{"id":31861,"date":"2025-09-03T11:04:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=31861"},"modified":"2025-09-03T20:08:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T00:08:30","slug":"composer-pianist-randy-edelman-plays-a-great-game-in-song-and-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=31861","title":{"rendered":"Composer\/Pianist\/Singer\/Songwriter Randy Edelman Plays a Great Game In Song and Film"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Randy Edelman & Brad Balfour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Billy Hess<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exclusive Q&A by Brad Balfour

After a successful summer show in The Appel Room of Jazz at Lincoln Center, composer\/pianist Randy Edelman returns to New York for a series of fall concerts. A while back he conducted the following interview with me. Well, it was time to bring forth his words as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Edelman celebrated his 76th birthday at the trendy hot spot Chelsea Table + Stage in New York City, he also hailed the release of his latest album, \u201cAround The World in World in 80 Minutes.\u201d This culmination of several years\u2019 work reflecting his 40+ years career, the CD is drawn from his intense live performances. Its 20 tracks demonstrate why he continues to get an audience for his many musical compositions.

Prior to this \u2014 at a show held on March 16th, 2024 \u2014 the celebrated music impresario\/hitmaker Clive Davis came to the venue with his cool entourage to see Edelman perform. Looking debonair and stylish, the then 91-year-old carefully chose his seat, slightly right of the piano, to enjoy a show of the New Jersey native\u2019s material. Davis sat there to watch and listen as the award-winning creator took command of the stage and mesmerized the audience from the moment he sat down at the piano and played.

The crowded room was noticeably touched as Randy paid tribute to Davis with the story of his quintessential song, \u201cA Weekend In New England\u201d (recorded by Barry Manilow). While in the UK, Edelman received a long distance call from Davis requesting that very song for Manilow, and the rest became musical history.

Through his music and stories, Edelman shared the many turns of his career. His set included several of songs covered by many stars such as \u201cIsn\u2019t It A Shame\u201d(recorded by Patti LaBelle and Hip Hop artist Nelly), \u201cIf Love Is Real\u201d (recorded by Olivia Newton- John), \u201cYou\u201d (as recorded by The Carpenters), as well as Randy\u2019s own charted hits, \u201cUptown, Uptempo Woman\u201d and \u201cPretty Girls\u201d (used in the film \u201cThe Possession of Anne\u201d).

After nearly two hours, his impactful lyrics told many tales, while the instrumental medleys of his comedies and serious film soundscapes reflected Edelman\u2019s classical training at the University of Cincinnati. In fact, Edelman was given an honorary fine arts doctorate by the University of Cincinnati in 2004.

Edelman has themed the soundtracks for over 100 movies and television shows. His medleys include excerpts from \u201cMy Cousin Vinny\u201d, \u201cGhostbusters ll\u201d, \u201cWhile You Were Sleeping\u201d, \u201cThe Bruce Lee Story\u201d, \u201cGettysburg\u201d, \u201cDragonheart\u201d, \u201cThe Mask\u201d, \u201cKindergarten Cop\u201d, \u201cLast of the Mohicans\u201d (for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination), the theme from the hit TV series \u201cMacGyver\u201d, and a range of others.

Born June 10, 1947, Edelman began his career as a member of Broadway\u2019s pit orchestras. Later he produced solo albums for songs that were picked up by leading music performers. He has been awarded many prestigious awards along with two nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and 12 BMI Awards.

Q: What is it about New York that works so well for you that you come here often and have an ongoing audience. You keep expanding it. What do you think is the secret of your appeal in New York?

Randy Edelman: I have no idea. I\u2019m not sure really what the appeal is, to be very honest with you. I\u2019m playing these little places. I don\u2019t want to belittle what I\u2019m doing but I\u2019m just having fun. That\u2019s it. I write music. That\u2019s the only thing I care about. Coming to New York and doing that bullshit, is whatever it is.

Q: You don\u2019t find that performing live compels you or inspires you to write the next song?

Randy Edelman: The next song? No, I hardly write songs anymore.

Q: When I say write. I mean write music. I don\u2019t mean songs specifically.

