play Les Mis and I played on the Phantom of the Opera.

(37:12):
actually in 1989, I think I got a call from Sy Coleman.
And Sy Coleman called me and he said, Yaron, I'm working on this musical, it's called Cityof Angels.
And City of Angels has a quartet of singers.

(37:35):
the Angel City 4 and I would like you to write arrangements for them, a la ManhattanTransfer.
So I said, when do you want me to be in your office?
How soon do you want to see me?
So anyway, so we met and I did the vocal arrangements for this show that was a verysuccessful show.
He also went on in England and it was touring in the States and it was very, got TonyAwards.

(38:03):
So this was a vocal arranging gig that I had doing that.
And I worked on some other shows as a musical director, like a couple of, they do likeworkshops before they put the shows together.
One of them was Harold Arlen music.
It was 1939, which I don't believe it became, I don't think it didn't become a musical,you know, they're going through all these stages.

(38:33):
and oh Smokey Joe's Cafe I was working in the beginning of this show and which gave me theopportunity to meet Mike Stoller and Jerry Lieber who wrote they wrote a lot of class or
you know Hound Dog just because of Hound Dog you don't have to say anymore Love Potionnumber nine on Broadway Stands By Me just to name a few as they say

(39:00):
No, thank you for giving some insights into that.
obviously I do need to ask you as a person that still has an active career and hopefullymany, many more years of playing to go, but do you have any advice for younger players
entering the industry and looking to make a living?
So I obviously understand the industry has changed so much and is always changing, butjust some broad tips on professionalism and making a go of it.

(39:25):
I dare to say that one thing that I like in a musician is humility.
I think we all have to have respect for what we do and respect for the people who do whatthey do with us.
And it can express itself by the behavior around but also in the music.

(39:53):
listen to what they play and relate to what they play and give them the space that theyneed.
you know, I remember when we did City of Angels, the famous orchestrator Billy Byersorchestrated the show.
was like, he wrote Chinese stockings.

(40:13):
He was in the Count Basie Orchestra, of the original ones.
And I wrote all those quartet charts, know, four-part harmony.
and he wrote the orchestration after we, heard, you know, there's the reading of all thecharts and I went to Bailey and I said, thank you for the space that you allowed us to

(40:34):
have with our four-part harmony.
So the space and the respect for the notes and the respect of the musicianship for yourfellow musician.
And also one more thing, show up on time.
Try to.
That helps.
Totally valuable.
Yeah, no show up on time.
Absolutely.

(40:54):
um Now I believe you Ron, you do have an amazing story.
I don't want to talk it up too much, but um I know you mentioned before you say recording,you did have an onstage uh train wreck that you felt you were able to share and hopefully
can look back on it and laugh now.
Yeah, it took me about five years that I could after I could laugh about it, but butactually in passing we mentioned it before because I was I was a sub in the Phantom of the

(41:21):
Opera and and There is a part in the Phantom of the Opera where there is a sequencedbaseline that So I was in charge of activating that

(41:41):
Sequencer.
So it goes like...
Anyway, so...
And the conductor is standing there and he's like...
He was like a conductor that's like...
Very expressive.
And he shows up and he gives me the cue like...
um And I push the button and nothing happens.
It is on show.

(42:02):
It's a show.
The show is running.
So what I did, I I just played it with my finger manually.
So I kind of got out of it.
Everybody was laughing, but I think if I have any situation of high blood pressure, it'sprobably blame.
You can blame it on this particular occurrence.
Other things that are not so terrible, also not very, like you do a show and all of asudden you skip, because I count off the songs and we all have a show list, a set list

(42:34):
before we go on stage.
sometimes you like, you skip a song and all of a sudden I count off.
I can't open another song and I were like what you're supposed to play candy and you'recounting off You know like you know Twilight Zone or what like so a couple of things like
this kind of embarrassing

(42:55):
Yeah, no, I love it.
And we do have the dreaded Desert Island Discs question you're on.
So five albums, if you had to provide them that had a big impact over your lifetime, whatwould they be?
I think I would call the first one Night Rain by Oscar Peterson.

