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Bob Ezrin

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Bob Ezrin
Birth nameRobert Alan Ezrin
Born (1949-03-25) March 25, 1949 (age 75)
OriginToronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresRock
OccupationRecord producer
Years active1970–present

Robert Alan "Bob" Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's career in music had spanned four decades and his production work continued into the 21st century, with acts such as Deftones and Thirty Seconds to Mars.[1] After co-founding interactive media company, 7th Level, in 1993, Ezrin has branched out into philanthropy and activism, with music also introduced into this realm of his life, underpinning projects such as Music Rising and Young Artists for Haiti.[2] Ezrin is also involved in education, co-founding the Nimbus School of Recording Arts in 2009.[3]

Ezrin is the winner of a Juno Award and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in April 2004.[2]

Early life

Ezrin was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 25, 1949.[4] Ezrin is Jewish.[5]

Music and production career

As of 2014, Ezrin continues to work as a record producer, mix engineer, arranger and songwriter, in addition to being involved with a variety of other projects in digital media, live production, film, television, and theatrical production.[6][7][8]

Ezrin has worked on recordings with numerous major artists, including Phish, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Lou Reed, The Kings, Hanoi Rocks, Taylor Swift, Peter Gabriel, K'naan, 2Cellos, Kristin Chenoweth, Rod Stewart, Nine Inch Nails, The Jayhawks, Thirty Seconds to Mars, The Darkness, Jane's Addiction, Dr. John, Nils Lofgren, Berlin, Kansas, Julian Lennon, and Deftones, among many others.[9]

Ezrin has been described by Alice Cooper as "our George Martin".[10] Following his first ever production work on an album with Love it to Death in 1971, Ezrin embarked on a long-term collaboration that, by 1973, would see the release of the number one album, Billion Dollar Babies album, a year after the success of School's Out; Cooper subsequently became established as one of the biggest acts in the world.[11] After the disbanding of Cooper's group, Ezrin continued his collaboration with Cooper, as the latter embarked upon a solo career. In 1975, Cooper released the Ezrin-produced album, Welcome To My Nightmare, and received a significant level of attention. Ezrin worked with Cooper not just as a producer, but also as a co-writer, arranger, and musician.[12]

Ezrin produced the best-selling KISS album, Destroyer, in 1976.[13] As explained by Peter Criss during an interview in the documentary, KISS: Krazy Killer (1994), Ezrin co-wrote, arranged and performed the piano accompaniment to the song Beth.[14] Ezrin proceeded to produce two other albums with the band -- Music From "The Elder" and Revenge—and remains close to the band's members in the 21st century.[15]

Ezrin has worked with Pink Floyd on a number of occasions, co-producing the albums, The Wall, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and The Division Bell. He has also co-written the songs, "The Trial", "Signs of Life", "Learning to Fly", and "Take It Back".[9]

Ezrin also produced the 1988 Kansas album In the Spirit of Things, and received a writing credit for the song Ghosts and three other songs.

In May 2009, Ezrin co-produced The Clearwater Concert at Madison Square Garden, celebrating the 90th birthday of musician and activist, Pete Seeger. More than 50 guest artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Ben Harper, Joan Baez, Tom Morello, Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, and Kris Kristofferson performed at the event.[16] Ezrin also co-produced the PBS broadcast of the event.

Since 2010, Ezrin has co-produced Peter Gabriel's album, Scratch My Back; co-produced The House Rules, by Christian Kane; and produced singles for K'naan, the Canadian Tenors, and young pop sensation, Fefe Dobson, for her album, Joy.[17] Ezrin also reunited with Cooper, working on Cooper's last album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, on the corresponding live show, and numerous other related projects.[18] He also mixed several projects, including Taylor Swift's Speak Now World Tour Live CD and DVD (2011), and an album by The Darkness (2012).[19]

In 2012, Ezrin remixed the KISS 1976 Double-Platinum album, Destroyer.[20] Also, he produced albums for 2Cellos and rock legends, Deep Purple.[21]

On Halloween, October 31, 2013, the band Phish debuted twelve new songs at a concert in Atlantic City, NJ which they announced as songs they were considering for a new album to be produced by Ezrin. The album, subsequently titled "Fuego," was recorded at Ronnie's Place and Anarchy Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and Phish's own "The Barn" in Burlington, Vermont. Released on June 24, 2014, this was the band's 12th studio album and first since 2009.[22]

Live arena

Ezrin produced a live and television extravaganza to reopen the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, US, starring Green Day and U2.[23] He also worked on an album and live opera with L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio in Rome, Italy.[24]

Entrepreneurship

In 1993, Ezrin co-founded a computer software company called 7th Level,[25] which developed and published educational and entertainment CD-ROMs, including a highly popular and groundbreaking series of Monty Python games.[26]

In 1999, Ezrin cofounded Enigma Digital,[27] an innovative internet radio provider, that was eventually sold to Clear Channel; Ezrin was later appointed vice-chairman of Clear Channel Interactive.[28] Ezrin was also Chairman of Live Nation Artists Recordings in 2007 and the first half of 2008.