Randy Edelman: No, not at all. Not one bit. On a scale of 1 to 100, it\u2019s a zero. Why would that turn me on to write music? You got me, something just happened. Okay? That puts me in a certain mood right now. I\u2019m very serious about what I\u2019m saying to you but I\u2019m going to answer you honestly, instead of thinking something and not saying it. I\u2019ll tell you the way I feel right now. So no, performing is not inspiring but that\u2019s a great question.

Q: Your main focus lately has been writing more expanded compositional pieces. You were talking about your having ideas in your mind that were independent of soundtracks for you to compose. You do film scores but you were also talking at one point [on stage] about work independent of a film and creating your own orchestral score.

Randy Edelman: I wasn\u2019t talking to you about that. I never mentioned that right now. The answer is that, yeah, when I do a film, the film is what inspires me. Nothing else. I look at the film and that\u2019s what inspires me.

Q: Well, you have your curmudgeonly moments and your congenial moments. Do you give audiences what they expect of you? Are you really into it?

Randy Edelman: I don\u2019t give [anything to] the audiences. I\u2019m not a performer. I do that once in a while. You\u2019re focusing on this thing. It\u2019s such a little part of my life. It\u2019s a fun goof. I\u2019m going to New York. I look over from my five star hotel room at the TV, or at New Jersey where I was from. I\u2019ll never go over the bridge and I laugh \u2014 that\u2019s part of the charm.

Q: When you\u2019re given a film project to do, are there certain things you focus on when you\u2019re watching a film? Or do you find other inspiration? How does the film inspire you?

Randy Edelman: You look at the goddamn thing, you better come up with something fast or they\u2019re on to the next person.

Q: You do tell stories of your life and when you tell them\u2026

Randy Edelman: If you\u2019re talking about the stories I tell, then I\u2019m doing the show. They\u2019re in relationship to the music. That\u2019s what it is. I\u2019m telling stories about the music \u2014 that\u2019s what I\u2019m telling you. Once in a while, I\u2019ll say something funny but, to the music.

Q: I\u2019m talking to you based on things I\u2019ve experienced of you at these shows. I\u2019m following the path of what I\u2019ve experienced of you. I\u2019ve seen you at least four times; at the Cutting Room and Chelsea Table.

Randy Edelman: There you go \u2014 you\u2019ve got a problem, buddy. Why would you go see me four times?

Q: You have a point but first of all, you don\u2019t exactly repeat what you\u2019ve done before. You respond to the audience that you have. And depending on their level of enthusiasm or yours, you do different bits. I give you support because I like what you do. So in light of that, I was getting into your catalog.

Randy Edelman: My stuff is a little snippet. It\u2019s like you\u2019re going to dinner, and me doing that stuff. I\u2019m serious about it. But, my thing is making and writing music \u2013 whether it\u2019s a score, a song, a theme, whatever it is. That\u2019s what my thing is. I just get up there; I don\u2019t do it a lot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not a performer, per se. Anyway, it\u2019s a little thing I\u2019m tossing it off. It\u2019s not a serious thing to sit up there at a piano for an hour and a half or two hours. I just do that.

Q: You\u2019re in your mid 70s, like 74 or 75. You\u2019ve been doing it for a long time. It\u2019s not easy making music. You have a long history of making music. I could get into it more but I\u2019ll just ask, how has your music evolved?

Randy Edelman: How has my music evolved? Come on, what are you talking about? I\u2019m not going to explain over the phone to you.

Q: I\u2019m talking to you about who you are, and what you do when you have a performance. But how did the \u201cGhostbusters 2\u201d soundtrack differ from any of the other soundtracks you did? I\u2019m not going to ask about why you wrote a certain phrase in a certain way or why did you chose one song from another? But why did you choose to stop writing songs and move into soundtracks and scores?

