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John Lissauer

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John Lissauer
Background information
BornSummit, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)Composer, producer, performer
Websitewww.johnlissauer.com

John Lissauer is an American composer, producer, and performer. At the age of 19, he arranged the first recordings of Al Jarreau.[1] Lissauer went on to produce and arrange a pair of Leonard Cohen albums, including the song "Hallelujah" which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2019.[2][3] He has been a composer or music producer for record albums, films, and radio and TV commercials. Lissauer received a Clio "Campaign of the Decade" award for his work for Polaroid.[4]

Early life and education

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Lissauer was raised in Hauppauge, New York. From age 11 until he graduated from Yale College, Lissauer studied with Joseph Allard at the Juilliard School. Lissauer attended Yale University and graduated with honors in music.[4]

Career

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Lissauer plays piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone. He began arranging music for Al Jarreau while still at Yale. He taught at Yale for a year, and then became a session piano player.[4]

As a composer and music producer, he has worked with Al Jarreau, Bette Midler, Whitney Houston, and Luther Vandross.[4]

In Canada to produce a record for Lewis Furey, Lissauer was approached by Cohen at a Furey concert. The two met again several weeks later in New York to produce the New Skin for the Old Ceremony album.[5] John Miller, who played bass on the album, described Lissauer's approach to music as "very particular, European, simple but complex, highly imaginative".[6]: 118  New Skin for the Old Ceremony would make the Top Thirty in the United Kingdom.[7]

After the album was completed, Cohen appointed Lissauer as the musical director for his next two tours; Lissauer played piano, organ, saxophone, and percussion on the tours.[6]: 124 

In 1983, Lissauer again worked with Cohen to produce the album Various Positions, including the arrangement of "Hallelujah", which would go on to become one of the most recorded songs of its time. Disappointed when Columbia Records decided against a U.S. release of the album, Lissauer decided to focus his efforts on composing for films and TV.[a][6]: 184–195 

Although he had given up record producing, in 2006 Lissauer arranged several songs on Blue Alert by Anjani as a favor for Cohen.[6]: 279 

In 2022, Lissauer appeared in the documentary Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, and composed the score.[8]

Personal life

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Lissauer was married to Erin Dickins, with whom he restored an overgrown 35-acre property an hour north of New York City that had been owned previously by composer Frederick Loewe.[1][4] In 1984, he married Lilian, with whom he had one son.[4]

Select composer/production discography

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Artist Release Label Credit
Leonard Cohen Various Positions Columbia Producer/Arranger/Performer
Leonard Cohen New Skin for the Old Ceremony Columbia Producer/Arranger/Performer
Mary Fahl Love & Gravity BMI Publishing Producer/Arranger/Performer
Mary Fahl Four Sings BMI Publishing Producer/Arranger/Performer
Mary Fahl The Other Side of Time Odyssey Producer/Arranger/Performer
Bette Midler Songs From the New Depression Atlantic Records Arranger/Conductor
Loudon Wainwright III Final Exam Arista Records Producer/Arranger/Performer
Loudon Wainwright III T-shirt Arista Records Arranger/Performer
Lewis Furey Lewis Furey Aquarius Records Producer/Arranger/Conductor/Performer
Lewis Furey The Sky is Falling Aquarius Records Producer/Arranger/Conductor/Performer
Tony Bird Bird of Paradise Columbia Producer/Arranger/Performer
Anjani Blue Alert Columbia Arranger/Performer
Kiss Peter Criss Solo Album Casablanca Records Conductor
The Hotel Orchestra Swings Digital A & M Records Arranger/Performer/Composer
Carole Laure Alibis RCA Victor Arranger/Conductor/Performer
Carole Laure She Says Move On Fnac Music Arranger/Performer
Leata Galloway Leata Ariola Producer/Arranger/Conductor/Performer
Clara Ponty The Embrace Philips Classics Co-Producer/Arranger/Performer
Ayo Joyful Polydor Records Producer/Arranger/Performer
Daniel Rodriguez In The Presence Blix Street Records Arranger/Conductor
Eddie Brigati Lost in the Wilderness Elektra Arranger/Conductor/Performer
Fred Stark Time After Time New Central Music Company, LLC Arranger/Performer
Kenny Karen This Day Big Tree Records Arranger/Performer
Lisa Gutkin From Here On In Independent Producer/Performer
Ten Feet Deep Ten Feet Deep Independent Producer

Select filmography

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Films

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Short films/documentaries

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  • Leonard Cohen: Dance Me to the End of Love (A-Acme Film Works)
  • The Truce (Independent, NYU)
  • Gone into the Clearing (Veech Productions)
  • Remember (Colassalvision)
  • På danske læber live (Auditorium)
  • Susanna (Hidden Layers)
  • Rooster (Jamison Newlander Productions)
  • Mickey Lee (Lawnrunner Films)
  • Crackshot Stu (Lawnrunner Films)
  • Clever Grete (Tabularassa Productions)
  • Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song (Sony)

Television

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  • Pokémon (TV Series) (Pokémon USA)
  • Supernova (Hallmark Entertainment)
  • Flood: A River’s Rampage (Hallmark Entertainment)
  • An American Girl on the Home Front (American Girl)
  • No Big Deal (Cinétudes Films)
  • Shinchan (JPS Producties; Shin Ei Animation; TV Asahi)

Self

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  • Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (Sundance)
  • Leonard Cohen: Under Review 1934–1977 (Chrome Dreams Media)
  • Hallelujah: It Goes Like This (Geller/Goldfine Productions)
  • Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song (Sony)

Notes

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  1. ^ Various Positions was released a year later by an independent label.

References

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  1. ^ a b Livingston, Barbara N. (9 Aug 2014). "It's Loverly -- 'My Fair Lady' Estate for Sale". The Journal News, White Plains NY.
  2. ^ Hertweck, Nate. "Nina Simone, Tom Petty Recordings Among 2019 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame Inductions". grammy.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Peter Calo And Anne Carpenter Perform The Sounds Of Joni Mitchell & Paul Simon At WCT". BroadwayWorld.com. 20 Sep 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Yarnell, Laurie (26 August 2019). "This Local Musician Has Worked With Leonard Cohen, Whitney Houston, and Bette Midler". Westchester Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  5. ^ Leibovitz, Liel (2014). A Broken Hallelujah : Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen. New York. pp. 188–190. ISBN 978-0-393-08205-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ a b c d Reynolds, Anthony (2010). Leonard Cohen: A Remarkable Life. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781849381383.
  7. ^ Evans, Mike (2018). Leonard Cohen: An Illustrated Record. Plexus. p. 67. ISBN 9780859658690.
  8. ^ Biese, Alex (August 14, 2022). "NJ producer helped make Cohen's 'Hallelujah' a song everyone knows". Daily Record. pp. C1, C3.
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