Mike Lang

Biography
Articles

Focusing on piano and composition, Mike Lang received a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Michigan. Shortly after, wining awards at the Notre Dame Intercollegiate Jazz Festival, his trio performed at The Village Vanguard in New York. Other notable teachers included Arnold Schoenberg students Leonard Stein (piano) and George Tremblay (composition).

Returning to Los Angeles, he studied with Pearl Kaufman and Lalo Schifrin, and commenced a freelance recording career in records, motion pictures and television, becoming conversant with every possible music idiom and form, including jazz, classical, pop and R&B. This versatility enabled him to build a career as an accompanist for an encyclopaedic body of artists including Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Vince Gill, InSync, Milt Jackson, Lee Konitz, Diana Krall, John Lennon, Arturo Sandoval, Barbra Streisand and Frank Zappa - to mention a few.

He has recorded more than 2000 scores, working with virtually every film composer including John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein, Hans Zimmer, with numerous screen credits for solo appearances. He has premiered jazz piano concerti written especially for him by Byron Olson and Brad Dechter.

Mike has written songs for jazz notables including Stan Getz, Fourplay, Tom Scott, Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin, Herb Alpert, and others. Mike has recorded a jazz CD entitled "Days of Wine and Roses: The Classic Songs of Henry Mancini". A new recording project with David Paich is in development.

Lorraine Feather's Language Turns A Witty Phrase

by Ken Dryden
March 31, 2023

I got to know Lorraine Feather through reviewing several of her CDs, amazed by her gifts as a lyricist and singer, who was equally at home with witty songs and tender ballads. I first met Lorraine when she was performing at the late lamented Manhattan club Danny's Skylight Room with pianist Shelly Berg. We would chat during IAJE conferences and I was delighted when she invited me to write the liner notes for this CD. This release stands the test ...

Guilty Pleasures

Rock Swings

by Duncan Heining
May 12, 2017

A while ago, me and Mrs. O'Groove were at the Diamante Dance Academy, Chelmsford --I kid you not--for our regular lesson, when our teacher, Natasha Fellowes, put on this big band version of Van Halen's “Jump." Turned out it was off Paul Anka's Rock Swings album (2005). No particular reason but I've always had a soft spot for the number but this was a hoot. More than that, the arrangement takes what was a quick jive and turns it into ...

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Extended Analysis

Lorraine Feather: Language

by Nicholas F. Mondello
June 7, 2008

Lorraine Feather Language Jazzed Media 2008

By its very title, Language, from singer and lyricist Lorraine Feather, implies that Feather and company believe that they have the musical and linguistic chops to take on such a sophisticated concept for our entertainment. So it's good to find that Feather is a heavyweight who--with a championship caliber crew in her corner--delivers a resounding KO.

To some ears, story songs--word-intense tunes--may seem overly Broadwayesque and ...

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Album Review

Paul Anka: Rock Swings

Read "Rock Swings" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
August 13, 2005

Pop music sure has changed since Paul Anka last helped rule the airways (as composer or performer) with such mainstays as “My Way, “Diana, “She's A Lady, and “Puppy Love.Decades later, Anka's own notes explain the Rock Swings! concept: “We all embraced the idea: to find songs from a diverse group of musicians, from Nirvana and Van Halen, to Lionel Richie and The Pet Shop Boys, and reinvent them in an entirely unique way: Swing! The result, a ...