Randy Edelman: OK. That again, is a long thing [to explain]. You can\u2019t decide, \u201cOh, I want to score films,\u201d because you don\u2019t have [the skills] for it. It\u2019s not that easy. I didn\u2019t [at first] \u2014 it\u2019s a musically evolving thing. That\u2019s what that was. I didn\u2019t just decide if you look at my thing, you\u2019ll see that. I did a film in 1972 or \u201873 and then all of a sudden, you\u2019ll see that for 15 years, I never did another film. Why is an interesting question to ask but I\u2019m not answering it. But obviously, I didn\u2019t just decide to score films.

Certain things happened and having a background\u00a0over the years musically [developing] in different areas allows you to be able to work in the very pressured, intense environment of film composing. That was a good question that I made up and answered myself.

Q: The other thing is, when you\u2019re challenged by a score, do you listen to other musical references and influences?

Randy Edelman: Well, that\u2019s not always the case but no, I don\u2019t listen to scores. I don\u2019t listen to music, to be honest with you at all. I do it when I do it but I don\u2019t listen to it.

Q: You describe it in your show, where a film director or producer said to you, \u201cWe want to go in this direction or that direction.\u201d Sometimes you\u2019ve hit it perfectly. Other times you said you chose. And that is scoring is not an exact thing.

Randy Edelman: It\u2019s a collaboration. The music is written. But if you\u2019re bouncing off a director, that\u2019s part of the whole style and situation. When you score a film, you can\u2019t just lock yourself in a room. Everything you write, you\u2019re going to eventually have\u00a0to play it for a director and they\u2019re going to sometimes give you a reaction that\u2019s negative.

Then, you have to figure out how you\u2019re going to twist it in their way around your way of thinking, which of course you never can do. You just go with them, and say, \u201cOK.\u201d Then maybe it sways in the direction of whatever the scene or the emotions are \u2014 whatever their intention may have been. But usually, it\u2019s pretty close.

Q: Do you find in composing a score, it inspires you to compose something of your own without needing it to be a score or an assignment per se?

Randy Edelman: I do the score and I\u2019m very focused on it. I live it for the amount of weeks or days or months that I\u2019m on that score, and then I\u2019m on to something else. I\u2019ll have a clip from the New England Music Hall of Fame sent to you. You\u2019ll see it and it\u2019ll reflect exactly what we\u2019re talking about.

Q: You take the film scores as an assignment, but where do you see yourself going musically? Are there people you want to collaborate with? When you take on a score that you write is built around, you\u00a0start with the piano and then expand it in various ways. How do you conceive of it for an orchestra? Where does it go from there?

Randy Edelman: It\u2019s all done at one time when I look at it. I know exactly what it will be. I may be sitting at the piano but of course, with technology and stuff, the equipment now, that I was never into, but I got into it because the electronic stuff is fantastic, so magically what it could do now [I couldn\u2019t before].

I see a piece and I know that it’s going to be for a solo piano. or that will be for a full orchestra. Doodling around with the piano thematically because it\u2019s naturally by instrument, I\u2019ve already conceived it and orchestrated it at the same time.

Basically, I don\u2019t finish a cue like for a ready score. I wrote the whole score. There\u2019s 50 cues in the movie and they\u2019ve all been done. Then, am I going to have someone else orchestrate it? No, it doesn\u2019t work like that. I fully do each cue myself. I move on to the next or won\u2019t go on to the next unless it\u2019s fully done. Obviously, with the equipment available now, like the sampler and everything, I can pretty much know the\u00a0idea of what it\u2019s going to be, even when it\u2019s with the orchestra flow. My stuff is fully orchestrated without anybody else.

Q: Do you have specific musicians or specific orchestras that you enjoy working with or that you request as the orchestra?

Randy Edelman: Yes. Seriously. there\u2019s lots of good orchestras out there. I love going to Abbey Road. I love working here. I go to Salt Lake and use the University. That really has no importance in my music. It all will be the same no matter where I do it. It\u2019s all done, 99.9% of it, a few steps from where I\u2019m standing here talking to you \u2014 outside while people repair the roof of my house.

Q: Do you have any specific musicians that you enjoy working with?