In 2007, Ezrin joined the Board of Advisors of Tonic, an online company that describes itself as "humanity-conscious" and socially-responsible".[29]

Education

In 2009, Ezrin, along with Garth Richardson and Kevin Williams,[30] cofounded the Nimbus School of Recording Arts in Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), Canada.[31] Ezrin stated that his goal was to provide new engineers and producers with the hands-on teaching experience that he believed was no longer available from traditional recording studios.[32]

Ezrin's educational philosophy is that modern engineers and producers need to be proficient in a range of skills[32] and that an effective education in the recording arts will also prepare a student for more general challenges in their lives and careers.[33] The school offers three programs: Advanced Music Production, Music – The Business, and a Beats and Urban Music Program.[34]

Honor and recognition

Ezrin was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in April 2004[35] and the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in March 2006.[36]

In 2011, Ezrin and Young Artist for Haiti won the Juno Award in Canada for "Single of the Year".[37] Also in 2011, he was awarded an "Outstanding Contribution" at the Classic Rock Magazine Awards.[38] In 2013, he was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto.[39]

Social work

Ezrin is Vice Chairman of the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation,[40] a national initiative that supports music in US schools by donating musical instruments to under-funded music programs. He is also an Advisory Committee member of MusiCounts, the musical education initiative of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, that provides instruments to Canadian school music programs.[41]

He is co-founder of Music Rising, an initiative to preserve the musical culture of the Gulf coast region following the damage caused by the hurricanes and flooding of 2005.[42]

On February 18, 2010, Ezrin helped with the mobilization of the Young Artists for Haiti group. Fifty Canadian artists recorded a rendition of hip hop star K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" for the victims of the Haiti quake.[43] The song was reworked by Ezrin to include specific lyrics for Haiti, with proceeds disseminated to Free the Children, War Child Canada, and World Vision Canada. The production raised over US$2 million.[44] K'naan explained in regard to the initiation of the project: “I got a call from Randy [Lennox, president] at Universal [Music Canada] and Bob Ezrin. They had this idea that they wanted to do something lasting, that actually educates young people in Canada about Haiti and not let the fatigue of the subject wash over everybody and everybody just forget Haiti."[43]

Ezrin is a member of the board of The Nashville Symphony[45] and is part of the advisory board for Music Makes Us, an initiative of the Mayor's office seeking to ensure the existence of a vibrant music education program in every Nashville public school.[46]

Ezrin is a Chairman Emeritus of the Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership and a past Trustee and Governor of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).[47]

Film and television

In 1982, Ezrin briefly appeared as the host of Enterprise, a City-TV panel show that replaced Dr. Morton Shulman's The Shulman File; he has also been a frequent interviewee for documentary films and television.[48] Ezrin has created new theatrical, television, and live events with the @Radical.Media company, based in New York, including Jay-Z's feature film, Fade to Black.[49] In 2012, Ezrin appeared in Artifact, a documentary film about the modern music business focused on the legal battle between Thirty Seconds to Mars and record label EMI.

Personal life

Ezrin is married to Janet Ezrin.[50]