(43:17):
And check this out, there's a story with this.
Well, the first cut on the album is Night Rain and then he also has Siege and Blues andother songs.
But one song he has on this album is Motten Swing.
I was like 15 or something when I heard that.

(43:41):
20 or 30 years later I recorded that song with a transfer on their swing album.
Moten Swing, you know.
And it was like talking about a cycle of kind of thing closing down.
this is and also meeting him and...

(44:01):
Another album that I consider to be influential on me was The Cat.
Jimmy Smith album with orchestration by Lalo Schiffman, you know, which was unbelievable.
Just the opening for the song, cat, with the horns and everything.

(44:24):
And the story about this too is actually one of the dramas with the transfer was TommyCampbell, who played with us for a couple of years.
Jimmy Smith is his uncle.
He calls him Uncle Jimmy, you know.
So talking about four degrees of separation, it's like life is full of these things.

(44:46):
It's pretty amazing.
Another album that I like a lot, being a piano player who many times I accompany singers,you know, even like with the transfer.
And sometimes we do a song in a show that's just piano and voice, you know, like a ballador something.
And even on the record with Psyco, my record I did with Jen is two songs.

(45:10):
just piano and her voice.
So the art of accompanying a singer is demonstrated so well on the album of Bill Evans andTony Bennett.
The duet album that they did, which is like inspiring just to hear the way Bill Evans wasplaying with him and supporting him.

(45:32):
it was like an incredible music.
I would have loved to be in studio to see what would happen.
Yeah.
Right?
You know, it was amazing.
Another album that I love is Nightfly by Donald Fagen.
He did this album, you know, after Steely Den broke.

(45:54):
And the funny thing is I've been playing now with a band of Steely Den musicians.
So for example, Bob Shepard and Keith Karlak playing drums and Freddie Washington playingbass, you know.
And we did a show in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago and we're doing another show in SanJose, in San Diego, I'm sorry.

(46:16):
And Tom Scott is going to play with us.
Who played with them and did, wrote a lot of the arrangements for them, you know.
There is a story about the album Asia, the song Asia that they did.
Steve Gadd was in the studio next door doing something else and he walked in and theyplayed Asia for him.

(46:38):
And Steve Gadd says to Donald Fagan, says, hey man, I must tell you, the drummer on thissong doesn't sound bad, it sounds really good.
And Donald Fagan said, yeah man, it's you.
You know?
So I would never forget if I played on Asia, I'll tell you that.
I promise you, I never forget that.

(47:00):
But I guess Steve Gadd, he's been doing so much stuff.
He's the master.
So this is Nightfly.
oh I'll go amiss if I'm not going to say that one of my favorite albums with the transferthat I played with is Vocalize.
And I think that Vocalize is an album that established them more as a jazz group than evenbefore.

(47:28):
And because I remember in the beginning we were touring, doing concerts and it was like...
Once in a while there would be like a jazz, know, like they would do Tuxedo Junction orall kinds of stuff.
But when they did vocalist, they kind of committed a little bit to do more jazz and theystarted, we started to tour in all the jazz festivals like Montreux and all over the

(47:52):
world.
And I'll be amiss if I wouldn't say that one of the best times I have was touring inAustralia.
I'll tell you.
Some of the, I'm a runner, you know, so some of my best runs were in Sydney, along theharbor there.
and in Perth everywhere man it's like I love this country it's awesome.
Mrs.

(48:13):
Mrs.
Kuzmowski, you've got to let him come back.
uh Yeah, tell her I said that.
uh You're on.
um We want to.
They were great five picks, by the way.
So I think four of those five albums, no one's ever chosen before.
So you've given us some new things to listen to, which is amazing.
Yeah.
I mean, certainly some of those artists pop up and Nightflies come up before, but no, notthose particular albums.

(48:37):
So that's amazing.
Thank you.
um Our very last question is what we call the quick fire tenure on.
So it's 10 very short and sharp answers to what are hopefully fairly simple questions.
kicking off with the first album you recall hearing as a child.
first album I record hearing is probably, I'll tell you.

(49:00):
Yes, it was Whole Dead Tiger by Fabian, American singer from the 60s.
My brother went to the States at that time and I was happily living in Tel Aviv in Israeland he brought back a couple of albums with him, including Gary US Bond.

