Oral History - all
Amin Bhatia award winning composer/synthesist has worked in film and television in both electronic and orchestral environments. In his youth, Amin won Roland’s International Synthesizer Tape Competition in both 1981 and ’82. This led to work with Toto’s esteemed synthesist Steve Porcaro. Amin ... more
David Battino majored in philosophy at Oberlin, but found his epiphany in the college’s electronic music studios. Suddenly it was possible to create both the instruments and the music, and he began writing to share that excitement with readers around the world. He joined Keyboard Magazine in 1994,... more
Abraham De La Riva was helping his father’s band running sound when he noticed a need. The musicians in the band had the same issues as those in his high school musical productions, people on stage could not hear each other clearly. Abraham, with this father’s assistance, set out to create Peru’s... more
Jim Semeizer started playing saxophone when he was a kid and went on the road with the Les Brown Orchestra in 1962 for two and a half years. He learned repairs from his father, who was a watchmaker. The mechanics of instruments came easy to Jim and provided a career path. That career was put on... more
Javier Batiz is very proud of the role he played in bringing American Blues music to Mexico! His own playing in bands and as a solo artist brought a great awareness to the Blues south of the American border but more than that he created opportunities that brought legendary performers to Mexico for... more
Clark Hagan is a Grammy-winning recording engineer whose passion for music and sound can be heard in each of his projects. Working with an impressive list of artists, Clark has stretched beyond engineering to the producer role, allowing him to work with an equally impressive list of studio owners... more
Phil Rovner was having some trouble with his intonation as a saxophone player, and decided to design a new approach to attaching the reed to his mouthpiece. As an engineer, he had the knowledge to create this new ligature, which has since been played by musicians around the world. Phil grew up in... more
Masako Koyama worked closely with the Japan Music Trades Magazine founder, Mr. Hiyama. The magazine was launched in 1962 with the goal of sharing stories about the instruments and people in the industry to help bring the industry together. Koyama-san joined these efforts in 1976 and was soon sent... more
Shiko Onodela is the President of the Japan Music Trades Magazine. This monthly magazine was established in 1962 by Mr. Rikuro Hiyama to support the music industry and to encourage sharing of ideas. When Mr. Hiyama approached John Majeski, the editor of The Music Trades Magazine (established in... more
Rich Neville has spent his life making music and for decades has helped others obtain their musical dreams. Rich was a touring musician who turned to a career in music retail and never let go of the passion he first had as a kid in the school band playing trombone. He gigged in rock bands on bass... more
John Kurzweg is the recording engineer behind a host of successful albums including those by Creed, Jewel, Puddle of Mudd, and Eagle Eye Cherry. The Creed classic My Own Prison was recorded in John’s house as was John’s own album Wait For the Night, which was released in 1987. He grew up surrounded... more
Zenobia looked forward to church every Sunday growing up in the Los Angeles area. She loved to sing and cut her teeth on the old gospel hymns. Zenobia pursued singing and was cast in the Broadway musical Hair, worked with director/choreographer Michael Bennett and became a successful backup singer... more
Kitten is the mascot at Candyman Strings & Things in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Watching customers walk into the store and immediately smile when they see Kitten is a joy to witness. Her proud owner is Chelsie Reed, daughter of Cindy and Rand Cook, the owners of Candyman. Chelsie is currently the... more
Jono Manson is the owner of The Kitchen Sink Recording Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a record producer and engineer, he has collaborated on projects ranging from national advertising campaigns and motion pictures to working with a host of recording artists. Jono is also a performer and... more
Jeff Nelson's mother was a sought-after pianist who had a regular gig in San Francisco playing at the Top of the Mark. As a kid, Jeff took lessons from a woman who had the best name for a piano teacher, Bea Sharp. Jeff always surrounded himself with music. He played trumpet in grade school,... more
Karen Lafferty played an important role in the early growth and development of Contemporary Christian Music. She put music to the Bible verse Matthew 6:33 in 1974, thus creating the early and influential praise and worship song “Seek Ye First.” The song was released on Maranatha! Music, a Christian... more
Francesca Jozette Tharpe was so thrilled to have a role in her school's choir. The experience gave her a musical outlet and self-confidence, which led to her involvement with Musical Theater. She would later learn the guitar, began writing songs, and formed her own band, Free Range Buddha. An... more
Jayda Cook grew up in her parent's music store, Candyman Strings & Things in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and she always had a passion for the educational component of the business. Jayda took lessons as a child and had a wonderful experience participating in the store’s Rock Camp program. She then... more
Honoring Larry Morton for his invaluable service in assisting the NAMM Resource Center in obtaining fantastic interview contributions to the NAMM Oral History Program. This video contains some of the highlight interviews that Larry helped us gather over the years. Thank you, Larry!
This video is of our annual NAMM Tribute, created in honor of our members and music industry friends who passed away since our last gathering. This video was part of our annual program, which was shown for the first time at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California June 3, 2022.