Partial discography

See also

References

  1. ^ Rustycat (November 12, 2006). "Bob Ezrin: Legendary Music Producer". The Plugg Music and Entertainment Community. The Plugg Music Blog. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Bob Ezrin 2004". Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Canadian Music Hall of Fame. 2004. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  3. ^ "Bob Ezrin". Welcome to the Dream. Kundrat Productions LLC. 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  4. ^ Karen Bliss (November 28, 2011). "Backbeat: Bob Ezrin, Crowbar, Kardinal Offishall Honored @ Canada's SOCAN Awards". Billboard.biz. Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  5. ^ Crouse, Richard (March 15, 2012). Who Wrote The Book Of Love?. Doubleday Canada. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-385-67442-3.
  6. ^ "Bob Ezrin – Credits". allmusic. Rovi Corp. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  7. ^ "Bob Ezrin – IMDB". Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  8. ^ "Interview: Bob Ezrin". hit-channel.com. April 12, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Bob Ezrin – Credits". allmusic. Rovi Corp. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  10. ^ Dave Sloan (August 21, 2012). "New Music Tuesday". Let's Not Get Carried Away. WordPress. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  11. ^ "Alice Cooper Biography". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  12. ^ Russell Hall (January–February 2002). "Bob Ezrin". Performing Songwriter. Be Heard. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  13. ^ timstar78 (1996–2012). "The KissFAQ Interview: Resurrecting Destroyer With Bob Ezrin". KissFAQ.com. KissFAQ. Retrieved November 29, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Goldmine (November 20, 1998). "Peter Criss Interview Goldmine Magazine 11/20/98". KISS Supreme. Terje. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  15. ^ Tim McPhate. "The KissFAQ Interview: Resurrecting Destroyer With Bob Ezrin". Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  16. ^ "The Clearwater concert : Pete Seeger's 90th birthday celebration from Madison Square Garden". WorldCat. OCLC. 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  17. ^ "Joy – Fefe Dobson: Credits". allmusic. Rovi Corp. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  18. ^ Rob Rockitt (May 26, 2010). "Alice Cooper reunites with Bob Ezrin through Bigger Picture". Hard Rock Hideout. WordPress.com. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  19. ^ "Hot Cakes – The Darkness: Credits". allmusic. Rovi Corp. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  20. ^ Wright, Shauna. "KISS set release date for 25th anniversary 'Destroyer' Deluxe Edition". Ultimateclassicrock.com. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  21. ^ Chris M. Junior (April 30, 2012). "Deep Purple teaming up with Bob Ezrin for new studio album". Ultimate Classic Rock. Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  22. ^ "Phish Prep 'Fuego,' First New Studio Album in Five Years". yahoo.com. May 14, 2014.
  23. ^ Mike Triplett (September 23, 2011). "Musical performance set tone in New Orleans Saints' return to Superdome". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans Net LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  24. ^ A cura di pavelo (2009). "Bob Ezrin produrrà l'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio". Troublezine (in Italian). Troublezine. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  25. ^ Gary Fishman; Susan Romeo. "7th Level Gets Out of Games". The Computer Show. digit.com. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  26. ^ "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life – Credits – allgame". allgame. Rovi Corp. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  27. ^ Karen Kaplan (January 1, 2000). "Enigma Digital Acquires Two Radio Web Sites, Plans More". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  28. ^ Clear Channel Internet Group (February 7, 2012). "Clear Channel Communications Inc. Acquires Enigma Digital". PR Newswire. PR Newswire Association LLC. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  29. ^ Tonic (February 20, 2012). "The Perfect Ten: Tonic Announces Its Advisory Board". PR Newswire. PR Newswire Association LLC. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  30. ^ "Nimbus' Founders". Nimbus School of Recording. Nimbus School of Recording Arts. 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  31. ^ "Canadian Company Capabilities". Industry Canada. Industry Canada. September 12, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  32. ^ a b Scott Buchanan (2011). "An Interview with Bob Ezrin". Long & McQuade Musical Instruments. Long & McQuade Limited. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  33. ^ Larry LeBlanc (1998–2011). "Industry Profile: Bob Ezrin". CelebrityAccess. Gen-Den Corporation. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  34. ^ "Programs". Nimbus School of Recording. Nimbus School of Recording Arts. 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  35. ^ "Bob Ezrin". Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Canadian Music Hall of Fame. 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  36. ^ "LEGENDARY PRODUCER Bob Ezrin Canadian Music Hall of Fame Producer & Founder of Nimbus School of Recording Arts". Canadian Urban Music Conference. Canadian Urban Music Conference. 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  37. ^ Kei Baritugo (March 28, 2011). "And the JUNO goes to... Arcade Fire, Neil Young, and Justin Bieber". Vancouver Observer. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  38. ^ "Outstanding Contribution". Classic Rock presented by Orange. Future Publishing Limited. 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  39. ^ "Bob Ezrin". Canada's Walk of Fame. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  40. ^ "Monitizing Your Entertainment Community – Converting Internet Viewers into Paying Customers". Digital Hollywood. New York Agenda. May 15–18, 2000. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  41. ^ "Advisory Committee". Musicounts. Musicounts. 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  42. ^ Devlin Smith (September 22, 2006). "Interview: Bob Ezrin, Producer, Music Rising Co-Founder". Interference. Social Knowledge ® and Interference, THE U2 Community. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  43. ^ a b Karen Bliss (April 18, 2010). "Young Artists For Haiti's "Wavin' Flag" Single Still No. 1 Download". Samaritan Mag. Samaritanmag.com. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  44. ^ "Legendary Producers Bob Ezrin and Steve Lillywhite Join Canadian Music Week 2013 as Featured Speakers". Canadian Music Fest. Canadian Music Fest. 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  45. ^ "Bob Ezrin". Nimbus School of Recording Arts. Nimbus School of Recording Arts. 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  46. ^ "Champions for Music Education". music makes us. Coalition for Music Education in Canada. 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  47. ^ Norm McIntosh (April 27, 2012). "Win a guitar autographed by Bryan Adams and support Evolutionary". Rainbow Schools. Rainbow District School Board. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  48. ^ "Robert Ezrin – IMDB". Robert Ezrin - IMDB. IMDB.com, Inc. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  49. ^ "Fade to black [videorecording] / Paramount Classics presents a @Radical. Media, Marcy Projects & Roc-A-Fella Records production, a Shawn Carter film ; produced by Bob Ezrin, Rich Kleiman, Justin Wilkes ; directed by Pat Paulson and Michael John Warren". Stanford University Libraries. Stanford University. 2005. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  50. ^ "Music Producer Bob Ezrin Kisses His Wife Jan During Canada's Walk of Fame Induction". Yahoo News Canada. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
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