Randy Edelman: In recent years, I do so much of it myself, to be very honest with you. There are great musicians. When I used to do albums, I used to work with just great people. I loved working with them and with orchestras. But with this work, with everything the way it is now, I\u2019m back there in my backyard, in\u00a0my studio all day, just by myself. That\u2019s really what it is. And then they bring it to solo people or something like that \u2014 if I need them. But right now, I\u2019m being honest with you, it\u2019s pretty much myself.

Q: Are you happy with all the recordings of your scores that you\u2019ve heard? Are most of them pretty much on the money?

Randy Edelman: Well, I\u2019m only happy with them because I do them and don\u2019t let it go down unless it\u2019s exactly right. I work in a precise way, even when I work with a big orchestra. I do my stuff like I told you and it\u2019s all laid down perfectly. Every orchestra just comes and plays over it. Sometimes I take my stuff out and sometimes I don\u2019t \u2014 but it\u2019s all done right.

It\u2019s not like, \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t like the recording that someone made in my score.\u201d No, I\u2019m the one that writes, composes, orchestrates and produces the score. I\u2019m the only one I have to blame. But normally, I\u2019m like \u2013 probably most composers would say this \u2013 I don\u2019t listen to my stuff. Now it turns out, to be honest with you, years later after doing all those songs and albums, it\u2019s OK.

When I listen to songs I did 25 years ago, I\u2019m really surprised, pleasantly, at what they sound like because all I can do now is score. When I get there, I will hear them late, like at three in the morning, if I can\u2019t sleep and something\u2019s going on in my mind. There\u2019s a movie of mine on, so I always say \u201cHey, that\u2019s pretty good.\u201d But as far as sitting down and listening, when I\u2019m done, I just move on. I\u2019m doing well, it amazes me the amount that I\u2019ve done and the wide range of it.

Q: I find it fascinating when I come to your shows because when I looked at the number of things you\u2019ve done, it\u2019s just overwhelming. It would take me days to listen to it all, to prepare for this interview.

Randy Edelman: You can but no, no, no. What I meant is that I\u2019m not telling you what to do. It\u2019s just a safety because most people, to be honest with you, if they have a certain score and say that\u2019s a score [I love], then I will love to discuss it because they\u2019re zeroing in on it. You\u2019re not just saying things like \u201cGhostbusters.\u201d It\u2019s not that it\u2019s not a good score, but with about 30 years of soundtracks, that\u2019s beside the point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s other things that are interesting; I won\u2019t say what they are. Certain people will ask, \u201cHey, I love that one. What was that thing?\u201d If you\u2019re asking me about a certain score and about something that you picked up on then that\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about.

Q: Clive Davis showed up for your show. I thought that was incredible. It was a great compliment to you. Were you in touch with him?

Randy Edelman: I never talked to him. I would never ask him. Tell me how Clive Davis, especially at his age, is going out at night to go to some shitty little place. Although I love that place [for people] to see me, I\u2019m the only guy in the history of the music business who went to Clive Davis when I hadn\u2019t sold any records and said, \u201cClive, I want off your label, give me a release.\u201d He did that and I never made another record, that\u2019s that. [One might] say, \u201cOh, that cemented your relationship.\u201d It\u2019s nothing like that.

I made a nice little transition. The point is, it\u2019s not like, \u201cOh, now they\u2019re friends, they\u2019ve been friends for 40 or 50 years.\u201d No, not at all. I don\u2019t see him at all. We got a call from Sony Music. Clive Davis is coming down, and we said, \u201cOh God, the show is sold out. We\u2019ll find a table at that little place. But the point is, okay, he was there for one simple reason. He wanted to come down and see me do this. That\u2019s it.

I said there\u2019s no other explanation and nothing in it. He\u2019s not trying to find a song. He\u2019s not trying to sign me. What is he doing, going to the place to see Randy Edelman? It\u2019s crazy.

That\u2019s it. No other reason not at all. He knows an old friend of mine who called him a year ago. I ran into him at Ralph Lauren\u2019s Polo Bar, that restaurant, with my wife about a year ago. And we had a nice chat. He was with his boyfriend, his dog and everything. He said, \u201cTell me the next time [you come to town]\u201d because he knew I was doing something. Yes.

