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Hal Schaefer
by Andrew Velez
“The most important thing about me has to be that what I did musically has always been the most meaningful music that I could make at the time. ...I did the most honest music that I could." As he approaches his 84th birthday this month, pianist, conductor, arranger, composer, accompanist and vocal coach Hal Schaefer is not a household name. And he's okay with that. He can still play a heart-stopping version of “No Business Like Show Business" like nothing ...
Continue ReadingHal Schaefer: How Do You Like This Piano Playing?
by C. Michael Bailey
Hal Schaefer is a Hollywood musician jack-of-all-trades, at one time or another serving as a pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. He got his professional start in the big bands of the Dorsey Brothers, Benny Carter, and Harry James. However, Schaefer kept the doors open by serving as a vocal coach to celebrities otherwise not singers, including Mitzi Gaynor, Susan Hayward, Robert Wagner, Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. It was Schaefer who provided Monroe the arrangement for her barn-burning “Diamonds Are ...
Continue ReadingHal Schaefer: How Do You Like This Piano Playing?
by Dan McClenaghan
File this prosaically-titled How Do You Like This Piano Playing? under the “music discovered in a backyard shed" category.Pianist/composer/arranger/conductor Hal Schaefer's musical journey began with stints in big bands led by Benny Carter, Harry James, and Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, but his most notable gigs--from a fame-gaining perspective--have been as a vocal coach to the stars: Susan Heyward, Mitzi Gaynor, Robert Wagner, and--the jewel in that particular crown--leading Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe toward their singing contributions in ...
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