(49:21):
He brought Elvis Presley and Fabian.
And so I recall that very well.
Yeah, Fabian was absolutely legendary this time.
Your most important pre-gig ritual you're on.
So before you play a gig, what do you need to do to feel settled?
walk around aimlessly back and forth.

(49:42):
They call it his pacing again they say.
I'm pacing.
I'm pacing before I start a show and believe it or not one of the things I think the mostabout is the tempo of the first song because you don't want to not do it so well on the
very first song because then it's a little mental battle to keep it up.

(50:04):
So this is actually my routine before it.
that the pace around.
Yeah, love it.
And I'm guessing the pacing is a sign of a long term musical director.
That makes sense.
If you hadn't been a musician, on what do you think your career choice would have been?
Believe it or not, was always into, I don't want to get into a dangerous area because itdoesn't mean to be, I was always interested in history and politics.

(50:35):
So I remember when I was young, when I was a little boy, I said, they asked me, what doyou want to do?
I said, I want to be a bus driver and the prime minister.
That's what I want to be.
So, so.
too late.
I was interested in economics and political science.
Yeah, great.
No, that makes sense.

(50:56):
Is there a favorite tour you've ever done?
just across all of your years with Manhattan Transfer and other acts, is there a tour thatparticularly stands out for you as a highlight?
The is one of the...
we went to Japan so many times like every year for 40 years.
But the tour that stands that I remember the most is the one that has to do with my oldestdaughter.

(51:20):
name is Corinne.
And when I was in Japan, it was her 16th birthday.
And I was so down on it because you know, you want to be sweet 16 with your daughter onher birthday.
So what I did was I went and I bought a cassette of Neil Sadaka, Happy Birthday Sweet 16.

(51:44):
And I called her exactly at midnight.
And I said, Karim, listen to this.
And I played her the whole song from Japan.
So this is something I'll always remember.
Absolutely.
That's amazing.
it.
Yeah.
What a great story.
Um, this isn't even harder when you're on a favorite gig you've ever done.

(52:05):
So a one-off show that if you had to pick one as stood out for you.
I have very fond memories of playing at the White House with a transfer.
They had a show on PBS that was the music of George Gershwin at that particular show.

(52:27):
The show was called In Performance at the White House.
So the artist would go to the White House and play for the president and his wife andblah, In the East Room and all that, you know.
And we played Sarah Vaughan was on there and we played and we played Embraceable You.

(52:49):
And I remember because it was only two days after Ronald Reagan met Mikhail Gorbachev on akind of a summit meeting on a ship somewhere on the ocean.
And then he and Nancy
Reagan walk into the room and the first thing I said to myself, believe it or not, said,this guy just two days ago was talking about the faith of the world and now I'm going to

(53:21):
play Embraceable You for him.
So, so this was the thought that crossed my mind and I remember coming home and I spoke tomy daughters and my oldest daughter says, I said to them, you know, I just played for the
president of the United States.
And she says to me, does he know that you have three daughters?

(53:45):
So I said, I'm sure he knows much more than that about me if he wants to, you know.
But it was a very precious moment.
Yes, absolutely.
And if you had to pick a favourite city in the world, Yaron, that you'd like playing, whatwould it be?
Is anywhere around the world?

(54:05):
Tel Aviv because I was born there yeah and I don't have an accent when I'm there when Ispeak the language I'm not asked to spell my name all the time you're on your own who
you're on what your own your own what what are you talking about and so it's such a listen

(54:34):
you can take the guy, I'm going to be very corny, take the guy out of the place, but youcan't take the place out of the guy.
So that would be a dream thing for me to do.
And we did it, I did it many times with a transfer and also with the musicians there, weplayed in clubs and it was like amazing experience.

(54:56):
And I love, I love, I love.
I love it.
A lot of places, I love Australia, love Japan, I love Europe, I love to travel.
Yeah, as you should know, love it.
um Name a song that you may have played a lot, you may have loved it even when you startedplaying it, but you'd happily never play it again.