Did I ever call him? Of course not. I\u2019d never call him to come down. That was about a year ago. It certainly wasn\u2019t because of that. I\u2019m just saying, yes, it was incredible and very generous and kind. When he was coming down I told him and [my manager\/ publicist] Eileen said, \u201cOh, we\u2019ll seat him over here.\u201d

I said, \u201cNo, you\u2019re not. He has to sit over there because I don\u2019t think he can walk up those steps and he ain\u2019t staying for two hours. If he comes down, he\u2019ll stay for an hour and that\u2019s fine.\u201d

In the end, he came early and stayed. I had a great talk with him and yeah, I was very knocked out and turned on, that he came down because let me tell you, I\u2019m going to be honest with you. There\u2019s no reason that he came down. Not one in the world. I\u2019ll tell you something: [nobody] twisted Clive\u2019s arm to come down here to see me. That\u2019s it. It\u2019s that simple.

Q: Even though you downplay your live shows, there\u2019s a community of people that I\u2019ve found now that I\u2019ve gone to several shows where we all see each other. There\u2019s a kind of a camaraderie that\u2019s built around seeing you perform. So you may find that odd.

Randy Edelman: It\u2019s great. I\u2019m coming back soon. I said it\u2019s a goof but if I didn\u2019t enjoy doing it, I wouldn\u2019t. Now, why would I fly from my beautiful house in Beverly Hills at great expense to come to New York to do this at this point in my life? I could be sitting here [in the backyard], but I like to do it, and it\u2019s changing a little.

There\u2019s a whole other road that I could go down with this. I said I have to raise the stakes but, without a record or something, it\u2019s a funny area. I went up to Boston last week after the NY show. It\u2019s funny, it\u2019s evolving but it is what it is. It\u2019s inspiring and fun, but it doesn\u2019t inspire me musically.

Q: The other thing you could be doing is maybe a large orchestral event of some kind or another. But no, well, you can, because of funding. You\u2019d have to do a lot of organizing.

Randy Edelman: [What I do] is easy. Why? I go there and I sit at a piano \u2014 one person. That\u2019s why I do it, can do it and control it. I\u2019m doing my album, and what I need to do is record this show that you\u2019ve seen. They\u2019re always recorded, and I need to get this particular thing before it changes to what\u2019s down because it has a certain feeling about it. I will do it now, I can fake it also, to be honest with you.

I can go in and do the stuff, get some recorded and then use some crowd from the concerts, whether I do it there or in London and make it sound very much like it\u2019s a live concert. It doesn\u2019t have to be, but I want to get it down properly.

Q: I mentioned in a review of an earlier show, that you, Paul Williams and Randy Newman are all part of this group of songwriters that aren’t just writing pop music, but you have this unique, eccentric way of viewing the world. Do you have any idea why you view the world the way you do?

Randy Edelman: No, I\u2019m just a nice Jewish kid from New Jersey. I know those people you mentioned, of course. I love Randy Newman and he\u2019s one of those who I liked when I said at the beginning, But no one has done what I\u2019ve done. And it\u2019s funny, Randy\u2019s the only other person, although his background is completely different. We\u2019ve got not only the same first name but we sound the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul is a different story. I love Paul and know him personally. But he\u2019s different, from either me or Randy Newman because I\u2019m a traditional, serious conservatory graduate.

Randy Newman is not. But he\u2019s got a different way since every goddamn person in his family was a composer except the only one \u2013 his father \u2013 who was a doctor. By the way, two doors down from me is where he was brought up. I was brought up in the concrete jungle in New Jersey. Anyway, as far as my view of the world, I think I\u2019m just a normal guy. Once in a while, I have these funny ideas and they get funnier as I get older. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so now my friend, your interview is over. You are great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are Randy Edelman’s upcoming New York area dates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) September 5 at 6:00 pm
The Jazz Club NY
9 west 56th Street
Manhattan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) September 6 at 8:00 pm
Ridgefield Playhouse
80 E. Ridge Street
Ridgefield CT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) GLR Books at 7;00 pm
303 Wythe Street
Brooklyn, NY<\/p>\n

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