Kenneth Ascher

Kenny Ascher

Kenneth Lee "Ken" Ascher , also Kenny Ascher (born October 26, 1944 in Washington, DC ) is an American pianist and keyboardist in jazz and pop music as an arranger, lyricist and songwriter in the field of film music .

Ascher started playing the piano at the age of five; in the 1950s his family moved to Atlanta , where he made his first club appearances at the age of 16. He studied arrangement and classical piano until 1967, then he studied at Columbia University , where he received his Bachelor, Master of Arts and Ph.D. acquired in composition. From 1962 to 1964 he taught music history at this university; from 1966 he worked mainly as a studio musician in New York, played 1966/67 also in the Woody Herman Band and in 1971 briefly with Art Blakey , then with Marvin Stamm and in the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra . In Half Note he accompanied musicians such as Zoot Sims , Ruby Braff , Anita O'Day , Maxine Sullivan and Jimmy Rushing .

Outside of jazz, he became known in the 1970s as a studio musician, songwriter and arranger for John Lennon's albums Walls and Bridges , Rock 'n' Roll and Yoko Ono's A Story ; Ascher also wrote the lyrics for Paul Williams ' songs on A Star Is Born , where he also served as musical coordinator and received a Golden Globe Award for best film music. He also worked with Paul Williams on the music for Phantom of the Paradise and was the arranger on parts of Jim Steinman's and Meat Loaf's production Bat out of Hell .

Ascher has also worked as a songwriter on numerous songs for the Muppet Show that he wrote with singer-songwriter and actor Paul Williams, such as "The Rainbow Connection" sung by Kermit the Frog in the 1980 film Muppet Movie Received an Oscar / Best Film Music nomination. Ascher is also active as a keyboard player in the Birdland Big Band , the house band of Birdland in New York City.

Ascher has also worked with Maynard Ferguson , Billy Joel ( Turnstiles , 1976), Earl Klugh , Jane Monheit and James Taylor .

literature

• Bielefeld catalog 1988 & 2002
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .
• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .