Frederick Buldrini Buldrini was a Naumburg competition winner in 1936 and parlayed that early success into a fascinating recording career, often gravitating toward jazz projects and frequently playing with the greats. Some of his early recordings include several Frank Sinatra compilations and one with Sarah Vaughan.
In 1965, he worked on the aptly titled Ruth Brown ’65 and helped Milton Nascimento display Courage in 1968. The end of the decade found him in the studio making Round Trip with Phil Woods.
In 1970, he teamed up with Antonio Carlos Jobim on Stone Flower and Tide. In 1975, he was in the strings section for Joe Beck’s self-titled album Beck. A year later, he was in the strings section for John Tropea’s self-titled album and appeared with Bob James.
He has also played with Maynard Ferguson, Earl Klugh, Jimmy Ponder and, interestingly, Thijs van Leer on Nice to Have Met You. He played violin on the soundtrack of The Wiz.
He opened the 1980s by accompanying Aretha Franklin and then Chaka Khan, as well as appearing on the soundtrack of Fame. Another famous female with whom he recorded during this time was Janis Ian. He played too with Spyro Gyra, Luther Vandross and George Benson. He was involved in two quite different projects - Les Miserables and Philip Glass’s three-act opera Satyagraha.
Lewis Eley (d 1998) Violinist with the Long Island Philharmonic whose career as a session musician stretches at least as far back as Perez Prado’s Exotic Suite of the Americas, recorded in 1962.
In the sixties he often accompanied Sarah Vaughan and Wes Montgomery. He also played with Nina Simone and Walter Wanderley.
He didn’t slow down much in the ’70s, working with Jackie DeShannon, Chet Baker, Hank Crawford, Grover Washington, Jr. Bob James, Ralph MacDonald, Carly Simon and Frank Sinatra.
In the 80's he worked with Chaka Khan, Spyro Gyra, Luther Vandross, Stevie Nicks and Joe Jackson. He appeared on a pair of soundtracks from Spike Lee films in 1988 and 1989. In 1989, he also appeared on the Lenny Kravitz album Let Love Rule. One of his last recordings appears to be B B King’s 1991 release, Love Me Tender.
Kathryn Kienke Kienke has played with Janis Ian, Paul Simon, etc
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Elliot Rosoff Rosoff was a violinist and recording engineer. A graduate of New York's Manhattan School of Music and has performed both as a solo recital artist and as an orchestra member. He was also active as a recording engineer and as a music coordinator for a variety of recordings, concerts and venues.
Norman Carr Carr's early credits include Stan Getz’s Focus, recorded and released in 1961. In 1964, he appeared on a pair of Carmen McRae albums. A year later, he was collaborating once again with Stan Getz on the soundtrack of Mickey One. He was in the string section for Godspell in 1973. The same year, he appeared on what could be deemed his most famous recording, playing violin on Gladys Knight & the Pips’ mega-hit, “Midnight Train to Georgia”, which won a Grammy in 1974.
In 1976 he served as concert master and played violin on Earl Klugh’s album, Living inside Your Love, he was in the strings section on O’Donel Levy’s Windows, recorded two albums with Jimmy McGriff, helped Lonnie Smith and Joe Thomas too.
He also worked with Diana Ross and company on the soundtrack of The Wiz. A year later, he appeared on Frank Sinatra’s boxed set, Trilogy. In 1980, Earth, Wind & Fire employed his services on Faces. The following year, he re-united with Earl Klugh on Crazy for You. In 1984, he was part of the strings section on the Ramsey Lewis-Nancy Wilson collaboration, The Two of Us.
One of his last recordings appears to be the Prince project, The Family, released in 1985.