Viola Players

Alfred Brown (1929-2013) Brown was one of the first African-American students ever to be admitted to the Eastman School of Music. He later graduated from Curti, and studied with William Primrose and Karen Tuttle. When he earned a spot in the NBC Radio Orchestra under the baton of Arturo Toscanini, he became one of the first professional African-American classical musicians in the US. He was also a founder member of the Symphony of the New World, the first integrated US orchestra, whose mission was to gain equality for African-American musicians on the concert stage. 

As a studio musician and producer, his discography numbers in the hundreds. He won the NARAS Award for Most Valuable Player in 1984.

He produced albums by Lena Horne and Ron Carter, as well as the first studio album for singer/songwriter Cris Williamson. He toured with Ray Charles, Paul Simon, Luther Vandross and Barbra Streisand and played on top TV shows, in Broadway shows, on countless pop and jazz albums and on many of Spike Lee’s film soundtracks.

He contracted musicians for everyone from Hugh Masekela to Britney Spears. He also put together a huge number of orchestras for film scores and TV commercials.

David Sackson (1912-2003) Sackson appears to have played with the original Glen Miller Band but went on to be a New York concert player in various orchestras and doing much session work too with Nina Simone, Janis Ian, etc.

 

Emanuel Vardi (1915-2011) A violinist and composer, Vardi was born in Jerusalem. Both his parents were musicians and he began to play at the age of three. In 1920 the family came to the US via Europe to escape Middle East pogroms. A child prodigy, he studied under Pete Seeger and at the Juilliard.

In 1942, he received the “Recitalist of the Year” award from the New York music critics for the best New York recital following his Town Hall debut. He had the distinction of being asked to perform a solo recital at the White House for President Roosevelt during World War II. He is one of only two violists in the world to have ever given a solo recital in Carnegie Hall.

He taught at the Manhattan School of Music and Temple University. Crossing the musical genres of classical and jazz, he toured and performed with jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong and Al Hirt.

In the early 1960s, he worked for Audio Fidelity Records in New York as a producer. In 1985, he was featured in a full-length article in Strad Magazine, and in 2003 he was honoured with a lengthy interview in the American Viola Society Journal, with his painting “Homage to a Great Violist” appearing on the front cover.

Due to an accident in 1993, he lost the use of his shoulder, forcing him to retire from the viola. After his accident he continued with his painting and art endeavours.

Richard Maximoff - Maximoff is a member of the Hampton String Quartet, a rock string section heard on many albums. He has played for artist from John Denver to Britney Spears.

Selwart Clarke (1933-1992) Clarke was an arranger, concertmaster, conductor, violinist and violist. His early credits include Ornette Coleman’s Town Hall in 1962. In 1964, he premiered Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Viola Concerto” with the Orchestra of America, a piece dedicated to him by the composer, who conducted. He was also a member of The National Orchestra Association and the New York City Ballet. 

He worked on numerous albums throughout the late ‘60s, including albums by Pearls Before Swine, Yusef Lateef, Les McCann, Roberta Flack, Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers, Tamiko Jones, David Newman, Andrew Hill, Joe Zawinul and James Brown.

In 1970, he appeared on a pair of Louis Armstrong albums and others by Roberta Flack, Freddie Hubbard and Jimmy Scott. Other records on which he performed in the early ‘70s include: The Divine Miss M by Bette Midler; Edgar Winter’s White Trash; He’s Coming by Roy Ayers Ubiquity and Wild Flower by Hubert Laws.

In 1974, he featured on Deodato’s Whirlwinds, Janis Ian’s Stars, Don McLean’s Homeless Brother and Only the Best of Les McCann. Other credits include Rhythms of the World by Van McCoy, etc.

In 1977, he played on American Heartbeat by Martha Velez, La Catedral El Toro by Joe Farrell, etc. He ended the ‘70s on albums such as Champagne Charlie by Leon Redbone Z-licious by Zulema.

These appear to be his last original recordings, although the CD era is populated with re-issues and re-masterings bearing his name.

Seymour Berman - Berman was part of The Astral Scene in 1968 for The Astral Projection. He recorded with Tamiko Jones the same year on I’ll Be Anything for You. Around the same time, he also worked with Marlene Ver Planck on A Breath of Fresh Air and Astrud Gilberto on tracks that eventually appeared on Astrud for Lovers. In 1972, he helped Bobby Hutchison create Natural Illusions, switched to violin on Bobbi Humphrey’s Dig This, then back to viola on Marlena Shaw’s Marlena and Lou Donaldson’s Sophisticated Lou.

In 1974, he laid down tracks for Don Minasi’s When Joanna Loved Me, and Janis Ian’s Stars and the next year her Between the Lines. He joined Sister Sledge for Circle of Love and was part of the string section on Joe Thomas’s Masada. He helped Charles Earland on Odyssey and Joe Williams' Feelin’s from Within. In 1978, he was on Carol Douglas’s invitation to Come into My Life, was part of the strings on Horace Silver’s Silver ‘n Strings Play the Music of Spheres, and appeared on the soundtrack of The Wiz. He also appeared on Frank Sinatra’s 1979 boxed set, Trilogy. It was back to the movie studio in 1980 for the soundtrack of Fame.