(55:19):
Playing with a group like with a transfer for example, there would be a show and then theywould do another show like another season and they will revamp the music and all of a
sudden some songs that we played we find ourselves like some of the Brazilian songs likelet's say Capim for example that Stan Getz played the saxophone on the recording

(55:47):
We played it after the Brazilian song.
If you ask me now to play the song, I don't know how to play it.
I don't remember it at all.
So the song went to oblivion, you know?
And sometimes they would call a song and say, oh, we're going to do this song now.
I wait a second.
We haven't played this song in 10 years.
How can I remember playing this song?

(56:09):
Yeah, that's right.
No, good answer.
Do you have a favourite music documentary or movie you're on that you just, you know, ifyou had to watch something related to music, what would it be?
I'm not sure.
oh I've seen quite a few documentaries about musicians like for example, m I'm sorry, Imust say the one about Jacob Storius.

(56:43):
Which I uh think is a combination of so many things.
For example, genius but tragedy.
You know, the gentleman died.
Yes.
died without any...

(57:06):
there was no respect to him when he died.
He was beaten to death, you know.
And he was the guy that until now so many bass players are trying to emulate.
So I think the story about Jaco and the early days with the report and he's playing withJohnny.

(57:36):
But anyway, Jacob Pastoris is a very colorful, tragic person.
Figure.
Yeah.
No great pick.
Thank you.
And our last one is your favorite non-musical activity or hobby.
So what keeps you sane outside of music?
You're on running.
There you go.
Oh yeah.
You mentioned.
Yeah.
Yes, I've been running since 1995.

(57:58):
I've done six marathons and numerous half marathons.
And I'm running every day.
Still, I run today.
And so my desire is, my hope is to run it as long as I can, to run as long as I can untilGod lets me run.
then, you know, so I love it.

(58:20):
It does keep me sane.
And it's funny, but after a long run even, get energized.
get energy.
You want to do stuff and you're great.
And so I'm going to ask you a question I hadn't planned on asking.
You mentioned that you've done marathons and obviously the psychology of running amarathon is a whole thing on its own.
Are there any parallels with your music career and running a marathon as far as resilienceor focus on the task or anything like that?

(58:47):
Yes, I think it's a great question.
And after I've done the marathons and I would do a show and some things will not be soright, will not go exactly how I want them to be, I say to myself, listen, after doing a
marathon, nothing scares me anymore.
You know, because the marathon is like, you know, it's a long run and it's verychallenging and after 20 miles you still have to run six more.

(59:16):
the wall.
So the marathon taught me to be patient, to persevere and not to let my hand off thewheel, know, just to keep on going, keep on going, because you'll eventually get there.
Right.
And I think it's fair to say both on and off the stage, you've run many marathons andcertainly on the stage you've won a great deal of them.

(59:41):
And I can't thank you enough for spending this hour with us, Ron.
It's been an absolute pleasure and can't wait to see what comes next.
Thank so much.
It's been a great pleasure talking to you and great to meet you.
And next time we meet in Australia.

(01:00:04):
There you go.
I hope you enjoyed that.
was an absolute privilege to speak with to you Ron.
He's had such an amazing career, as I said in the intro with lots more to come and we aredetermined to get him out to Australia for a followup.
So no, again, huge thanks to him for joining us.
A huge thanks to you as always for joining us.
As I mentioned last year, we did love hearing from you.

(01:00:25):
We're on all the socials and I did mention last year we're on Reddit.
So do check us out there if that's your thing.
we've also been doing a little bit of rebranding.
You'll notice that our, um, graphics and so on have had a bit of an uplift again, which wejust try and keep things fresh.
big shout out to our gold and silver supporters.
The amazing Tammy Katcher from Tammy's Musical Studio.

(01:00:46):
Thank you so much, Tammy, as always.
The brilliant Dewey Evans from the Sunnylander Wales.
Thank you, sir.
As always Midnight Mastering, Mike Wilcox and the team.
If you need
really well priced but highly professional mixing and mastering done.
Midnight Mastering is the go-to place.
Midnightmastering.com or very happy to put you in touch directly with Mike if that helpsin some way.

(01:01:08):
And then last but definitely not least, Dave Bryce and the team at the keyboard corner atthemusicplayer.com forums.
Always a pleasure hanging out there.
So again, thank you.
Do drop us a line with any feedback.
We always appreciate it.
And otherwise until then, keep on playing.