Freshly fallen snow wrapped in winter’s dark shadow caressing the trees draped in crystal was the scene in New England as a vortex of talent warmed the hearts of those living in and embracing the season’s unique charm.
Composer Randy Edelman began a wintery weekend in New England with an educational visioned visit to the senior film scoring graduating class at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he not only focused on “notes”, but on the stories behind them. Taking questions from the students, he guided them through a symphony of knowledge, igniting their imagination and imparting useful advice regarding a field often difficult to attempt. He then performed a medley of his own 25 years of movie soundtracks to the already psyched class. The thing about his presentation was Dr. Edelman (and he does have an honorary doctorate),was genuine and honest, never candy-coating the truth. The students, several already hardcore followers trusted him and believed…
From there it was on to the Heritage Music Series, a concert at the First Parish Church in Milton. The visible prominence of the austere Congregational church now transformed into a concert venue for the evening was perched upon the foundation of gray New England fieldstone. The nave of the sanctuary was adorned with off-white, gated pews and the aisle floors were draped in maroon carpeting. The Puritan influenced design prioritized simplicity as opposed to overelaborate decorations with large clear windows and a wooden pulpit and lectern. The balcony contained a majestic wind powered keyboard with rows of staggering metal pipes. The congregation filled the beautiful church while Randy’s songs played in the background until the composer walked out from behind, the lights went down, and he played along with the final piece, flawlessly timed.
Highlights of the concert included “Everything Is Possible” a song from his past that was re-released during the onset of the Israeli-Hamas war proclaiming hope for the underdog. He performed his song “You” after a visibly emotional story of how Karen Carpenter who he had opened for covered it. It was Valentine’s Day, so the tone was romantic. Whether on purpose or in honor of the night or just because of his romantic ballad reputation, the intimate concert continued with “If Love Is Real”, “Sentimental Fools”, and of course “A Weekend In New England” which was covered by Barry Manilow in 1976 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 and A/C Charts with lyrical references to rocky beaches and a touching romantic encounter.
He debuted the first cut on his new album “Waltzing On A High Wire” entitled “21 Again”, a coming of age experience growing up in New Jersey and looking back on a career eventually destined to transform him into the music royalty he remains today.
After an intense film score conglomeration, again of 25 years wrapped into 25 minutes (Gettysburg, While You were Sleeping, The Bruce Lee Story, My Cousin Vinny, Kindergarten Cop, Billy Madison, The Mask, Beethoven, Twins, Diabolique, Come See The Paradise, Last of the Mohicans, MacGyver, and others). Then Randy invited a congregation member and the producer of the show Jeffrey Stoodt to sing a song he wrote for his grandparents, and the last song ever recorded by Bing Crosby before he died “The Woman On Your Arm” while he accompanied on the piano. Great reviews on Jeff still coming in. The multi-award winning composer after a standing ovation came back for an encore and then said goodnight to a very appreciative audience.
Then barely avoiding a New England snowstorm Randy was off to the New England Music Hall of Fame as last year’s inductee at The Vault Performing Art Center in New Bedford to open the show with a riveting variation of “A Weekend In New England.” He was then awarded “Album of the Year” for “Waltzing On A High Wire” and in his honor President and founder of the NEMHOF Christopher Annino renamed the traditional whaler trophy the “Fish Butt Award.”
The Lilypad in Cambridge provided an intimate college scene for a rainy day where his new fans from Berklee gathered and others traveled 25 miles in the wintery, weathered mix to hear him. The composer took advantage of the intimacy of the moment and shared stories never told before to any live crowd. He performed several requests from the classical Schumann to Dionne Warwick’s cover “The Laughter & The Tears” to “Mack The Knife.” For the audience and most probably for Randy too, this was a once in a lifetime event….and when it was over, 2 hours later….as always, the people trusted and believed….
The official website for Randy Edelman may be found at https://www.randyedelman.com