AUDIO PROFILES

Alf Clausen
Go Simpsonic with the Simpsons

In two collections of music from "The Simpsons," Songs in the Key of Springfield and Go Simpsonic with the Simpsons, music director Alf Clausen gives a master class in composing for television. An admirer of Nelson Riddle and Henry Mancini, Clausen's music is like "The Simpsons" itself -- bubbling over with send-ups, quotations and musical references each rendered with perfect pitch.

- Composer and arranger Alf Clausen was surprised when he got tapped for "The Simpsons" -- he'd never composed for a cartoon.

- The lyrics may be hilarious, but Clausen's compositions are often loving musical tributes

- A former college composition student still seems amazed to find himself at the top of his field.

- Clausen's arrangements of Danny Elfman's original composition span the musical globe from Route 66 to Aboriginal Australia.

©Copyright 2000, BEHINDtheBEAT, Inc.

Matthew Shipp
Pastoral Composure

How do you create music that is simultaneously new and familiar? Pianist Matthew Shipp answers this question with the debut album of Thirsty Ear's Blue Series.

- If you've heard Matthew Shipp's previous work (he's made nearly 20 albums as a leader), this one will surprise you. If you haven't, it will surprise you even more.

- Shipp takes "Prelude to a Kiss," a favorite Ellington composition, into unexpected new territories.

- Wake up and consider this question: What's "Frére Jacques" doing on this album?

- Shipp explores the impetus behind his decade-long collaboration with bassist William Parker.

©Copyright 2000, BEHINDtheBEAT, Inc.